Most farmers receive off-farm income; small-scale operators depend on it

Median total household income among all farm households ($95,418) exceeded the median total household income for all U.S. households ($74,580) in 2022. Median household income and income from farming increased with farm size and most households earned some income from off-farm employment. About 88 percent of U.S. farms are small family farms, with gross cash farm income less than $350,000. The households operating these farms typically rely on off-farm sources for the majority of their household income. In contrast, the median household operating large-scale farms earned $505,833 in 2022, and most of that came from farming.

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