Careers / Agricultural Equipment Operators
Agricultural Equipment Operators — Career Decision Dashboard
United States
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Report generated from official BLS OEWS and O*NET data — United States.
Median annual wage
$41,730
United States, 2025
Employment
28,500
United States, 2025
Typical education
Less than a High School Diploma
Job Zone 2
Skills identified
35
10 related careers
Career overview
Drive and control equipment to support agricultural activities such as tilling soil; planting, cultivating, and harvesting crops; feeding and herding livestock; or removing animal waste. May perform tasks such as crop baling or hay bucking. May operate stationary equipment to perform post-harvest tasks such as husking, shelling, threshing, and ginning.
- O*NET code
- 45-2091.00
- Job zone
- 2
- Experience required
- None
Typical tasks
- Load and unload crops or containers of materials, manually or using conveyors, handtrucks, forklifts, or transfer augers.
- Mix specified materials or chemicals, and dump solutions, powders, or seeds into planter or sprayer machinery.
- Spray fertilizer or pesticide solutions to control insects, fungus and weed growth, and diseases, using hand sprayers.
- Observe and listen to machinery operation to detect equipment malfunctions.
- Manipulate controls to set, activate, and adjust mechanisms on machinery.
- Operate or tend equipment used in agricultural production, such as tractors, combines, and irrigation equipment.
- Adjust, repair, and service farm machinery and notify supervisors when machinery malfunctions.
- Attach farm implements such as plows, discs, sprayers, or harvesters to tractors, using bolts and hand tools.
Choose a location
Salary analysis — United States
10th percentile
$33,500
25th percentile
$36,810
75th percentile
$48,100
90th percentile
$58,650
Most important skills
- Operation and Control3.9
- Operations Monitoring3.8
- Troubleshooting3.1
- Equipment Maintenance3.0
- Quality Control Analysis3.0
- Repairing3.0
- Active Listening3.0
- Critical Thinking2.9
- Social Perceptiveness2.9
- Speaking2.8
- Monitoring2.8
- Coordination2.8
What skills do you need?
Select the skills you already have
Skills listed are those O*NET rates at importance 3.0 or above for this occupation. Set your own level on the same 0–7 O*NET scale.
Skill coverage
0%
0 of 7 identified skills
Matched
0
Missing
7
Your selected skills cover approximately 0% of the skills identified for this occupation in O*NET. This is a coverage measure of listed skills only — it is not a qualification, hiring or interview outcome.
Skills to develop
| Skill | Importance | Required level | Your level | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operation and Control | 3.9 | 3.8 | Not selected | 3.8 |
| Operations Monitoring | 3.8 | 3.6 | Not selected | 3.6 |
| Troubleshooting | 3.1 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Equipment Maintenance | 3.0 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Repairing | 3.0 | 3.0 | Not selected | 3.0 |
| Active Listening | 3.0 | 2.9 | Not selected | 2.9 |
| Quality Control Analysis | 3.0 | 2.8 | Not selected | 2.8 |
Ordered by required level gap multiplied by O*NET importance. No prediction or recommendation is implied.
Related careers
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Compare with Agricultural Equipment OperatorsHow salary varies by location
| Location | Median | Employment | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| MT | $58,770 | 130 | 2025 |
| LA | $58,520 | 270 | 2025 |
| Cincinnati, OH | $54,380 | 50 | 2025 |
| Minneapolis, MN | $53,680 | 180 | 2025 |
| Lafayette, IN | $52,100 | 30 | 2025 |
| Columbus, OH | $51,050 | 50 | 2025 |
| NY | $50,020 | — | 2025 |
| Sioux City, IA | $49,990 | 50 | 2025 |
| DE | $49,910 | 40 | 2025 |
| Dubuque, IA | $49,440 | 40 | 2025 |
| Madison, WI | $49,410 | 110 | 2025 |
| Philadelphia, PA | $49,220 | 140 | 2025 |
| MA | $49,150 | 40 | 2025 |
| Fargo, ND | $48,710 | 70 | 2025 |
| Mankato, MN | $48,520 | 70 | 2025 |
| MN | $48,520 | 900 | 2025 |
| Medford, OR | $48,510 | 40 | 2025 |
| Terre Haute, IN | $48,330 | 40 | 2025 |
| Eau Claire, WI | $48,250 | 30 | 2025 |
| ND | $48,080 | 430 | 2025 |
Career transition paths
Compare the skills of a career you hold today with Agricultural Equipment Operators to see shared skills, target-only skills and skill overlap.
Build a transition comparisonCareer and skills data: O*NET 31.0.
Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025 (May 2025 release).
Figures are periodic published survey snapshots, not real-time market rates.