Data Sets

State Fact Sheets: Georgia

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

Data updated June 30, 2009

Data Download
Need help?
Questions & Answers
Excel file

GA-fact-sheet.xls

Population, Income, Education, and Employment

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Population
Year
1980	1,345,794	4,117,188	5,462,982
1990	1,426,633	5,051,583	6,478,216
2000	1,659,998	6,526,455	8,186,453
2008 (latest estimates)	1,800,395	7,885,349	9,685,744
More information on Georgia 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	24,690	35,199	33,219
2007	24,827	35,494	33,499
Percent change	1.1	1.7	1.7

Earnings per job (2007 dollars)
2006	30,939	48,431	45,605
2007	30,876	48,039	45,321
Percent change	-0.4	-1.6	-1.2

Poverty rate (percent)
1979	22.5	14.7	16.6
1989	21.0	12.9	14.7
1999	18.5	11.6	13.0
2007 (latest model-based estimates)	19.8	13.1	14.3
More information on Georgia 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	57.6	39.0	43.6
1990	41.9	25.5	29.1
2000	31.3	18.9	21.4

Percent completing high school only
1980	25.0	29.7	28.5
1990	32.6	28.8	29.6
2000	35.6	26.9	28.7

Percent completing some college
1980	9.0	14.8	13.3
1990	15.4	23.8	22.0
2000	20.5	26.9	25.6

Percent completing college
1980	8.6	16.6	14.6
1990	10.2	21.9	19.3
2000	12.6	27.3	24.3
More information on Georgia 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	875,624	4,544,214	5,419,838
2007	880,760	4,679,222	5,559,982

Unemployment rate (percent)
2007	5.1	4.5	4.6
2008	7.1	6.1	6.2
More information on Georgia 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	2.9	3.1	3.1
2006-2007	-0.5	2.0	1.6
2007-2008	-1.5	-0.6	-0.7

* 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)	37,067,991	37,059,923	36,798,743
Total farmland (acres)	11,262,838	10,744,239	10,150,539
Percent of total land area	30.4	29.0	27.6

Cropland (acres)	5,572,570	4,676,567	4,478,168
Percent of total farmland	49.5	43.5	44.1
Percent in pasture	20.3	18.5	13.1
Percent irrigated	13.6	18.1	22.0

Harvested Cropland (acres)	3,894,737	3,245,784	3,390,437

Woodland (acres)	4,013,830	4,285,708	3,712,672
Percent of total farmland	35.6	39.9	36.6
Percent in pasture	17.6	20.7	14.0

Pastureland (acres)	911,788	1,173,187	1,341,985
Percent of total farmland	8.1	10.9	13.2

Land in house lots, ponds, roads, wasteland, etc. (acres)	764,650	608,777	617,714
Percent of total farmland	6.8	5.7	6.1

Conservation practices
Farmland in conservation or wetlands reserve programs (acres)	504,779	458,183	331,166

Average farm size (acres)	228	218	212

Farms by size (percent)
1 to 99 acres	55.9	58.5	59.9
100 to 499 acres	33.8	31.6	30.9
500 to 999 acres	5.7	5.5	5.2
1000 to 1,999 acres	3.1	2.8	2.6
2,000 or more acres	1.6	1.5	1.5

Farms by sales (percent)
Less than $9,999	65.6	69.3	67.7
$10,000 to $49,999	15.0	14.8	15.1
$50,000 to $99,999	4.2	3.2	3.1
$100,000 to $499,999	9.5	7.7	7.1
More than $500,000	5.6	5.0	7.0

Tenure of farmers
Full owner (farms)	36,076	37,393	36,526
Percent of total	73.1	75.8	76.3

Part owner (farms)	10,164	9,589	9,299
Percent of total	20.6	19.4	19.4

Tenant owner (farms)	3,103	2,329	2,021
Percent of total	6.3	4.7	4.2

Farm organization
Individuals/family, sole proprietorship (farms)	43,523	45,050	41,703
Percent of total	88.2	91.4	87.2

Family-held corporations (farms)	1,712	1,322	1,691
Percent of total	3.5	2.7	3.5

Partnerships (farms)	3,560	2,490	3,850
Percent of total	7.2	5.0	8.0

Non-family corporations (farms)	179	162	218
Percent of total	0.4	0.3	0.5

Others - cooperative, estate or trust, institutional, etc. (farms)	369	287	384
Percent of total	0.7	0.6	0.8

Characteristics of principal farm operators
Average operator age (years)	55.6	56.5	57.8
Percent with farming as their primary occupation	40.2	50.9	42.0
Men	43,576	42,856	40,314
Women	5,767	6,455	7,532

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

Farm Financial Indicators

	2006	2007
Farm income and value added data

Number of farms	49,000	47,500

	Thousands $
Final crop output	2,216,862	2,401,233
+ Final animal output	3,576,946	4,332,599
+ Services and forestry	1,371,008	1,425,397
= Final agricultural sector output	7,164,816	8,159,229

- Intermediate consumption outlays	4,201,500	4,417,628
+ Net government transactions	350,885	197,519
= Gross value added	3,314,201	3,939,120

- Capital consumption	551,669	569,850

= Net value added	2,762,532	3,369,270

- Factor payments	702,005	734,159
Employee compensation (total hired labor)	317,884	339,618
Net rent received by nonoperator landlords	95,840	85,283
Real estate and nonreal estate interest	288,281	309,258

= Net farm income	2,060,527	2,635,111

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. Broilers	3,187,848	46.8	14.9
2. Cotton	536,775	7.9	8.7
3. Chicken eggs	437,491	6.4	6.6
4. Greenhouse/nursery	350,000	5.1	2.0
5. Peanuts	324,324	4.8	42.5

All commodities	6,813,539		2.4

More information on Georgia'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 2008
1. Cotton and linters	2	583.9
2. Poultry and products	1	555.1
3. Peanuts and products	1	152.7
4. Wheat and products	26	148.6
5. Other	19	101.7

Overall rank	18	2,065.7

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. Franklin County	4.6	326,175
2. Colquitt County	3.6	256,506
3. Mitchell County	3.5	250,216
4. Tattnall County	3.0	210,854
5. Hart County	2.9	204,599

State total		7,112,866

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: June 30, 2009