Major Land Uses

ERS has been a source of major land use estimates in the United States for over 60 years, and the related U.S. cropland used for crops series (Summary table 3 below) dates back to 1910 and is updated annually. The Major Land Uses (MLU) series is the longest running, most comprehensive accounting of all major uses of public and private land in the United States. The series was started in 1945, and has since been published about every 5 years, coinciding with the Census of Agriculture.

• See the latest ERS report in the series: Major Uses of Land in the United States, 2017

Data from all 16 Major Land Uses reports have been combined into a set of files showing major land use estimates by region and State from 1945 to 2017. Note that Alaska and Hawaii were added in 1959, when they achieved Statehood. Since Alaska contains such vast acreage, U.S. totals in all categories prior to 1959 may appear to change precipitously.

See Documentation for more information about using this data product, including detailed definitions of major land uses and terms. For citations of the previous MLU reports, see Major Land Use Reports Since 1948.

Errata:

On September 13, 2024, the Major Land Uses data product was revised to reflect changes in the 1987, 1992, and 1997 values for total forest use land in certain Northeastern States, as well as the forest use land, special use land, and urban land for certain Northeastern states in 1992. Also, the regional total for rural transportation in the Northeast region in 2007 was corrected. No other values were affected.

On May 7, 2024, Summary Table 3 "Total Cropland Used for Crops" in the Major Land Uses data product was revised for 2013–15 to be consistent with and reflect the underlying historical data available in the USDA, NASS QuickStats database since 2019. About a third of the values were affected, with revisions to total crops harvested, total cropland harvested, and cropland used for crops. The 2013 value for double cropped acres was also revised.