USDA Economic Research Service Data Sets
" "  
Search ERS

 
Data Sets

Print this page Print | E-mail this link E-mail | Bookmark & Share Bookmark/share | Translate this page Translate | Text only Text only | resize text smallresize text mediumresize text large

State Fact Sheets: Nebraska
• 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

Data Download
Need help?
Questions & Answers
Excel file NE-Fact-Sheet.xls
PDF file NE-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Population, Income, Food Insecurity, Education, and Employment

Population
  Rural * Urban * Total
Year
    1980 799,868 769,957 1,569,825
    1990 751,172 827,213 1,578,385
    2000 768,760 942,503 1,711,263
    2010 754,973 1,071,368 1,826,341

More information on Nebraska population
• County-level Population Data
• Rural Population and Migration Briefing Room
• Contact John Cromartie, 202-694-5421.

Income
  Rural * Urban * Total
Per-capita income (2009 dollars)
    2008 36,514 42,491 40,003
    2009 36,007 41,676 39,332
    Percent change -1.4 -1.9 -1.7
 
Earnings per job (2009 dollars)
    2008 38,857 47,627 44,157
    2009 38,281 48,174 44,241
    Percent change -1.5 1.1 0.2
 
Poverty rate (percent)
    1979 12.4 9.0 10.7
    1989 12.7 9.7 11.1
    1999 10.9 8.7 9.7
    2010 (latest model-based estimates) 12.5 12.8 12.6

More information on Nebraska 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

Household-level Food Insecurity and Very Low Food Security
  2002-04 Avg. 2005-07 Avg. 2008-10 Avg.
Percent of households
    Food insecure 10.7 9.5 12.7
    Very low food security 3.7 3.4 5.2

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.

Education (Persons 25 and older)
  Rural * Urban * Total
Percent not completing high school
    1980 (Census) 30.7 22.1 26.6
    1990 (Census) 22.1 14.4 18.2
    2000 (Census) 15.9 11.3 13.4
    2006-2010 (ACS) 11.9 8.6 10.0
 
Percent completing high school only
    1980 (Census) 42.0 39.1 40.6
    1990 (Census) 38.8 30.8 34.7
    2000 (Census) 36.4 26.9 31.3
    2006-2010 (ACS) 35.7 25.0 29.6
 
Percent completing some college
    1980 (Census) 15.9 18.8 17.3
    1990 (Census) 25.7 30.5 28.2
    2000 (Census) 31.0 32.1 31.6
    2006-2010 (ACS) 33.3 32.2 32.7
 
Percent completing college
    1980 (Census) 11.4 20.0 15.5
    1990 (Census) 13.4 24.3 18.9
    2000 (Census) 16.8 29.7 23.7
    2006-2010 (ACS) 19.1 34.2 27.7

More information on Nebraska education
• County-level Education Data
• Rural Labor and Education Briefing Room
• Contact Alexander Marré, 202-694-5338

Employment
  Rural * Urban * Total
Total number of jobs
    2008 490,328 749,073 1,239,401
    2009 484,653 734,378 1,219,031
 
Percent employment change
    2007-2008 -0.1 1.4 0.8
    2008-2009 -2.6 -2.8 -2.7
    2009-2010 0.3 -0.7 -0.3
 
Unemployment rate (percent)
    2009 4.5 5.0 4.8
    2010 4.2 4.9 4.7

More information on Nebraska unemployment rates
• County-level Unemployment and Median Household Income Data
• Rural Labor and Education Briefing Room
• Contact Lorin Kusmin, 202-694-5429

Federal Funds, FY 2010
  Rural * Urban * Total
Federal funding, dollars per person
   All Federal funds 9,174 10,111 9,724
 
Federal funding by purpose (function codes)
      Agriculture and natural resources 1,074 113 510
      Community resources 1,016 2,191 1,706
      Defense and space 247 1,474 967
      Human resources 209 162 181
      Income security 5,836 4,607 5,115
      National functions 792 1,564 1,245
 
Federal funding by type of payments (object codes)
      Grants 1,270 1,313 1,295
      Direct loans 330 362 349
      Guaranteed/insured loans 861 2,126 1,604
      Retirement/disability payments 3,283 2,708 2,946
      Other direct payments to
      individuals		 1,702 1,206 1,410
      Direct payments, not to
      individuals		 886 112 432
      Procurement contracts 249 1,041 714
      Salaries and wages 593 1,242 974

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 131 165 211
Crops (acres) 107,458 123,743 129,858
Pasture & rangeland (acres) 16,178 25,865 53,174
Total acres 123,637 149,608 183,032

More information on organic agriculture
• Organic Production Data
• Organic Agriculture Briefing Room
• Contact Catherine Greene, 202-694-5541.

Farm Characteristics

1997, 2002 and 2007 Census of Agriculture
 
  1997 2002 2007
Approximate total land area (acres) 49,201,722 49,198,344 49,168,368
    Total farmland (acres) 45,853,656 45,903,116 45,480,358
        Percent of total land area 93.2 93.3 92.5
 
        Cropland (acres) 22,633,381 22,520,874 21,486,025
            Percent of total farmland 49.4 49.1 47.2
            Percent in pasture 8.3 8.4 4.2
            Percent irrigated 30.7 33.3 39.3
 
            Harvested Cropland (acres) 17,897,591 17,336,624 18,169,876
 
        Woodland (acres) 436,981 382,151 409,785
            Percent of total farmland 1.0 0.8 0.9
            Percent in pasture 56.4 61.2 56.1
 
        Pastureland (acres) 21,621,524 21,940,679 22,619,904
            Percent of total farmland 47.2 47.8 49.7
 
        Land in house lots, ponds,
        roads, wasteland, etc. (acres)		 1,161,770 1,059,412 964,644
            Percent of total farmland 2.5 2.3 2.1
 
Conservation practices
        Farmland in conservation or
        wetlands reserve programs
        (acres)		 1,276,757 1,166,443 1,396,457
 
Average farm size (acres) 841 930 953
 
Farms by size (percent)
            1 to 99 acres 23.2 23.4 27.5
            100 to 499 acres 36.5 35.0 32.8
            500 to 999 acres 19.5 18.3 16.2
            1000 to 1,999 acres 12.4 13.4 12.5
            2,000 or more acres 8.4 9.9 11.0
 
Farms by sales (percent)
            Less than $9,999 25.1 30.5 31.5
            $10,000 to $49,999 26.0 24.1 16.5
            $50,000 to $99,999 14.9 13.4 11.0
            $100,000 to $499,999 29.3 26.3 28.6
            More than $500,000 4.6 5.7 12.4
 
Tenure of farmers
        Full owner (farms) 24,700 24,191 23,989
            Percent of total 45.3 49.0 50.3
 
        Part owner (farms) 20,283 18,646 17,958
            Percent of total 37.2 37.8 37.6
 
        Tenant owner (farms) 9,556 6,518 5,765
            Percent of total 17.5 13.2 12.1
 
Farm organization
        Individuals/family, sole
        proprietorship (farms)		 44,985 42,835 39,848
            Percent of total 82.5 86.8 83.5
 
        Family-held corporations
        (farms)		 4,177 2,950 3,394
            Percent of total 7.7 6.0 7.1
 
        Partnerships (farms) 4,736 3,080 3,616
            Percent of total 8.7 6.2 7.6
 
        Non-family corporations (farms) 219 115 177
            Percent of total 0.4 0.2 0.4
 
        Others - cooperative, estate or
        trust, institutional, etc. (farms)		 422 375 677
            Percent of total 0.8 0.8 1.4
 
Characteristics of principal farm operators
        Average operator age (years) 52.5 53.9 55.9
        Percent with farming as their
         primary occupation		 67.8 73.0 60.5
        Men 51,591 46,350 43,687
        Women 2,948 3,005 4,025
 

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

Farm Financial Indicators

Farm income and value added data
  2009 2010
 
Number of farms 47,200 47,200
 
  Thousands $
       Final crop output 8,658,455 8,546,026
+     Final animal output 7,215,379 8,373,700
+     Services and forestry 1,319,959 1,264,308
=   Final agricultural sector output 17,193,793 18,184,034
 
-      Intermediate consumption outlays 10,608,739 10,801,593
+     Net government transactions -322,170 -310,260
=   Gross value added 6,262,884 7,072,181
 
-      Capital consumption 888,246 904,232
 
=   Net value added 5,374,638 6,167,949
 
-    Factor payments 2,104,277 2,216,576
         Employee compensation (total hired labor) 554,307 466,476
         Net rent received by nonoperator landlords 787,355 1,026,846
         Real estate and nonreal estate interest 762,615 723,254
 
=   Net farm income 3,270,362 3,951,373
 

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

Top 5 agriculture commodities, 2010
  Value of receipts
thousand $		 Percent of state total
farm receipts		 Percent of US value
1. Cattle and calves 7,193,865 41.6 14.0
2. Corn 5,347,448 30.9 11.9
3. Soybeans 2,647,762 15.3 8.0
4. Hogs 815,836 4.7 4.6
5. Wheat 326,594 1.9 3.0
 
All commodities 17,282,579   5.5
 

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

Top 5 agriculture exports, estimates, FY 2010
  Rank among states Value
million $
1. Soybeans and products 4 1,776.2
2. Feed grains and products 3 1,322.4
3. Live animals and meat 2 1,056.6
4. Hides and skins 1 383.8
5. Feeds and fodders 6 248.8
 
Total export value 5 5,317.3
 

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

Top 5 counties in agricultural sales 2007
  Percent of state total receipts Thousands $
1. Cuming County 5.5 856,613
2. Dawson County 3.8 588,547
3. Custer County 3.3 513,770
4. Phelps County 3.0 470,220
5. Lincoln County 2.8 431,868
 
State total   15,506,035
 

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



Data Sources

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