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State Fact Sheets: Iowa

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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Excel file IA-Fact-Sheet.xls
PDF file IA-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Population, Income, Food Insecurity, Education, and Employment

Population
  Rural * Urban * Total
Year
    1980 1,485,545 1,428,263 2,913,808
    1990 1,354,928 1,421,827 2,776,755
    2000 1,362,732 1,563,592 2,926,324
    2010 1,324,641 1,721,714 3,046,355

More information on Iowa 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 36,125 39,571 38,068
    2009 35,684 39,143 37,647
    Percent change -1.2 -1.1 -1.1
 
Earnings per job (2009 dollars)
    2008 38,103 45,277 42,292
    2009 37,553 45,506 42,229
    Percent change -1.4 0.5 -0.1
 
Poverty rate (percent)
    1979 11.0 9.3 10.1
    1989 11.7 11.3 11.5
    1999 9.1 9.1 9.1
    2010 (latest model-based estimates) 12.5 12.5 12.5

More information on Iowa 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 10.2 11.7 12.1
    Very low food security 3.1 4.5 4.9

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) 31.9 24.7 28.5
    1990 (Census) 22.6 17.2 19.9
    2000 (Census) 15.7 12.3 13.9
    2006-2010 (ACS) 11.4 8.9 10.1
 
Percent completing high school only
    1980 (Census) 44.0 42.1 42.9
    1990 (Census) 41.4 35.6 38.5
    2000 (Census) 40.2 32.3 36.1
    2006-2010 (ACS) 39.5 30.1 34.4
 
Percent completing some college
    1980 (Census) 13.8 15.7 14.7
    1990 (Census) 23.5 26.0 24.7
    2000 (Census) 28.5 29.1 28.8
    2006-2010 (ACS) 31.3 30.8 31.0
 
Percent completing college
    1980 (Census) 10.7 17.6 13.9
    1990 (Census) 12.5 21.2 16.9
    2000 (Census) 15.6 26.4 21.2
    2006-2010 (ACS) 17.8 30.1 24.5

More information on Iowa 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 829,725 1,164,505 1,994,230
    2009 801,839 1,144,103 1,945,942
 
Percent employment change
    2007-2008 -0.4 1.0 0.4
    2008-2009 -3.4 -1.4 -2.3
    2009-2010 -0.4 -0.1 -0.2
 
Unemployment rate (percent)
    2009 6.3 5.2 5.6
    2010 6.5 5.9 6.1

More information on Iowa 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 9,701 10,186 9,975
 
Federal funding by purpose (function codes)
      Agriculture and natural resources 888 204 501
      Community resources 819 1,432 1,166
      Defense and space 342 1,092 767
      Human resources 157 135 145
      Income security 6,467 4,932 5,598
      National functions 1,028 2,391 1,799
 
Federal funding by type of payments (object codes)
      Grants 1,332 1,320 1,325
      Direct loans 619 1,016 844
      Guaranteed/insured loans 646 1,330 1,033
      Retirement/disability payments 3,371 2,757 3,023
      Other direct payments to
      individuals
2,302 1,714 1,969
      Direct payments, not to
      individuals
666 159 379
      Procurement contracts 312 1,135 778
      Salaries and wages 453 755 624

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 454 533 677
Crops (acres) 61,571 73,863 88,989
Pasture & rangeland (acres) 8,053 17,723 19,083
Total acres 69,624 91,586 108,072

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) 35,759,932 35,756,387 35,747,594
    Total farmland (acres) 32,313,119 31,729,490 30,747,550
        Percent of total land area 90.4 88.7 86.0
 
        Cropland (acres) 27,713,041 27,153,291 26,316,332
            Percent of total farmland 85.8 85.6 85.6
            Percent in pasture 7.5 5.0 3.2
            Percent irrigated 0.5 0.5 0.7
 
            Harvested Cropland (acres) 24,008,826 23,994,343 23,799,380
 
        Woodland (acres) 1,406,516 1,336,752 1,193,303
            Percent of total farmland 4.4 4.2 3.9
            Percent in pasture 47.2 41.1 33.5
 
        Pastureland (acres) 1,524,668 1,735,421 1,914,924
            Percent of total farmland 4.7 5.5 6.2
 
        Land in house lots, ponds,
        roads, wasteland, etc. (acres)
1,668,894 1,504,026 1,322,991
            Percent of total farmland 5.2 4.7 4.3
 
Conservation practices
        Farmland in conservation or
        wetlands reserve programs
        (acres)
1,863,808 1,694,138 2,050,714
 
Average farm size (acres) 334 350 331
 
Farms by size (percent)
            1 to 99 acres 31.1 35.0 41.2
            100 to 499 acres 46.9 42.3 38.1
            500 to 999 acres 15.6 14.4 12.7
            1000 to 1,999 acres 5.5 6.9 6.4
            2,000 or more acres 0.9 1.5 1.7
 
Farms by sales (percent)
            Less than $9,999 29.0 35.4 38.6
            $10,000 to $49,999 23.4 21.5 15.3
            $50,000 to $99,999 14.7 12.9 10.6
            $100,000 to $499,999 28.7 25.0 25.4
            More than $500,000 4.2 5.3 10.2
 
Tenure of farmers
        Full owner (farms) 47,132 49,889 53,492
            Percent of total 48.7 55.0 57.6
 
        Part owner (farms) 33,908 30,265 28,937
            Percent of total 35.1 33.4 31.2
 
        Tenant owner (farms) 15,665 10,501 10,427
            Percent of total 16.2 11.6 11.2
 
Farm organization
        Individuals/family, sole
        proprietorship (farms)
81,074 78,699 77,452
            Percent of total 83.8 86.8 83.4
 
        Family-held corporations
        (farms)
5,913 4,900 6,029
            Percent of total 6.1 5.4 6.5
 
        Partnerships (farms) 8,688 5,792 6,990
            Percent of total 9.0 6.4 7.5
 
        Non-family corporations (farms) 426 379 480
            Percent of total 0.4 0.4 0.5
 
        Others - cooperative, estate or
        trust, institutional, etc. (farms)
604 885 1,905
            Percent of total 0.6 1.0 2.1
 
Characteristics of principal farm operators
        Average operator age (years) 52.3 54.3 56.1
        Percent with farming as their
         primary occupation
60.1 68.3 52.4
        Men 91,604 84,451 84,404
        Women 5,101 6,204 8,452
 

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 92,600 92,400
 
  Thousands $
       Final crop output 13,209,589 12,437,360
+     Final animal output 8,371,496 10,192,855
+     Services and forestry 2,432,959 1,993,021
=   Final agricultural sector output 24,014,044 24,623,236
 
-      Intermediate consumption outlays 14,157,179 14,282,651
+     Net government transactions 66,400 276,290
=   Gross value added 9,923,265 10,616,875
 
-      Capital consumption 1,698,978 1,728,828
 
=   Net value added 8,224,287 8,888,047
 
-    Factor payments 3,456,189 3,805,923
         Employee compensation (total hired labor) 593,024 583,066
         Net rent received by nonoperator landlords 1,744,568 2,155,549
         Real estate and nonreal estate interest 1,118,597 1,067,308
 
=   Net farm income 4,768,099 5,082,124
 

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. Corn 8,026,017 34.5 17.9
2. Hogs 5,308,561 22.8 29.7
3. Soybeans 4,802,414 20.7 14.5
4. Cattle and calves 2,919,605 12.6 5.7
5. Chicken eggs 824,319 3.5 12.7
 
All commodities 23,246,412   7.4
 

More information on Iowa'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 1 3,291.9
2. Feed grains and products 1 1,873.7
3. Live animals and meat 1 1,402.7
4. Feeds and fodders 7 172.1
5. Poultry and products 19 66.9
 
Total export value 2 7,041.3
 

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. Sioux County 5.5 1,121,144
2. Kossuth County 2.3 467,808
3. Plymouth County 2.3 467,302
4. Lyon County 2.2 453,112
5. Carroll County 2.2 442,654
 
State total   20,418,096
 

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