Data Sets

State Fact Sheets: Maryland

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

Data updated October 21, 2009

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Population, Income, Education, and Employment

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Population
Year
1980	213,339	4,003,594	4,216,933
1990	244,802	4,536,666	4,781,468
2000	276,055	5,020,431	5,296,486
2008 (latest estimates)	302,052	5,331,545	5,633,597
More information on Maryland population • County-level Population Data • Rural Population and Migration Briefing Room • Contact John Cromartie, 202-694-5421.

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Income
Per-capita income (2007 dollars)
2006	36,370	45,630	45,139
2007	37,545	46,974	46,471
Percent change	6.5	5.9	5.9

Earnings per job (2007 dollars)
2006	37,682	53,315	52,451
2007	38,070	53,727	52,859
Percent change	2.1	1.5	1.6

Poverty rate (percent)
1979	12.7	9.7	9.8
1989	10.5	8.1	8.3
1999	10.0	8.4	8.5
2007 (latest model-based estimates)	9.9	8.2	8.3
More information on Maryland 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

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Education (Persons 25 and older)
Percent not completing high school
1980	44.4	31.9	32.6
1990	28.1	21.2	21.6
2000	18.9	16.0	16.2

Percent completing high school only
1980	33.0	32.5	32.5
1990	36.6	27.7	28.1
2000	36.8	26.1	26.7

Percent completing some college
1980	11.1	14.8	14.6
1990	20.2	24.0	23.8
2000	24.5	25.7	25.7

Percent completing college
1980	11.9	20.8	20.4
1990	15.1	27.1	26.5
2000	19.8	32.1	31.4
More information on Maryland 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
2006	187,977	3,210,752	3,398,729
2007	190,640	3,246,862	3,437,502

Unemployment rate (percent)
2007	4.2	3.5	3.5
2008	5.2	4.3	4.4
More information on Maryland 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
2005-2006	1.9	2.2	2.1
2006-2007	-0.2	0.4	0.4
2007-2008	-0.7	-0.5	-0.5

* Urban and rural (metro and nonmetro) definitions 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

	1997	2002	2007
1997, 2002 and 2007 Census of Agriculture

Approximate total land area (acres)	6,204,053	6,294,540	6,251,090
Total farmland (acres)	2,193,063	2,077,630	2,051,756
Percent of total land area	35.3	33.0	32.8

Cropland (acres)	1,617,860	1,487,218	1,405,442
Percent of total farmland	73.8	71.6	68.5
Percent in pasture	9.5	7.2
Percent irrigated	4.2	5.4	6.5

Harvested Cropland (acres)	1,377,747	1,282,004	1,246,603

Woodland (acres)	356,363	356,626	373,002
Percent of total farmland	16.2	17.2	18.2
Percent in pasture	12.2	12.5

Pastureland (acres)	103,171	120,419	156,375
Percent of total farmland	4.7	5.8	7.6

Land in house lots, ponds, roads, wasteland, etc. (acres)	115,669	113,367	116,937
Percent of total farmland	5.3	5.5	5.7

Conservation practices
Farmland in conservation or wetlands reserve programs (acres)	27,529	57,397	85,046

Average farm size (acres)	165	170	160

Farms by size (percent)
1 to 99 acres	62.6	63.7	65.4
100 to 499 acres	30.0	28.5	27.6
500 to 999 acres	4.6	4.6	4.2
1000 to 1,999 acres	2.1	2.3	2.0
2,000 or more acres	0.7	0.9	0.9

Farms by sales (percent)
Less than $9,999	53.5	60.5	58.5
$10,000 to $49,999	20.3	16.8	18.5
$50,000 to $99,999	6.3	5.5	5.4
$100,000 to $499,999	14.6	11.8	10.0
More than $500,000	5.4	5.4	7.6

Tenure of farmers
Full owner (farms)	8,530	8,479	9,035
Percent of total	64.4	69.5	70.4

Part owner (farms)	3,315	2,704	2,763
Percent of total	25.0	22.2	21.5

Tenant owner (farms)	1,409	1,015	1,036
Percent of total	10.6	8.3	8.1

Farm organization
Individuals/family, sole proprietorship (farms)	11,308	10,577	10,609
Percent of total	85.3	86.7	82.7

Family-held corporations (farms)	741	642	846
Percent of total	5.6	5.3	6.6

Partnerships (farms)	1,039	763	1,038
Percent of total	7.8	6.3	8.1

Non-family corporations (farms)	71	84	131
Percent of total	0.5	0.7	1.0

Others - cooperative, estate or trust, institutional, etc. (farms)	95	132	210
Percent of total	0.7	1.1	1.6

Characteristics of principal farm operators
Average operator age (years)	54.9	55.9	57.3
Percent with farming as their primary occupation	49.2	57.2	48.8
Men	11,640	10,281	10,618
Women	1,614	1,917	2,216

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

Farm Financial Indicators

	2007	2008
Farm income and value added data

Number of farms	12,850	12,850

	Thousands $
Final crop output	630,500	836,398
+ Final animal output	1,074,901	1,143,676
+ Services and forestry	435,678	450,608
= Final agricultural sector output	2,141,079	2,430,682

- Intermediate consumption outlays	1,234,124	1,435,872
+ Net government transactions	-24,937	-26,024
= Gross value added	882,018	968,786

- Capital consumption	227,677	236,938

= Net value added	654,341	731,848

- Factor payments	256,078	233,277
Employee compensation (total hired labor)	161,192	154,344
Net rent received by nonoperator landlords	-2,406	-14,478
Real estate and nonreal estate interest	97,292	93,411

= Net farm income	398,263	498,571

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, 2008
1. Broilers	790,076	40.2	3.4
2. Greenhouse/nursery	218,543	11.1	1.4
3. Corn	200,221	10.2	0.4
4. Dairy products	194,180	9.9	0.6
5. Soybeans	135,821	6.9	0.5

All commodities	1,965,060		0.6

More information on Maryland's top agriculture commodities • Leading commodities for cash receipts in a text file • Contact Ted Covey, 202-694-5344.

	Rank among states	Value million $
Top 5 agriculture exports, estimates, FY 2008
1. Poultry and products	12	118.6
2. Other	18	113.9
3. Soybeans and products	22	95.1
4. Wheat and products	35	77.5
5. Feed grains and products	26	70.7

Overall rank	35	528.7

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. Wicomico County	10.8	197,828
2. Somerset County	10.5	192,563
3. Caroline County	10.1	186,039
4. Worcester County	10.1	185,771
5. Dorchester County	9.1	166,732

State total		1,835,090

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 2008, 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 21, 2009