Data Sets

State Fact Sheets: Alabama

• 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	1,189,530	2,704,495	3,894,025
1990	1,197,590	2,842,997	4,040,587
2000	1,313,847	3,133,253	4,447,100
2007 (latest estimates)	1,328,477	3,299,374	4,627,851
More information on Alabama 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	26,264	31,878	30,252
2006	26,712	32,587	30,894
Percent change	1.7	2.2	2.1

Earnings per job (2006 dollars)
2005	33,355	42,596	40,253
2006	32,733	42,707	40,188
Percent change	-1.9	0.3	-0.2

Poverty rate (percent)
1979	22.1	17.5	18.9
1989	21.7	16.9	18.3
1999	18.4	15.2	16.1
2007 (latest model-based estimates)	18.8	15.8	16.6
More information on Alabama 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	51.6	39.9	43.5
1990	40.9	29.9	33.1
2000	30.7	22.2	24.7

Percent completing high school only
1980	30.0	32.6	31.8
1990	30.2	29.1	29.4
2000	32.7	29.4	30.4

Percent completing some college
1980	10.2	13.6	12.5
1990	18.6	23.1	21.7
2000	23.8	26.7	25.9

Percent completing college
1980	8.4	13.8	12.2
1990	10.3	17.9	15.7
2000	12.8	21.7	19.0
More information on Alabama 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	641,448	1,888,210	2,529,658
2006	653,973	1,936,069	2,590,042

Unemployment rate (percent)
2006	4.0	3.3	3.5
2007	4.2	3.3	3.5
More information on Alabama 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	1.7	1.7	1.7
2005-2006	2.2	2.5	2.4
2006-2007	0.2	1.5	1.1

* 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)	32.48	32.48	32.48
Total farmland (million acres)	8.45	9.52	8.90
Percent of total land area	26.0	29.3	27.4

Cropland (million acres)	4.24	4.44	3.73
Percent of total farmland	50.1	46.6	41.9
Percent in pasture	36.2	37.4	31.6
Percent irrigated	1.8	1.7	2.7

Harvested Cropland (million acres)	2.10	2.18	2.00

Woodland (million acres)	2.79	3.45	3.18
Percent of total farmland	33.0	36.2	35.7
Percent in pasture	32.3	25.5	25.3

Pastureland (million acres)	1.12	1.16	1.51
Percent of total farmland	13.3	12.2	17.0

Land in house lots, ponds, roads, wasteland, etc. (million acres)	0.30	0.47	0.48
Percent of total farmland	3.6	5.0	5.4

Conservation practices
Farmland in conservation or wetlands reserve programs (million acres)	0.27	0.48	0.47
Percent of total farmland	3.2	5.1	5.3

Average farm size (acres)	223	191	197

Farms by size (percent)
1 to 99 acres	53.1	58.5	57.8
100 to 499 acres	37.0	33.4	33.9
500 to 999 acres	5.9	4.9	5.0
1000 to 1,999 acres	2.6	2.2	2.2
2,000 or more acres	1.4	1.0	1.2

Farms by sales (percent)
Less than $9,999	63.6	72.4	71.1
$10,000 to $49,999	19.0	15.0	15.8
$50,000 to $99,999	4.4	3.0	2.8
$100,000 to $499,999	10.1	5.8	6.0
More than $500,000	2.8	3.8	4.3

Tenure of farmers
Full owner (farms)	24,686	33,966	32,157
Percent of total	65.1	68.1	71.3

Part owner (farms)	10,860	12,755	10,906
Percent of total	28.7	25.6	24.2

Tenant owner (farms)	2,359	3,151	2,063
Percent of total	6.2	6.3	4.6

Farm organization
Individuals/family, sole proprietorship (farms)	34,257	45,640	42,359
Percent of total	90.4	91.5	93.9

Family-held corporations (farms)	542	696	549
Percent of total	1.4	1.4	1.2

Partnerships (farms)	2,843	3,138	1,882
Percent of total	7.5	6.3	4.2

Non-family corporations (farms)	124	126	109
Percent of total	0.3	0.3	0.2

Others - cooperative, estate or trust, institutional, etc. (farms)	139	272	227
Percent of total	0.4	0.5	0.5

Characteristics of principal farm operators
Average operator age (years)	54.8	54.7	56.6
Percent with farming as their primary occupation	41.5	35.3	53.1
Men (persons)	35,019	45,262	40,305
Women (persons)	2,886	4,610	4,821

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	43,000	43,000

	Thousands $
Final crop output	777,434	773,704
+ Final animal output	2,994,974	3,318,319
+ Services and forestry	946,209	957,393
= Final agricultural sector output	4,718,616	5,049,416

- Intermediate consumption outlays	2,689,772	2,919,461
+ Net government transactions	170,877	125,465
= Gross value added	2,199,722	2,255,421

- Capital consumption	396,097	411,459

= Net value added	1,803,625	1,843,962

- Factor payments	400,956	406,151
Employee compensation (total hired labor)	178,682	185,487
Net rent received by nonoperator landlords	57,214	43,202
Real estate and nonreal estate interest	165,060	177,462

= Net farm income	1,402,669	1,437,811

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. Broilers	2,400,260	57.6	11.2
2. Cattle and calves	431,410	10.4	0.9
3. Greenhouse/nursery	340,390	8.2	2.0
4. Chicken eggs	314,336	7.5	4.7
5. Cotton	141,784	3.4	2.3

All commodities	4,166,254		1.5

More information on Alabama'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. Poultry and products	4	309.9
2. Cotton and linters	11	91.2
3. Other	22	79.2
4. Wheat and products	36	32.0
5. Peanuts and products	3	27.2

Overall rank	32	615.6

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. Cullman County	10.3	337.5
2. DeKalb County	8.2	268.3
3. Marshall County	5.7	186.2
4. Coffee County	4.1	134.0
5. Blount County	3.5	114.2

State total		3,264.9

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