Median household income of farm business households and U.S. households with self-employment income, 1997–2024

Although the median income of farm households has outpaced that of all U.S. households in recent years, operating a farm business carries considerable risk. Farm profits are subject to significant fluctuations and the income volatility of farm households is greater than that of all U.S. households. Therefore, it is useful to compare incomes of farm business households (i.e., households operating farms that report farming as their primary occupation plus commercial farms with at least $350,000 of gross cash farm income) with all self-employed households in the United States, using estimates from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey.