Data Sets

State Fact Sheets: Wisconsin

• 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

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Population, Income, Education, and Employment

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Population
Year
1980	1,329,240	3,376,402	4,705,642
1990	1,356,172	3,535,597	4,891,769
2000	1,495,002	3,868,673	5,363,675
2007 (latest estimates)	1,525,428	4,076,212	5,601,640
More information on Wisconsin population • County-level Population Data • Rural Population and Migration Briefing Room • Contact John Cromartie, 202-694-5421.

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Income
Per-capita income (2006 dollars)
2005	28,829	35,801	33,888
2006	29,022	36,430	34,405
Percent change	0.7	1.8	1.5

Earnings per job (2006 dollars)
2005	31,935	43,146	40,292
2006	31,087	43,025	39,989
Percent change	-2.7	-0.3	-0.8

Poverty rate (percent)
1979	10.3	8.1	8.7
1989	11.5	10.4	10.7
1999	8.6	8.7	8.7
2005 (latest model-based estimates)	9.7	10.5	10.2
More information on Wisconsin 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

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Education (Persons 25 and older)
Percent not completing high school
1980	35.7	28.2	30.4
1990	25.5	19.8	21.4
2000	17.0	14.1	14.9

Percent completing high school only
1980	41.0	40.2	40.4
1990	41.4	35.4	37.1
2000	40.7	32.1	34.6

Percent completing some college
1980	12.5	15.1	14.4
1990	20.7	25.0	23.8
2000	26.6	28.7	28.1

Percent completing college
1980	10.8	16.4	14.8
1990	12.4	19.8	17.7
2000	15.7	25.1	22.4
More information on Wisconsin education • County-level Education Data • Rural Labor and Education Briefing Room • Contact Robert Gibbs, 202-694-5423

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Employment
Total number of jobs
2005	905,736	2,652,293	3,558,029
2006	918,476	2,692,977	3,611,453

Unemployment rate (percent)
2006	5.1	4.6	4.7
2007	5.3	4.8	4.9
More information on Wisconsin 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	0.3	0.7	0.6
2005-2006	0.9	1.5	1.3
2006-2007	1.8	-0.0	0.5

* 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	2002
1992, 1997 and 2002 Census of Agriculture

Total land area (million acres)	34.76	34.76	34.76
Total farmland (million acres)	15.46	16.23	15.74
Percent of total land area	44.5	46.7	45.3

Cropland (million acres)	10.95	11.00	10.73
Percent of total farmland	70.8	67.8	68.2
Percent in pasture	9.9	9.7	7.1
Percent irrigated	3.0	3.2	3.5

Harvested Cropland (million acres)	8.84	9.00	8.93

Woodland (million acres)	2.89	3.29	3.18
Percent of total farmland	18.7	20.3	20.2
Percent in pasture	29.9	23.8	21.5

Pastureland (million acres)	0.78	0.79	0.78
Percent of total farmland	5.1	4.9	4.9

Land in house lots, ponds, roads, wasteland, etc. (million acres)	0.84	1.15	1.06
Percent of total farmland	5.5	7.1	6.7

Conservation practices
Farmland in conservation or wetlands reserve programs (million acres)	0.36	0.74	0.61
Percent of total farmland	2.3	4.6	3.9

Average farm size (acres)	228	204	204

Farms by size (percent)
1 to 99 acres	32.0	40.7	46.4
100 to 499 acres	59.2	51.6	45.4
500 to 999 acres	7.1	5.8	5.8
1000 to 1,999 acres	1.5	1.5	1.8
2,000 or more acres	0.3	0.4	0.6

Farms by sales (percent)
Less than $9,999	32.2	45.6	54.0
$10,000 to $49,999	25.0	22.0	18.5
$50,000 to $99,999	17.5	11.5	9.4
$100,000 to $499,999	24.2	18.8	15.8
More than $500,000	1.2	1.9	2.3

Tenure of farmers
Full owner (farms)	38,773	50,608	52,370
Percent of total	57.1	63.6	67.9

Part owner (farms)	23,362	23,842	21,205
Percent of total	34.4	30.0	27.5

Tenant owner (farms)	5,824	5,091	3,556
Percent of total	8.6	6.4	4.6

Farm organization
Individuals/family, sole proprietorship (farms)	58,298	69,452	68,719
Percent of total	85.8	87.3	89.1

Family-held corporations (farms)	2,312	2,883	2,519
Percent of total	3.4	3.6	3.3

Partnerships (farms)	6,930	6,452	5,347
Percent of total	10.2	8.1	6.9

Non-family corporations (farms)	190	262	207
Percent of total	0.3	0.3	0.3

Others - cooperative, estate or trust, institutional, etc. (farms)	229	492	339
Percent of total	0.3	0.6	0.4

Characteristics of principal farm operators
Average operator age (years)	50.6	52.0	53.0
Percent with farming as their primary occupation	68.0	54.5	59.4
Men (persons)	64,136	73,748	69,778
Women (persons)	3,823	5,793	7,353

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

	2006	2007
Farm income and value added data

Number of farms	76,000	76,000

	Thousands $
Final crop output	2,131,394	2,658,331
+ Final animal output	4,668,096	6,217,173
+ Services and forestry	1,327,548	1,437,085
= Final agricultural sector output	8,127,037	10,312,589

- Intermediate consumption outlays	4,212,125	4,793,450
+ Net government transactions	63,316	-185,802
= Gross value added	3,978,229	5,333,337

- Capital consumption	1,201,356	1,241,284

= Net value added	2,776,873	4,092,053

- Factor payments	1,402,858	1,438,266
Employee compensation (total hired labor)	663,151	783,326
Net rent received by nonoperator landlords	271,179	146,112
Real estate and nonreal estate interest	468,528	508,828

= Net farm income	1,374,015	2,653,787

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

	Value of receipts thousand $	Percent of state total farm receipts	Percent of US value
Top 5 agriculture commodities, 2007
1. Dairy products	4,593,207	51.9	13.0
2. Corn	1,228,334	13.9	3.6
3. Cattle and calves	908,691	10.3	1.8
4. Soybeans	320,937	3.6	1.5
5. Potatoes	198,196	2.2	6.7

All commodities	8,858,242		3.1

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

	Rank among states	Value million $
Top 5 agriculture exports, estimates, FY 2007
1. Dairy Products	1	582.5
2. Feed grains and products	11	369.7
3. Soybeans and products	14	221.3
4. Live animals and meat	15	172.8
5. Hides and skins	4	166.0

Overall rank	13	2,101.9

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

	Percent of state total receipts	Million $
Top 5 counties in agricultural sales 2002
1. Dane County	5.1	287.6
2. Marathon County	3.7	205.4
3. Grant County	3.3	186.6
4. Dodge County	3.2	178.9
5. Clark County	3.1	174.4

State total		5,623.3

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

Data Sources

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, county data, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Regional Economic Information System, April 2006, Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce.
1980, 1990, and 2000 Census of Population, Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce.
Farm Income and Costs Briefing Room, Economic Research Service, USDA.
Foreign Agricultural Trade of the United States (FATUS), Economic Research Service, USDA.
Census of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA.

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