Spreadsheet: 691d4047-0621-4d43-a4e5-539356dc229a
Sheet: Sheet1

Historic data on mean and median farm operator household income and ratio of farm household to U.S. household income, 1960-2012 | Unnamed: 1 | Unnamed: 2 | Unnamed: 3 | Unnamed: 4 | Unnamed: 5 | Unnamed: 6 | Unnamed: 7 | Unnamed: 8 | Unnamed: 9
Operator [NAME], 1960 to 2012 1/ 2/
Year | Farm household |  |  |  | U.S. household income 3/ | Ratio of farm household to U.S. household income | Farm household | U.S. household | Ratio of farm household to U.S. household income
 | Total income | Farm portion | Nonfarm portion | Ratio of farm to total income | Total income 3/ |  | Total income | Total income 3/
(Mean current dollars) |  |  |  |  |  |  | (Median current dollars)
1960 | 4054 | 1913 | 2141 | 0.4718796250616675 | 6227 | 0.6510358117873776 | na | na | na
1961 | 4567 | 2172 | 2395 | 0.4755857236698051 | 6471 | 0.7057641786431772 | na | na | na
1962 | 4901 | 2219 | 2682 | 0.4527647418894103 | 6670 | 0.7347826086956522 | na | na | na
1963 | 5285 | 2200 | 3085 | 0.4162724692526017 | 6998 | 0.7552157759359817 | na | na | na
1964 | 5689 | 2323 | 3367 | 0.408331868518193 | 7336 | 0.7754907306434023 | na | na | na
1965 | 6344 | 2552 | 3792 | 0.4022698612862547 | 7704 | 0.8234683281412254 | na | na | na
1966 | 7523 | 3261 | 4262 | 0.4334706898843547 | 8395 | 0.8961286480047648 | na | na | na
1967 | 7178 | 2593 | 4585 | 0.361242685984954 | 7989 | 0.8984854174489924 | na | na | na
1968 | 7850 | 2814 | 5036 | 0.3584713375796179 | 8760 | 0.8961187214611872 | na | na | na
1969 | 9009 | 3472 | 5537 | 0.3853923853923854 | 9544 | 0.9439438390611903 | na | na | na
1970 | 9472 | 3498 | 5974 | 0.3692989864864865 | 10001 | 0.9471052894710529 | na | na | na
1971 | 9822 | 3238 | 6584 | 0.3296680920382814 | 10383 | 0.9459693730135799 | na | na | na
1972 | 12329 | 4893 | 7436 | 0.3968691702490064 | 11286 | 1.092415381889066 | na | na | na
1973 | 17853 | 9099 | 8754 | 0.5096622416400605 | 12157 | 1.468536645554002 | na | na | na
1974 | 18201 | 8136 | 10065 | 0.4470084061315313 | 13094 | 1.390025966091339 | na | na | na
1975 | 15692 | 6212 | 9479 | 0.3958705072648483 | 13779 | 1.138834458233544 | na | na | na
1976 | 16461 | 5777 | 10684 | 0.3509507320332908 | 14922 | 1.10313630880579 | na | na | na
1977 | 14867 | 4232 | 10636 | 0.2846572946794915 | 16100 | 0.923416149068323 | na | na | na
1978 | 17953 | 5760 | 12193 | 0.3208377429955996 | 17730 | 1.012577552171461 | na | na | na
1979 | 18742 | 4857 | 13884 | 0.2591505709102551 | 19554 | 0.9584739695203027 | na | na | na
1980 | 18504 | 4285 | 14219 | 0.2315715520968439 | 21063 | 0.8785073351374448 | na | na | na
1981 | 17369 | 2696 | 14672 | 0.1552190684552939 | 22787 | 0.7622328520647738 | na | na | na
1982 | 20246 | 5112 | 15134 | 0.2524943198656525 | 24309 | 0.8328602575177918 | na | na | na
1983 | 20866 | 5305 | 15561 | 0.2542413495638838 | 25401 | 0.8214637219007126 | na | na | na
1984 | 23013 | 6227 | 16786 | 0.2705861904141137 | 27464 | 0.8379332944946112 | na | na | na
1985 | 35473 | 11417 | 24056 | 0.3218504214472979 | 29066 | 1.220429367646047 | na | na | na
1986 | 36796 | 12553 | 24243 | 0.3411512120882705 | 30759 | 1.196267759029877 | na | na | na
1987 | 41108 | 15659 | 25449 | 0.380923421231877 | 32410 | 1.268373958654736 | na | na | na
1988 4/ | 32131 | 3057 | 29074 | 0.09514176340605646 | 34017 | 0.9445571331981069 | na | na | na
1989 4/ | 30813 | 4451 | 26362 | 0.1444520170058092 | 36520 | 0.8437294633077765 | na | na | na
1990 4/ | 38237 | 4626 | 33611 | 0.1209822946360855 | 37403 | 1.022297676656953 | na | na | na
1991 | 37447 | 5810 | 31638 | 0.1551526156968515 | 37922 | 0.9874742893307314 | 25004 | 30126 | 0.8299807475270531
1992 | 42911 | 7180 | 35731 | 0.1673230640162196 | 38840 | 1.104814624098867 | 28302 | 30636 | 0.9238151194672933
1993 | 40223 | 4815 | 35408 | 0.1197076299629565 | 41428 | 0.970913391908854 | 28446 | 31241 | 0.9105342338593515
1994 | 42469 | 4376 | 38092 | 0.1030398643716593 | 43133 | 0.9846057542948554 | 29712 | 32264 | 0.9209025539300769
1995 | 44392 | 4720 | 39671 | 0.1063254640475761 | 44938 | 0.9878499265654902 | 30702 | 34076 | 0.9009860312243221
1996 | 50876.5130201431 | 6756.43446199735 | 44120.0785581459 | 0.132800659104179 | 47123 | 1.079653524184434 | 27467 | 35492 | 0.773892708215936
1997 | 52563.526824376 | 6205.32889852729 | 46358.1979258489 | 0.1180538916131025 | 49692 | 1.057786501335748 | 34001 | 37005 | 0.918821780840427
1998 | 59404.7251266977 | 6048.66284563806 | 53356.0622810595 | 0.1018212412015634 | 51855 | 1.145593002154039 | 40181 | 38885 | 1.033329047190433
1999 | 64166.8398572204 | 6178.53478037346 | 57988.3050768471 | 0.09628859383010768 | 54737 | 1.172275423520112 | 43786 | 40696 | 1.075928838215058
2000 | 62222.567848008 | 2871.83668631606 | 59350.731161692 | 0.04615426179985272 | 57135 | 1.089044680983775 | 43520 | 41990 | 1.036437246963563
2001 | 63982.8089019192 | 5301.10000920579 | 58681.7088927133 | 0.08285194257932588 | 58208 | 1.099209883554137 | 44805 | 42228 | 1.06102585961921
2002 | 65760.8017881442 | 3476.81730103899 | 62283.9844871049 | 0.05287066468927716 | 57852 | 1.136707491325178 | 46491.25 | 42409 | 1.096259048786814
2003 | 68597.4627264909 | 7884.35803858192 | 60713.1046879089 | 0.1149365840252448 | 59067 | 1.161350038540825 | 47692 | 43318 | 1.100974190867538
2004 | 80603.7460740599 | 13324.7325975056 | 67279.0134765541 | 0.1653115797529142 | 60466 | 1.333042471373332 | 53529 | 44334 | 1.20740289619705
2005 5/ | 81317.2845131072 | 14226.5619655451 | 67090.7225475621 | 0.1749512671349961 | 63344 | 1.283740914894973 | 54550 | 46326 | 1.17752450028062
2006 | 81043.054287906 | 8541.46544197034 | 72501.5888459364 | 0.1053941700127284 | 66570 | 1.217411060356106 | 56274 | 48201 | 1.16748615173959
2007 | 88796.406561475 | 11364.2212774536 | 77432.185284021 | 0.1279806437841152 | 67609 | 1.313381451603707 | 54428 | 50233 | 1.083510839487986
2008 | 79796.0479653722 | 9763.60045799423 | 70032.4475073779 | 0.1223569425672708 | 68424 | 1.166199695507018 | 51431 | 50303 | 1.022424109894042
2009 | 77168.5549576753 | 6866.45191740628 | 70302.1030402692 | 0.08897992091691141 | 67976 | 1.135232360799036 | 52235 | 49777 | 1.0493802358519
2010 | 84458.7179152139 | 11788.1666388369 | 72670.5512763771 | 0.1395731184395998 | 67530 | 1.250684405674721 | 54162 | 49445 | 1.095398928101931
2011 | 87290.0627891397 | 14624.8109584075 | 72665.2518307321 | 0.1675426788698228 | 69677 | 1.252781589177773 | 57050 | 50054 | 1.139769049426619
2012 6/ | 108843.623158466 | 22087.0005591483 | 86756.6225993188 | 0.2029241577799346 | 71274 | 1.52711540194834 | 68298 | 51017 | 1.338730227179176
na = Not available.
1/ Prior to 1984, operator household income was derived by assuming farm operator households received all of the income from the farm business. This is not a valid assumption. For example, contractors now receive approximately one-fourth of aggregate farm sector net cash income.
2/ Data from 1960 through 1987 are not fully consistent with the FCRS and ARMS data available from 1988 forward. The 1960-1987 income series was developed to be definitionally consistent with the CPS family/household income series as much as the available data permit. Gross rental value of farm dwellings, the value of home-produced food, and the value of the change in inventories were subtracted from net farm income, while the value of wages that farm businesses paid members of farm operator households was added when it became available in 1982. The early estimates presented in this table utilize the methodology presented in Ahearn, with revised sector estimates. See: Ahearn, [NAME]. Financial Well-Being of Farm Operators and Their Households. AER-563. USDA, ERS, Sept. 1986. From 1988 forward, income from both farm and nonfarm sources are derived from the FCRS or ARMS. Consistent with the Census Bureau's definition of self-employment income, farm income to the household is defined as the net cash farm income less depreciation (adjusted for the share received by the primary operator household in the case of multiple-household farms). We also include the income that all farm household members receive from all other sources. Most farm households receive some off-farm income, including off-farm wages and salaries, the net income of any off-farm businesses, interest and dividends, and any other off-farm cash income received by household members. Data for all years are expanded to represent the number of farms and ranches in the contiguous United States.
3/ For 1960-66 data are for families. For 1967 forward, data are for households. Source: US Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Money Income of Households, Families, and Persons in the United States. Series [NAME], various years, and unpublished Historical Income Tables--Households, Table H-5 (http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/h01ar.html), revised August 27, 2004.
4/ Revised estimates, based on weights that expand the count of farms to match the official USDA number of farms. These estimates differ from other 1988-1990 estimates based on earlier weights that expanded the count of farms to represent the farm operator households surveyed in USDA's Farm Cost and Returns Survey.
5/ The current definition of a family farm (used for the 2005 and forward estimates) is based on the Agricultural Resource Management Survey and is one in which the majority of the farm business assets are owned by individuals related by blood, marriage, or adoption. Farm operator households consist of households of the primary operators of family farms. Household members include all persons dependent on the household for financial support, whether they live in the household or not. (Students away at school, for example, are counted as household members if they are dependents.)
6/ Differences between 2012 estimates and estimates from prior years reflect improved sample coverage (particularly among very small farms) and changes in survey methodology and implementation associated with the 2012 Agricultural Resource Management Survey in addition to changes in the economic situation of farm households. One such change in survey methodology is the use of an expanded range of value codes to solicit off-farm income information, allowing farm households to report much higher incomes. These survey design changes make comparisons between farm household statistics calculated using 2012 survey data with those from earlier surveys difficult to interpret.