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Data Sets

State Fact Sheets: Iowa

Population, Income, Education, and Employment
Farm Characteristics
Farm Financial Indicators
Top Commodities, Exports, and Counties
About the State Fact Sheets

Data updated October 22, 2008

Data Download
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Questions & Answers
Excel file IA-fact-sheet.xls

Population, Income, Education, and Employment

Population
  Rural * Urban * Total
Year
    1980 1,485,545 1,428,263 2,913,808
    1990 1,354,928 1,421,827 2,776,755
    2000 1,362,732 1,563,592 2,926,324
    2007 (latest estimates) 1,316,213 1,671,833 2,988,046

More information on Iowa population
County-level Population Data
Rural Population and Migration Briefing Room
• Contact John Cromartie, 202-694-5421.

Income
  Rural * Urban * Total
Per-capita income (2006 dollars)
    2005 29,681 34,884 32,552
    2006 30,011 35,457 33,038
    Percent change 1.1 1.6 1.5
 
Earnings per job (2006 dollars)
    2005 31,499 40,888 36,856
    2006 30,650 40,680 36,399
    Percent change -2.8 -0.5 -1.3
 
Poverty rate (percent)
    1979 11.0 9.3 10.1
    1989 11.7 11.3 11.5
    1999 9.1 9.1 9.1
    2005 (latest model-based estimates) 10.8 10.8 10.8

More information on Iowa poverty rates
County-level Poverty Data
Rural Income, Poverty, and Welfare Briefing Room
• See important notes about decennial and model-based intercensal poverty estimates
• Contact Robert Gibbs, 202-694-5423

Education (Persons 25 and older)
  Rural * Urban * Total
Percent not completing high school
    1980 31.9 24.7 28.5
    1990 22.6 17.2 19.9
    2000 15.7 12.3 13.9
 
Percent completing high school only
    1980 44.0 42.1 42.9
    1990 41.4 35.6 38.5
    2000 40.2 32.3 36.1
 
Percent completing some college
    1980 13.8 15.7 14.7
    1990 23.5 26.0 24.7
    2000 28.5 29.1 28.8
 
Percent completing college
    1980 10.7 17.6 13.9
    1990 12.5 21.2 16.9
    2000 15.6 26.4 21.2

More information on Iowa education
County-level Education Data
Rural Labor and Education Briefing Room
• Contact Robert Gibbs, 202-694-5423

Employment
  Rural * Urban * Total
Total number of jobs
    2005 853,052 1,133,248 1,986,300
    2006 865,321 1,161,972 2,027,293
 
Unemployment rate (percent)
    2006 4.0 3.6 3.8
    2007 4.0 3.6 3.8

More information on Iowa unemployment rates
County-level Unemployment and Median Household Income Data
Rural Labor and Education Briefing Room
• Contact Lorin Kusmin, 202-694-5429
 
Percent employment change
    2004-2005 1.2 1.9 1.6
    2005-2006 1.7 2.6 2.2
    2006-2007 -0.5 0.7 0.2
 

* Urban and rural (metro and nonmetro) defintions are based on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) June 2003 classification. See Measuring Rurality: New Definitions in 2003 for more information.
 
More information on socioeconomic conditions
Rural Emphasis Page
• Contact Tim Parker, 202-694-5435.


Farm Characteristics

1992, 1997 and 2002 Census of Agriculture
 
  1992 1997 2002
Total land area (million acres) 35.76 35.76 35.76
    Total farmland (million acres) 31.35 32.31 31.73
        Percent of total land area 87.7 90.4 88.7
 
        Cropland (million acres) 27.20 27.71 27.15
            Percent of total farmland 86.8 85.8 85.6
            Percent in pasture 8.1 7.5 5.0
            Percent irrigated 0.4 0.5 0.5
 
            Harvested Cropland
            (million acres)
22.83 24.01 23.99
 
        Woodland (million acres) 1.26 1.41 1.34
            Percent of total farmland 4.0 4.4 4.2
            Percent in pasture 55.6 47.2 41.1
 
        Pastureland (million acres) 1.46 1.52 1.74
            Percent of total farmland 4.7 4.7 5.5
 
        Land in house lots, ponds,
        roads, wasteland, etc.
        (million acres)
1.43 1.67 1.50
            Percent of total farmland 4.6 5.2 4.7
 
Conservation practices
        Farmland in conservation or
        wetlands reserve programs
        (million acres)
1.29 1.86 1.69
            Percent of total farmland 4.1 5.8 5.3
 
Average farm size (acres) 325 334 350
 
Farms by size (percent)
            1 to 99 acres 27.4 31.1 35.0
            100 to 499 acres 51.3 46.9 42.3
            500 to 999 acres 16.4 15.6 14.4
            1000 to 1,999 acres 4.4 5.5 6.9
            2,000 or more acres 0.5 0.9 1.5
 
Farms by sales (percent)
            Less than $9,999 20.1 29.0 35.4
            $10,000 to $49,999 30.0 23.0 21.5
            $50,000 to $99,999 18.2 14.7 12.9
            $100,000 to $499,999 29.6 28.7 25.0
            More than $500,000 2.4 4.2 5.3
 
Tenure of farmers
        Full owner (farms) 43,541 47,132 49,889
            Percent of total 45.1 48.7 55.0
 
        Part owner (farms) 34,720 33,908 30,265
            Percent of total 36.0 35.1 33.4
 
        Tenant owner (farms) 18,282 15,665 10,501
            Percent of total 18.9 16.2 11.6
 
Farm organization
        Individuals/family, sole
        proprietorship (farms)
81,127 81,074 78,699
            Percent of total 84.0 83.8 86.8
 
        Family-held corporations
        (farms)
4,552 5,913 4,900
            Percent of total 4.7 6.1 5.4
 
        Partnerships (farms) 10,028 8,688 5,792
            Percent of total 10.4 9.0 6.4
 
        Non-family corporations (farms) 372 426 379
            Percent of total 0.4 0.4 0.4
 
        Others - cooperative, estate or
        trust, institutional, etc. (farms)
464 604 885
            Percent of total 0.5 0.6 1.0
 
Characteristics of principal farm operators
        Average operator age (years) 50.3 52.3 54.3
        Percent with farming as their
         primary occupation
69.3 60.1 68.3
        Men (persons) 92,730 91,604 84,451
        Women (persons) 3,813 5,101 6,204
 

More information on farm characteristics
Census of Agriculture
• Contact NASS Customer Service, 1-800-727-9540.

Data from the 1992 Census of Agriculture is not adjusted for coverage. See Coverage Adjustment from NASS.


Farm Financial Indicators

Farm income and value added data
  2006 2007
 
Number of farms 88,600 88,400
 
  Thousands $
       Final crop output 6,824,880 10,675,262
+     Final animal output 7,995,727 8,998,927
+     Services and forestry 1,415,740 1,480,862
=   Final agricultural sector output 16,236,346 21,155,051
 
-      Intermediate consumption outlays 9,561,737 11,385,214
+     Net government transactions 606,749 64,371
=   Gross value added 7,281,358 9,834,208
 
-      Capital consumption 1,464,898 1,503,223
 
=   Net value added 5,816,460 8,330,985
 
-    Factor payments 2,801,383 2,996,986
         Employee compensation (total hired labor) 375,680 520,467
         Net rent received by nonoperator landlords 1,394,920 1,359,572
         Real estate and nonreal estate interest 1,030,783 1,116,947
 
=   Net farm income 3,015,077 5,333,999
 

More information on farm income
Farm Income Data
Farm Income and Costs Briefing Room
• Contact Roger Strickland, 202-694-5592.

Farm balance sheet
 
• Estimation of State-level Balance Sheets has been suspended. See the Farm Balance Sheet data page for more information.
 


Top Commodities, Exports, and Counties

Top 5 agriculture commodities, 2007
  Value of receipts
thousand $
Percent of state total
farm receipts
Percent of US value
1. Corn 6,351,424 33.4 18.7
2. Hogs 4,327,281 22.7 29.3
3. Soybeans 3,509,774 18.4 16.6
4. Cattle and calves 2,675,874 14.1 5.4
5. Chicken eggs 824,806 4.3 12.4
 
All commodities 19,036,854   6.7
 

More information on Iowa's top agriculture commodities
Leading commodities for cash receipts in Excel
• Contact Roger Strickland, 202-694-5592.

Top 5 agriculture exports, estimates, FY 2007
  Rank among states Value
million $
1. Feed grains and products 1 1,953.5
2. Soybeans and products 1 1,871.6
3. Live animals and meat 1 1,016.8
4. Feeds and fodders 4 144.5
5. Poultry and products 18 66.0
 
Overall rank 2 5,246.8
 

More information on agricultural exports
State Export Data
Agricultural Trade Briefing Room
• Contact Nora Brooks, 202-694-5211.

Top 5 counties in agricultural sales 2002
  Percent of state total receipts Million $
1. Sioux County 5.0 616.9
2. Plymouth County 2.3 278.4
3. Carroll County 2.2 264.0
4. Kossuth County 2.1 261.0
5. Hardin County 2.1 252.0
 
State total   12,273.6
 

More information on agricultural sales
Census of Agriculture
• Contact NASS Customer Service, 1-800-727-9540.


Data Sources

Prepared by Economic Research Service, USDA, Washington, DC.

For more information, contact: Tim Parker
Web administration: webadmin@ers.usda.gov
Updated date: October 22, 2008