California's Working Landscapes: Evolving Contributions to National, State and Regional Economies
California is well known to be the nation’s largest agricultural producer and sole producer of many specialty agricultural products. However, California’s working landscapes extend beyond agriculture and the major agricultural production areas in the state. The state’s vast and diverse working landscapes are key contributors to regional, statewide, and national economies.
This study updates and builds on a pioneering 2019 report which identified nine segments associated with working landscapes and analyzed their economic contributions across the state. As in its predecessor, this report focuses on nine segments of the working landscapes: agricultural distribution, agricultural processing, agricultural pro-duction, agricultural support, fishing, forestry, mining, outdoor recreation, and renewable energy. We analyze how these segments contribute to the state, regional, and national economy in 2024 by summarizing the number of jobs they provide, total worker earnings, total industry sales, and number of businesses.