More hired farmworkers are located in metropolitan areas

Hired farmworkers include field crop workers, nursery workers, livestock workers, farmworker supervisors, and hired farm managers. Hired farmworkers make up less than 1 percent of all U.S. wage and salary workers, but they play an essential role in U.S. agriculture. In 2010, the Current Population Survey (conducted by the Census Bureau) estimated average hired farm employment at 755,000. Of these farmworkers, 62 percent work in crop agriculture, and the remaining 38 percent work in livestock. Roughly 37 percent of all hired farmworkers live in the Southwest (defined to include California), and 24 percent live in the West region. Two States--California and Texas--account for more than one-third of all farmworkers. More farmworkers are located in metropolitan areas (59 percent) than in nonmetro counties. In California, 99 percent of farmworkers are located in metro areas, and in Washington State the figure is 95 percent. This chart is from the Farm Labor topic page on the ERS website.

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