Data Sets

State Fact Sheets: Kentucky

• 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	1,672,223	1,988,101	3,660,324
1990	1,645,442	2,039,854	3,685,296
2000	1,769,275	2,272,494	4,041,769
2007 (latest estimates)	1,811,654	2,429,820	4,241,474
More information on Kentucky 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	23,515	33,676	29,302
2006	23,751	34,219	29,729
Percent change	1.0	1.6	1.5

Earnings per job (2006 dollars)
2005	31,111	43,735	39,170
2006	30,580	43,578	38,895
Percent change	-1.7	-0.4	-0.7

Poverty rate (percent)
1979	23.0	13.0	17.6
1989	25.4	13.9	19.0
1999	21.2	11.6	15.8
2007 (latest model-based estimates)	21.8	13.7	17.2
More information on Kentucky 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	56.7	38.6	46.9
1990	45.2	27.5	35.4
2000	34.3	19.2	25.9

Percent completing high school only
1980	28.0	34.5	31.3
1990	31.3	32.1	31.8
2000	35.5	32.1	33.6

Percent completing some college
1980	8.0	13.1	10.7
1990	14.4	23.1	19.2
2000	19.0	26.9	23.4

Percent completing college
1980	7.8	13.8	11.1
1990	9.0	17.3	13.6
2000	11.3	21.8	17.1
More information on Kentucky 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	863,620	1,524,704	2,388,324
2006	876,606	1,556,295	2,432,901

Unemployment rate (percent)
2006	6.5	5.4	5.8
2007	6.2	5.0	5.5
More information on Kentucky 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	1.2	0.9
2005-2006	1.8	2.2	2.0
2006-2007	0.6	1.4	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)	25.43	25.43	25.43
Total farmland (million acres)	13.67	13.94	13.84
Percent of total land area	53.7	54.8	54.4

Cropland (million acres)	8.88	8.89	8.41
Percent of total farmland	65.0	63.8	60.8
Percent in pasture	38.9	36.0	30.7
Percent irrigated	0.3	0.6	0.4

Harvested Cropland (million acres)	4.42	4.85	4.98

Woodland (million acres)	3.13	3.18	3.11
Percent of total farmland	22.9	22.8	22.5
Percent in pasture	31.7	30.1	29.0

Pastureland (million acres)	1.06	1.18	1.61
Percent of total farmland	7.8	8.5	11.7

Land in house lots, ponds, roads, wasteland, etc. (million acres)	0.60	0.69	0.71
Percent of total farmland	4.4	5.0	5.1

Conservation practices
Farmland in conservation or wetlands reserve programs (million acres)	0.27	0.37	0.40
Percent of total farmland	2.0	2.7	2.9

Average farm size (acres)	151	153	160

Farms by size (percent)
1 to 99 acres	56.8	57.6	57.4
100 to 499 acres	37.8	37.1	36.9
500 to 999 acres	3.8	3.7	3.7
1000 to 1,999 acres	1.2	1.2	1.4
2,000 or more acres	0.4	0.4	0.5

Farms by sales (percent)
Less than $9,999	55.1	58.9	67.3
$10,000 to $49,999	33.0	30.0	22.7
$50,000 to $99,999	6.1	5.3	4.0
$100,000 to $499,999	5.1	5.4	4.8
More than $500,000	0.5	0.9	1.1

Tenure of farmers
Full owner (farms)	63,398	66,243	66,456
Percent of total	70.2	72.6	76.8

Part owner (farms)	18,779	18,229	15,937
Percent of total	20.8	20.0	18.4

Tenant owner (farms)	8,104	6,726	4,148
Percent of total	9.0	7.4	4.8

Farm organization
Individuals/family, sole proprietorship (farms)	76,712	79,441	79,297
Percent of total	85.0	87.1	91.6

Family-held corporations (farms)	871	1,184	983
Percent of total	1.0	1.3	1.1

Partnerships (farms)	12,135	10,004	5,764
Percent of total	13.4	11.0	6.7

Non-family corporations (farms)	193	183	136
Percent of total	0.2	0.2	0.2

Others - cooperative, estate or trust, institutional, etc. (farms)	370	386	361
Percent of total	0.4	0.4	0.4

Characteristics of principal farm operators
Average operator age (years)	53.2	53.7	55.2
Percent with farming as their primary occupation	44.5	39.5	54.2
Men (persons)	82,523	82,591	78,267
Women (persons)	7,758	8,607	8,274

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	84,000	83,000

	Thousands $
Final crop output	1,380,718	1,287,679
+ Final animal output	2,749,634	2,924,197
+ Services and forestry	1,040,349	1,119,469
= Final agricultural sector output	5,170,701	5,331,346

- Intermediate consumption outlays	2,335,259	2,518,409
+ Net government transactions	362,444	189,021
= Gross value added	3,197,886	3,001,958

- Capital consumption	777,437	799,108

= Net value added	2,420,449	2,202,850

- Factor payments	762,248	697,001
Employee compensation (total hired labor)	322,066	277,754
Net rent received by nonoperator landlords	163,191	124,591
Real estate and nonreal estate interest	276,991	294,656

= Net farm income	1,658,201	1,505,849

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. Horses/mules	1,125,000	25.4	92.3
2. Broilers	721,325	16.3	3.4
3. Cattle and calves	605,036	13.7	1.2
4. Corn	465,255	10.5	1.4
5. Soybeans	348,055	7.9	1.6

All commodities	4,432,409		1.6

More information on Kentucky'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. Tobacco unmfd.	2	386.4
2. Live animals and meat	8	321.1
3. Feed grains and products	14	147.5
4. Soybeans and products	16	119.8
5. Poultry and products	11	94.0

Overall rank	21	1,213.6

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. Fayette County	5.8	178.9
2. Woodford County	5.6	171.9
3. Graves County	4.9	150.2
4. Bourbon County	3.2	97.8
5. Webster County	2.5	77.3

State total		3,080.1

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