Data Sets

State Fact Sheets: Alabama

• Population, Income, Food Insecurity, Education, and Employment
• Federal Funds
• Organic Agriculture
• Farm Characteristics
• Farm Financial Indicators
• Top Commodities, Exports, and Counties
• About the State Fact Sheets

Data updated January 17, 2012

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Population, Income, Food Insecurity, 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
2010	1,364,306	3,415,430	4,779,736
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 (2009 dollars)
2008	29,308	35,589	33,793
2009	29,226	35,076	33,411
Percent change	-0.3	-1.4	-1.1

Earnings per job (2009 dollars)
2008	34,441	44,952	42,370
2009	34,735	45,603	42,961
Percent change	0.9	1.4	1.4

Poverty rate (percent)
1979	22.1	17.5	18.9
1989	21.7	16.9	18.3
1999	18.4	15.2	16.1
2010 (latest model-based estimates)	21.8	17.8	18.9
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 Tracey Farrigan, 202-694-5489

	2002-04 Avg.	2005-07 Avg.	2008-10 Avg.
Household-level Food Insecurity and Very Low Food Security
Percent of households
Food insecure	12.2	11.9	17.3
Very low food security	2.9	4.3	7.0
More information on Food Insecurity • Food Security in the United States Briefing Room • Definitions of Food Insecurity and Very Low Food Security • Comparisons of prevalence rates of food insecurity between States must take account of the margins of error, which are sizeable for many States. Margins of error are published along with State prevalence rates in each year’s Household Food Security in the United States report. • Contact Alisha Coleman-Jensen, 202-694-5456.

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Education (Persons 25 and older)
Percent not completing high school
1980 (Census)	51.6	39.9	43.5
1990 (Census)	40.9	29.9	33.1
2000 (Census)	30.7	22.2	24.7
2006-2010 (ACS)	23.7	16.5	18.6

Percent completing high school only
1980 (Census)	30.0	32.6	31.8
1990 (Census)	30.2	29.1	29.4
2000 (Census)	32.7	29.4	30.4
2006-2010 (ACS)	34.7	30.6	31.8

Percent completing some college
1980 (Census)	10.2	13.6	12.5
1990 (Census)	18.6	23.1	21.7
2000 (Census)	23.8	26.7	25.9
2006-2010 (ACS)	26.6	28.4	27.9

Percent completing college
1980 (Census)	8.4	13.8	12.2
1990 (Census)	10.3	17.9	15.7
2000 (Census)	12.8	21.7	19.0
2006-2010 (ACS)	15.1	24.5	21.7
More information on Alabama education • County-level Education Data • Rural Labor and Education Briefing Room • Contact Alexander Marré, 202-694-5338

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Employment
Total number of jobs
2008	643,108	1,974,111	2,617,219
2009	611,141	1,902,852	2,513,993

Percent employment change
2007-2008	-3.3	-1.8	-2.2
2008-2009	-6.1	-4.5	-4.9
2009-2010	-2.0	-1.7	-1.8

Unemployment rate (percent)
2009	11.5	9.1	9.7
2010	10.9	9.0	9.5
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

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Federal Funds, FY 2010
Federal funding, dollars per person
All Federal funds	11,259	12,557	12,187

Federal funding by purpose (function codes)
Agriculture and natural resources	79	76	77
Community resources	871	1,433	1,273
Defense and space	1,669	2,825	2,495
Human resources	232	205	213
Income security	7,572	6,327	6,682
National functions	837	1,690	1,447

Federal funding by type of payments (object codes)
Grants	1,607	1,288	1,379
Direct loans	191	291	262
Guaranteed/insured loans	753	1,346	1,177
Retirement/disability payments	4,006	3,655	3,755
Other direct payments to individuals	2,421	2,042	2,150
Direct payments, not to individuals	109	97	100
Procurement contracts	1,062	2,641	2,190
Salaries and wages	1,109	1,198	1,173
Total does not include Statewide funds undistributed at the county level. More information on Federal Funds • Program Function and Object Code Definitions • Federal Funds and Development Policy Briefing Room • Federal Funds Data • Contact Richard Reeder, 202-694-5360

* The terms “rural” and “urban” here refer to data for nonmetro and metro areas, a county-level classification defined by the Office of Management and Budget. We use the June 2003 version of nonmetro and metro areas because it reflects conditions at the beginning of the decade. See Measuring Rurality: What is Rural? for a discussion of differences between metro-nonmetro categories and the Census Bureau’s rural-urban classification.

More information on socioeconomic conditions • Rural Emphasis Page • Contact Tim Parker, 202-694-5435.

Organic Agriculture

	2006	2007	2008

Number of certified operations	3	11	8
Crops (acres)	261	369	305
Pasture & rangeland (acres)
Total acres	261	369	305
More information on organic agriculture • Organic Production Data • Organic Agriculture Briefing Room • Contact Catherine Greene, 202-694-5541.

Farm Characteristics

	1997	2002	2007
1997, 2002 and 2007 Census of Agriculture

Approximate total land area (acres)	32,480,154	32,476,161	32,412,281
Total farmland (acres)	9,517,377	8,904,387	9,033,537
Percent of total land area	29.3	27.4	27.9

Cropland (acres)	4,435,041	3,732,751	3,142,958
Percent of total farmland	46.6	41.9	34.8
Percent in pasture	37.4	31.6	19.9
Percent irrigated	1.7	2.7	3.4

Harvested Cropland (acres)	2,179,636	1,995,139	1,994,743

Woodland (acres)	3,445,294	3,179,257	3,375,438
Percent of total farmland	36.2	35.7	37.4
Percent in pasture	25.5	25.3	17.5

Pastureland (acres)	1,162,345	1,514,500	2,017,079
Percent of total farmland	12.2	17.0	22.3

Land in house lots, ponds, roads, wasteland, etc. (acres)	474,697	477,879	498,062
Percent of total farmland	5.0	5.4	5.5

Conservation practices
Farmland in conservation or wetlands reserve programs (acres)	483,175	472,332	494,441

Average farm size (acres)	191	197	185

Farms by size (percent)
1 to 99 acres	58.5	57.8	60.3
100 to 499 acres	33.4	33.9	32.0
500 to 999 acres	4.9	5.0	4.6
1000 to 1,999 acres	2.2	2.2	2.0
2,000 or more acres	1.0	1.2	1.1

Farms by sales (percent)
Less than $9,999	72.4	71.1	69.2
$10,000 to $49,999	15.0	15.8	18.5
$50,000 to $99,999	3.0	2.8	2.6
$100,000 to $499,999	5.8	6.0	4.9
More than $500,000	3.8	4.3	4.8

Tenure of farmers
Full owner (farms)	33,966	32,157	35,069
Percent of total	68.1	71.3	71.9

Part owner (farms)	12,755	10,906	11,454
Percent of total	25.6	24.2	23.5

Tenant owner (farms)	3,151	2,063	2,230
Percent of total	6.3	4.6	4.6

Farm organization
Individuals/family, sole proprietorship (farms)	45,640	42,359	45,014
Percent of total	91.5	93.9	92.3

Family-held corporations (farms)	696	549	894
Percent of total	1.4	1.2	1.8

Partnerships (farms)	3,138	1,882	2,377
Percent of total	6.3	4.2	4.9

Non-family corporations (farms)	126	109	123
Percent of total	0.3	0.2	0.3

Others - cooperative, estate or trust, institutional, etc. (farms)	272	227	345
Percent of total	0.5	0.5	0.7

Characteristics of principal farm operators
Average operator age (years)	54.7	56.6	57.6
Percent with farming as their primary occupation	35.3	53.1	39.8
Men	45,262	40,305	42,309
Women	4,610	4,821	6,444

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

Farm Financial Indicators

	2009	2010
Farm income and value added data

Number of farms	48,500	48,500

	Thousands $
Final crop output	840,310	826,695
+ Final animal output	3,360,974	3,700,131
+ Services and forestry	748,600	729,309
= Final agricultural sector output	4,949,884	5,256,135

- Intermediate consumption outlays	3,125,072	3,585,083
+ Net government transactions	117,609	82,731
= Gross value added	1,942,420	1,753,784

- Capital consumption	476,694	487,287

= Net value added	1,465,726	1,266,497

- Factor payments	370,900	365,434
Employee compensation (total hired labor)	191,280	194,064
Net rent received by nonoperator landlords	-6	38
Real estate and nonreal estate interest	179,626	171,332

= Net farm income	1,094,827	901,063

More information on farm income • Farm Income Data • Farm Income and Costs Briefing Room • Contact Timothy Park, 202-694-5446.

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, 2010
1. Broilers	2,789,334	61.3	11.8
2. Cattle and calves	395,822	8.7	0.8
3. Chicken eggs	291,344	6.4	4.5
4. Greenhouse/nursery	255,319	5.6	1.6
5. Cotton	138,568	3.0	2.2

All commodities	4,553,193		1.4

More information on Alabama's top agriculture commodities • Leading commodities by cash receipts in Excel. • Other cash receipts data. • Contact Ted Covey, 202-694-5344.

	Rank among states	Value million $
Top 5 agriculture exports, estimates, FY 2010
1. Poultry and products	4	387.0
2. Cotton and linters	10	123.2
3. Other	20	73.1
4. Soybeans and products	25	59.5
5. Wheat and products	30	45.2

Total export value	31	802.3

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

	Percent of state total receipts	Thousands $
Top 5 counties in agricultural sales 2007
1. DeKalb County	9.4	414,301
2. Cullman County	9.2	405,872
3. Marshall County	5.4	238,190
4. Coffee County	4.5	196,565
5. Blount County	3.6	160,244

State total		4,415,550

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.
Current Population Survey, Food Security Supplements , 2002-2010, Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce.
Regional Economic Information System, April 2011, Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce.
1980, 1990, 2000, 2010 Census of Population, Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce.
2006-2010 American Community Survey, Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce.
Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce, Consolidated Federal Funds Report
Organic data, USDA, Economic Research Service, based on information from USDA-accredited State and private organic certifiers.
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: January 17, 2012