INTRODUCTION

This report presents statistics on residents of farms and rural areas as reported in the Current Population Survey (CPS). Based on that survey, the 1991 estimate of the rural farm population is 4,632,000; the estimate of the rural population (which includes both rural farm and nonfarm residents) is 67,962,000 persons. This report provides information on the geographic and regional distributions of the farm and rural populations, and the text details demographic, social, economic, and educational characteristics of the farm and nonfarm populations.

The 1991 estimates in this report are inflated to national population controls by age, race, sex, and Hispanic origin. The population controls are based on results of the 1980 census carried forward to 1991. The estimates in this report, therefore, may differ from estimates that would have been obtained using 1990 census results brought forward to the survey date.

Most of the information in this report comes from either annual averages of monthly CPS data or that survey's Annual Demographic March supplement. The small size of the farm population does not enable statistically reliable estimates to be derived from the CPS for states and local areas. Data in this report adhere to 1980 decennial census definitions and do not reflect changes made for, or as the result of, the 1990 census. Historical data from decennial censuses are also included.

The farm resident population consists of persons living on farms in rural areas. It does not include persons living on the relatively few farms that are located in urban areas. The Bureau of the Census defines a farm as a place that sold $1,000 or more in agricultural products during the previous year.

The rural population is defined as persons living in the open countryside or in places with fewer than 2,500 residents that are not located within an urbanized area. The nonfarm population includes both (1) persons living in rural areas but not on a farm (rural nonfarm population) and (2) persons living in urban areas (urban population).

HIGHLIGHTS

(Figures in parentheses denote 90 percent confidence intervals. Details of the calculation and interpretation of statistical confidence measures are contained in Appendix B, Source and Accuracy of Estimates.)

Farm Residents

• The estimated number of persons residing on farms in 1991-4,632,000 (±193,000)—was essentially unchanged from the previous year.

• Farm residents accounted for 1.9 (±0.1) percent of the total population of the United States.

• The Midwest was home to a larger proportion of the Nation's population residing on farms-49.3 (±2.0) percent- than any other region of the country. In contrast, the Midwest's total population (farm and nonfarm populations combined) was 24.2 (±0.4) percent of the U.S. total.

• White persons comprise nearly all of the farm resident population, with Black and other races only about 3 percent of the total.

• Educational disparities for men 25 years old and over by farm and nonfarm residence were quite large. Among male farm residents, 29.1 (±4.0) percent had at least some college education as compared to 42.8 (±0.5) percent of male nonfarm residents. The educational attainment of farm and nonfarm women were comparable.

Rural Residents

• Slightly more than one-quarter of the nation's population27.3 (±0.5) percent or 68 million (±1,168,000) persons— resided in rural areas in 1991.

• The South had both the largest total number of residents at 85 million (±1 million) and the highest proportion of its residents living in rural areas, 43.6 (±1.0) percent, of any region of the country.

SIZE OF THE FARM RESIDENT AND RURAL AREA POPULATIONS

Farm resident population. The 4,632,000 farm residents in 1991 accounted for 1.9 percent of the total population and 6.8 percent of the rural population (table A and figure 1). The farm population dropped below the 5 million threshold for the first time in 1990. Year-to-year differences in the share of the total population accounted for by farm residents has fluctuated since 1985, remaining at about two percent.

Although there was an apparent increase of 41,000 in the farm population over the past year, the 1991 number is not statistically different from the 1990 number. A difference of approximately 271,000 persons would be needed to be significant at the 90 percent confidence level.

The 1990 Census of Population and Housing reported that 3,871,583 persons lived on farms or 719,000 fewer than the CPS estimate for that year. The difference between these two numbers results from differences in methodologies of the two data collection efforts and from the continued use of 1980 census delineations of urban and rural areas in the 1990 CPS (see next section).

Rural area population. The 67,962,000 rural residents in 1991 accounted for 27.3 percent of the total population (figure 2). The rural population increased by approximately 1,751,000 persons since 1989, but year-to-year changes between 1989 and 1991 were not significant (table B). The rural population increased by 2.6 percent versus 1.9 percent in urban areas in the last two years, although rural growth in absolute numbers was comparable to urban growth.

The 1990 Census of Population and Housing reported that 61,658,330 Americans lived in rural areas or 5.3 million fewer than the CPS for the same year. The difference between these two figures is largely attributable to declines in the rural count that resulted from the redefinition of territory from rural to urban categories in conjunction with 1990 census operations. These changes include the recategorization of persons living in areas that had been rural in 1980 but were redefined as urban in 1990 through the expansion of urbanized areas into previously rural territory or the recategorization of places from rural to urban that exceeded the 2,500 population threshold used to define urban places. These changes are not recorded in the 1990 CPS count of the rural population as it retains urban and rural delineations from the 1980 census.

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION

Metropolitan and nonmetropolitan distribution. In 1991, three-quarters (74.1 percent) of the 4.6 million farm resident population lived in nonmetropolitan areas

'Total population figures for 1980 and later years are from the Current Population Survey. Total population figures from 1985 and later years are consistent with the 1980 census population controls. Figures are annual averages for 1985 to the present. Decennial figures for 1970 and earlier years are from the census of population.

2Farm resident population figures for 1960 and later years are from the Current Population Survey; figures for 1920-1950 are from Farm Population Estimates, 1910-70, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Statistical Bulletin No. 523, U.S.G.P.O., 1973. Figures are annual averages for 1985 to the present; five-quarter averages centered on April for 1960 to 1980. Figures for 1985 and later years are consistent with the 1980 census population controls. Appendix A contains further information.

"The 1980 estimate of the farm resident population is based on population controls from the 1970 census and thus is not directly comparable to the estimates for 1985 and later years.

*Appendix A contains current and previous farm definitions. "The 1970 census count of the U.S. resident population was revised to 203,302,031 subsequent to the publication of 1970 printed reports.

*The 1910 and earlier estimates are from Farm Population: 1880 to 1950, Bureau of the Census Technical Paper No.3, U.S.G.P.O., 1960. These farm resident population estimates are based on relationships between the number of farms and average size of farm families for each census year.

(table C). The rate of decline of the farm population between 1986 and 1991 was comparable in nonmetropolitan and metropolitan areas. A slight majority of the nation's 68 million rural residents, 53.6 percent, lived in nonmetropolitan areas in 1991 (figure 3). However, 71.2 percent of the rural growth in the last five years occurred within metropolitan areas. Nonfarm population growth accounted for all of the rural area growth during this period.

Regional distribution. About half of the farm population, 49.3 percent, was located in the Midwest. The regional distribution of farm residents has changed only slightly since 1970 when 44.3 percent of farm residents

lived in the Midwest and 38.7 percent lived in the South. As recently as 1950, however, this situation was essentially the opposite, with the South home to 51.6 percent of the nation's farm population and the Midwest home to 32.3 percent. This reversal in the regional concentration of farm residents was due to rapid declines in the number of Southern farm residents rather than to any Midwestern increases.

Regionally, the rural population is most concentrated in the South, with 43.6 percent of the total in 1991. More than a third (34.8 percent) of the South's total population lived in rural areas. The South accounted for 56.4 percent of the increase in rural population from 1986 to 1991.

SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS

Age, sex, and marriage. The median age of farm residents was 39.1 years old, compared with 33.1 years for nonfarm residents. There was no difference between farm females and males in median age, although nonfarm females had an older median age than nonfarm males.

Dependency ratios (the ratio of the number of persons who are under the age of 15 and over the age of

64 to the number of persons aged 15 to 64) provide indicators of the size of the "dependent" population as a ratio of those who are "economically active" (i.e., those most likely to be participants in the labor force). Dependency ratios were similar by farm and nonfarm residence categories, but when disaggregated into their separate components, some important farm-nonfarm differences exist. The elderly dependency ratio (ratio of the 64 and over population to those aged 15 to 64), for instance, was greater in the farm resident population than the nonfarm population. The youth dependency ratio (ratio of the under 15 population to the 15 to 64 population) was greater in the nonfarm population. The higher farm elderly dependency ratios reflect differences in the farm and nonfarm age distribution, with the farm population being older than the nonfarm population largely as a result of prolonged outmigration of farm youth.

The farm sex ratio, 113 males per 100 females, was far higher than the nonfarm sex ratio of 94 males per 100 females. Historically, farm sex ratios have been higher relative to nonfarm sex ratios.

There was no difference between farm men and women in the likelihood with which they had ever married. Among nonfarm adults, men were seven percent less likely than women to have ever married.

'Post-1980 total and rural area populations are annual averages from the Current Population Survey and are consistent with the 1980 census population controls.

Total and rural area populations for 1980 and earlier census years are from the decennial census of population.

"The 1970 census count of the U.S. resident population was revised to 203,302,031 subsequent to the publication of 1970 printed reports. The unrevised total is used throughout this report when it appears with urban or rural figures as those figures were not revised. *Appendix A contains current and previous rural definitions.

Households and families. In 1991, 1.7 percent of all households were farm households. Apparent recent year to year decreases in this percentage have not been statistically significant, but the 1991 figure does represent a decline from 1987, when farm households accounted for 2 percent of the nation's households. The percentage of farm households that were family households was 85.7 percent, while only 70.0 percent of nonfarm households were of this type.

More than nine out of ten farm families were maintained by a married couple, compared with less than eight out of ten nonfarm families. Farm families were one-quarter as likely to be maintained by a woman with no husband present as nonfarm families. Slightly over a third of farm families contained children under 18, while about half of nonfarm families did. Among families with

children, there was no difference between farm and nonfarm families in the proportions with children under the age of six.

The average number of persons per family was similar for both farm and nonfarm families - they round to 3.2 persons for both groups. Large families were no more prevalent among farm residents than those living off farms.

Race. White persons continue by far to be the largest racial group in the farm resident population. Blacks and other races combined constituted only three percent of the farm population. Although Whites made up the largest share of both farm and nonfarm populations, a higher percentage of farm residents were White than nonfarm residents.

ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS

Labor force. Sixty-nine percent of farm residents who were fifteen years and older participated in the labor force compared with 65.1 percent of nonfarm residents. The overall difference between the farm and nonfarm labor force participation rates is derived from the disparity among men -80.9 percent of farm men versus 74.3 percent of nonfarm men. The labor force participation rates of farm and nonfarm women were similar, about 57.0 percent.

Unemployment rates were lower among farm residents than among those living off farms (2.3 versus 6.9 percent). This overall farm-nonfarm difference existed among both men and women (2.0 versus 7.2 percent unemployed for farm versus nonfarm men; 2.8 versus 6.5 percent unemployed for farm versus nonfarm women). No statistically significant difference exists between the unemployment rates of farm men and women.

Occupation. The share of male farm residents employed in farming occupations was more than double the share of female farm residents employed in farming. Twothirds of all persons in farm occupations were nonfarm residents, largely because so many of today's hired farm workers do not live on farms. Only about two percent of all nonfarm residents were employed in farm occupations, however. In comparison, 45.6 percent of farm residents were employed in farm occupations. A higher percentage (34.1 percent) of the farm resident population was employed as a farm operator or manager than in any other occupation. The highest share of employed nonfarm residents, 31.2 percent, worked in technical, sales, and administrative support positions. The small proportion of females that were farm operators or managers has not changed significantly in the last five years. Industry. Only one-quarter of employed female farm residents worked in agriculture. Nearly half of the farm women working in nonagricultural industries were in