Data Sets

State Fact Sheets: Massachusetts

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

Data updated December 15, 2008

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Population, Income, Education, and Employment

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Population
Year
1980	14,029	5,723,064	5,737,093
1990	17,651	5,998,774	6,016,425
2000	24,507	6,324,590	6,349,097
2007 (latest estimates)	26,016	6,423,739	6,449,755
More information on Massachusetts 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	50,639	44,996	45,019
2006	51,935	46,276	46,299
Percent change	2.6	2.8	2.8

Earnings per job (2006 dollars)
2005	37,234	56,245	56,131
2006	36,623	56,179	56,060
Percent change	-1.7	-0.1	-0.1

Poverty rate (percent)
1979	8.2	9.6	9.6
1989	6.4	8.9	8.9
1999	7.4	9.3	9.3
2007 (latest model-based estimates)	6.2	10.0	10.0
More information on Massachusetts 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	16.1	27.8	27.8
1990	10.0	20.0	20.0
2000	9.1	15.3	15.2

Percent completing high school only
1980	43.0	36.4	36.4
1990	28.6	29.7	29.7
2000	25.0	27.3	27.3

Percent completing some college
1980	19.4	15.7	15.8
1990	29.0	23.0	23.0
2000	27.5	24.3	24.3

Percent completing college
1980	21.9	20.0	20.0
1990	32.4	27.2	27.2
2000	38.4	33.2	33.2
More information on Massachusetts 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	24,815	4,110,179	4,134,994
2006	25,803	4,190,224	4,216,027

Unemployment rate (percent)
2006	3.2	4.8	4.8
2007	3.0	4.5	4.5
More information on Massachusetts 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	0.6	0.2	0.2
2005-2006	1.9	0.9	0.9
2006-2007	0.7	0.4	0.4

* 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)	5.02	5.02	5.02
Total farmland (million acres)	0.53	0.58	0.52
Percent of total land area	10.5	11.5	10.3

Cropland (million acres)	0.24	0.25	0.21
Percent of total farmland	44.7	42.8	40.1
Percent in pasture	19.2	18.6	14.4
Percent irrigated	8.3	10.7	11.3

Harvested Cropland (million acres)	0.17	0.18	0.16

Woodland (million acres)	0.20	0.22	0.21
Percent of total farmland	38.4	38.0	40.7
Percent in pasture	13.0	10.6	10.7

Pastureland (million acres)	0.02	0.03	0.03
Percent of total farmland	4.7	4.8	6.0

Land in house lots, ponds, roads, wasteland, etc. (million acres)	0.06	0.08	0.07
Percent of total farmland	12.2	14.3	13.2

Conservation practices
Farmland in conservation or wetlands reserve programs (million acres)	0.00	0.00	0.00
Percent of total farmland	0.3	0.5	0.0

Average farm size (acres)	100	79	85

Farms by size (percent)
1 to 99 acres	70.8	77.5	75.4
100 to 499 acres	26.3	20.5	21.9
500 to 999 acres	2.3	1.6	2.1
1000 to 1,999 acres	0.6	0.4	0.5
2,000 or more acres	0.1	0.1	0.0

Farms by sales (percent)
Less than $9,999	54.8	59.4	63.6
$10,000 to $49,999	22.0	21.0	18.7
$50,000 to $99,999	8.8	7.3	6.3
$100,000 to $499,999	11.9	10.3	9.2
More than $500,000	2.2	2.4	2.2

Tenure of farmers
Full owner (farms)	3,488	5,115	4,355
Percent of total	66.3	70.0	71.7

Part owner (farms)	1,331	1,568	1,221
Percent of total	25.3	21.5	20.1

Tenant owner (farms)	439	624	499
Percent of total	8.4	8.5	8.2

Farm organization
Individuals/family, sole proprietorship (farms)	4,232	6,023	5,020
Percent of total	80.5	82.4	82.6

Family-held corporations (farms)	488	592	494
Percent of total	9.3	8.1	8.1

Partnerships (farms)	401	521	376
Percent of total	7.6	7.1	6.2

Non-family corporations (farms)	61	75	65
Percent of total	1.2	1.0	1.1

Others - cooperative, estate or trust, institutional, etc. (farms)	76	96	120
Percent of total	1.4	1.3	2.0

Characteristics of principal farm operators
Average operator age (years)	53.8	54.2	54.9
Percent with farming as their primary occupation	55.7	49.3	54.0
Men (persons)	4,437	5,939	4,770
Women (persons)	821	1,368	1,305

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	6,100	6,100

	Thousands $
Final crop output	345,947	347,715
+ Final animal output	85,374	102,671
+ Services and forestry	119,311	151,818
= Final agricultural sector output	550,631	602,204

- Intermediate consumption outlays	219,846	229,649
+ Net government transactions	-19,955	-25,703
= Gross value added	310,830	346,852

- Capital consumption	77,716	81,098

= Net value added	233,114	265,754

- Factor payments	134,831	122,637
Employee compensation (total hired labor)	109,561	94,487
Net rent received by nonoperator landlords	-5,847	-5,264
Real estate and nonreal estate interest	31,117	33,414

= Net farm income	98,283	143,117

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. Greenhouse/nursery	158,425	35.2	0.9
2. Cranberries	70,874	15.7	23.1
3. Dairy products	53,130	11.8	0.2
4. Corn, sweet	15,600	3.5	1.8
5. Apples	15,524	3.4	0.7

All commodities	450,148		0.2

More information on Massachusetts'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. Wheat and products	19	118.8
2. Other	26	48.1
3. Fruits and preparations	17	12.5
4. Tobacco unmfd.	10	11.7
5. Live animals and meat	39	3.3

Overall rank	39	200.7

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. Worcester County	17.8	68.6
2. Middlesex County	17.2	65.9
3. Plymouth County	11.2	43.0
4. Franklin County	11.2	42.9
5. Hampshire County	9.1	35.1

State total		384.3

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: December 15, 2008