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General
<br />Marion County is located in the Willamette Valley in western Oregon approximately 45 miles
<br />south of Portland. The largest city is Salem which is both the county seat and the state capital.
<br />The county encompasses approximately 1,194 squaze miles with bounda.ries defined in part by the
<br />Willamette River on the north and west, the Santiam River on the south, and the summit of the
<br />Cascade Range on the east.
<br />Sa1em and Keizer, wluch are contiguous, form a metropolitan area of more than 153,000 (July
<br />1997). Woodburn, the third largest city with more than 16,000 residents, lies in north Marion
<br />County. There are a total of 20 incorporated cities and 37 unincorporated rural communities.
<br />Economy
<br />The county leads the state in agriculture in both dollar value of crops and diversity of agricultural
<br />products.
<br /> Gross Farm Sales ($000)
<br />Year Acres Harvested Crops Livestock and
<br />Animal Products Tota1
<br />1997 181,687 $361,040 $76,045 $437,085
<br />1996 181,880 355,051 77,535 432,586
<br />1995 185,231 334,058 75,576 409,634
<br />1994 188,160 312,347 74,367 386,714
<br />1993 186,040 286,141 73,856 359,997
<br />1992 191,245 278,882 72,929 351,811
<br />1991 191,546 269,281 65,910 335,191
<br />1992
<br />Number of Fa.rms 2,494
<br />Acres in Farms 302,462
<br />Average Size 121
<br />Totai Sales $313,155,000
<br />Average Sa1es per Farm $125,563
<br />1987
<br />2,586
<br />306,740
<br />119
<br />$207,700,000
<br />$80,317
<br />Source: U. S. Census of Agriculture
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