> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.investigatemidwest.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# GRAPHIC: For family farms, most income comes from far afield
- URL: https://www.investigatemidwest.org/graphic-for-family-farms-most-income-comes-far-afield/
- Published: 2021-10-14T18:50:11.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-23T18:10:59.000Z
- Description: Almost all farm households in 2019 derived some income from off-farm sources, such as pensions, investment income, or wages and salary from an off-farm job.
- Author: Amanda Perez Pintado, Investigate Midwest/Report for America
- Tags: Data Harvest, TP::Explainer, farm income, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-06-18 04:56

Off-farm income contributed an average of 82% of total income for family farms in 2019, according to [a U.S. Department of Agriculture analysis](https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2021/september/off-farm-income-a-major-component-of-total-income-for-most-farm-households-in-2019/?ref=investigatemidwest.org).

Almost all farm households in 2019 derived some income from off-farm sources, such as pensions, investment income, or wages and salary from an off-farm job. But small family farms — defined in this instance as having income less than $350,000 — depended on it the most.

About half of U.S. farms, [according to the USDA](https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/gallery/chart-detail/?chartId=58426&ref=investigatemidwest.org), are considered very small, with annual farm sales under $10,000\. Small-scale operators of these farms tend to rely on off-farm sources for most of their household income.

In small “off-farm occupation” farms, where the operator reports a main occupation that’s not farming, off-farm sources of income in 2019 made up 84% of all earnings.

In contrast, “very large” farms, with an annual gross cash farm income of $5 million or more, earned only 7% of their total income from off-farm sources in 2019.

*Amanda Perez Pintado is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms.*