Data Sets

State Fact Sheets: Maine

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

Data updated July 2, 2008

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Population, Income, Education, and Employment

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Population
Year
1980	504,196	620,847	1,125,043
1990	534,811	693,117	1,227,928
2000	538,643	736,280	1,274,923
2007 (latest estimates)	548,506	768,701	1,317,207
More information on Maine 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	28,598	34,347	31,951
2006	28,618	34,580	32,095
Percent change	0.1	0.7	0.5

Earnings per job (2006 dollars)
2005	31,317	39,131	36,081
2006	30,892	38,762	35,692
Percent change	-1.4	-1.0	-1.1

Poverty rate (percent)
1979	15.0	11.3	13.0
1989	12.9	9.2	10.8
1999	12.8	9.6	10.9
2005 (latest model-based estimates)	14.5	10.7	12.3
More information on Maine 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	32.8	30.2	31.3
1990	23.1	19.7	21.2
2000	16.6	13.2	14.6

Percent completing high school only
1980	40.0	38.8	39.3
1990	39.5	35.2	37.1
2000	39.2	33.9	36.2

Percent completing some college
1980	14.2	15.7	15.0
1990	21.5	24.1	23.0
2000	24.8	27.5	26.3

Percent completing college
1980	13.2	15.4	14.4
1990	16.0	21.0	18.8
2000	19.4	25.4	22.9
More information on Maine 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	323,848	505,768	829,616
2006	329,461	515,174	844,635

Unemployment rate (percent)
2006	5.5	4.0	4.6
2007	5.6	4.1	4.7
More information on Maine 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	0.9	1.1	1.1
2005-2006	1.4	1.3	1.3
2006-2007	-0.9	0.7	0.1

Percent of 2002 employment in farm and farm-related jobs
Total	15.9	13.8	14.6
Production	2.4	0.6	1.3
Farm inputs	0.1	0.0	0.1
Processing & marketing	1.6	1.5	1.5
Wholesale & retail trade	10.1	10.7	10.4
More information on farm employment • Farm and Farm-Related Employment data • Contact Tim Parker, 202-694-5435

* 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)	19.75	19.75	19.75
Total farmland (million acres)	1.26	1.31	1.37
Percent of total land area	6.4	6.6	6.9

Cropland (million acres)	0.56	0.58	0.54
Percent of total farmland	44.5	44.2	39.2
Percent in pasture	13.1	12.6	8.9
Percent irrigated	1.8	3.8	3.6

Harvested Cropland (million acres)	0.40	0.43	0.39

Woodland (million acres)	0.59	0.61	0.70
Percent of total farmland	47.3	46.7	51.3
Percent in pasture	8.6	7.1	5.5

Pastureland (million acres)	0.03	0.03	0.04
Percent of total farmland	2.4	2.4	3.0

Land in house lots, ponds, roads, wasteland, etc. (million acres)	0.07	0.09	0.09
Percent of total farmland	5.9	6.6	6.5

Conservation practices
Farmland in conservation or wetlands reserve programs (million acres)	0.01	0.03	0.03
Percent of total farmland	1.1	2.1	1.9

Average farm size (acres)	218	177	190

Farms by size (percent)
1 to 99 acres	42.9	52.8	56.1
100 to 499 acres	46.7	39.9	35.9
500 to 999 acres	7.8	5.3	5.5
1000 to 1,999 acres	2.1	1.5	1.9
2,000 or more acres	0.6	0.4	0.7

Farms by sales (percent)
Less than $9,999	56.3	65.1	70.8
$10,000 to $49,999	20.0	19.0	15.5
$50,000 to $99,999	7.8	5.4	4.3
$100,000 to $499,999	13.8	8.7	7.1
More than $500,000	1.9	1.9	2.3

Tenure of farmers
Full owner (farms)	3,733	5,055	5,242
Percent of total	64.6	68.3	72.8

Part owner (farms)	1,774	1,931	1,604
Percent of total	30.7	26.1	22.3

Tenant owner (farms)	269	418	350
Percent of total	4.7	5.6	4.9

Farm organization
Individuals/family, sole proprietorship (farms)	5,063	6,557	6,377
Percent of total	87.7	88.6	88.6

Family-held corporations (farms)	316	405	371
Percent of total	5.5	5.5	5.2

Partnerships (farms)	325	347	321
Percent of total	5.6	4.7	4.5

Non-family corporations (farms)	36	51	51
Percent of total	0.6	0.7	0.7

Others - cooperative, estate or trust, institutional, etc. (farms)	36	44	76
Percent of total	0.6	0.6	1.1

Characteristics of principal farm operators
Average operator age (years)	53.0	53.8	53.7
Percent with farming as their primary occupation	51.6	44.9	47.4
Men (persons)	5,082	6,250	5,637
Women (persons)	694	1,154	1,559

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

	2005	2006
Farm income and value added data

Number of farms	7,100	7,100

	Thousands $
Final crop output	229,141	321,790
+ Final animal output	295,772	283,297
+ Services and forestry	65,906	65,172
= Final agricultural sector output	590,819	670,259

- Intermediate consumption outlays	257,538	265,964
+ Net government transactions	-4,558	-14,290
= Gross value added	328,723	390,006

- Capital consumption	63,687	66,076

= Net value added	265,036	323,930

- Factor payments	102,064	107,110
Employee compensation (total hired labor)	75,014	77,138
Net rent received by nonoperator landlords	-278	-953
Real estate and nonreal estate interest	27,328	30,925

= Net farm income	162,972	216,820

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, 2006
1. Potatoes	129,548	21.9	4.4
2. Dairy products	83,790	14.2	0.4
3. Blueberries	60,040	10.1	10.8
4. Chicken eggs	51,288	8.7	1.2
5. Greenhouse/nursery	42,600	7.2	0.3

All commodities	591,674		0.2

More information on Maine'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. Vegetables and preparations	16	39.5
2. Fruits and preparations	10	32.4
3. Other	43	9.4
4. Poultry and products	30	5.6
5. Feeds and fodders	40	5.1

Overall rank	42	96.9

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. Aroostook County	26.1	121.2
2. Androscoggin County	20.8	96.6
3. Washington County	8.9	41.3
4. Kennebec County	6.5	30.2
5. Penobscot County	6.2	29.0

State total		463.6

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: July 2, 2008