Careers / Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation

Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation — Career Decision Dashboard

United States

Opens your browser print dialog — choose “Save as PDF”.

Median annual wage

$46,340

United States, 2025

Employment

27,050

United States, 2025

Typical education

Not recorded

Job Zone 2

Skills identified

35

10 related careers

Career overview

Mix or apply pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides through sprays, dusts, vapors, soil incorporation, or chemical application on trees, shrubs, lawns, or crops. Usually requires specific training and state or federal certification.

O*NET code
37-3012.00
Job zone
2
Experience required
None

Typical tasks

  • Fill sprayer tanks with water and chemicals, according to formulas.
  • Record information about pesticide applications, such as the type used and amount applied.
  • Mix pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides for application to trees, shrubs, lawns, or botanical crops.
  • Start motors and engage machinery, such as sprayer agitators or pumps or portable spray equipment.
  • Lift, push, and swing nozzles, hoses, and tubes to direct spray over designated areas.
  • Establish driving routes for pesticide applications.
  • Clean or service machinery to ensure operating efficiency, using water, gasoline, lubricants, or hand tools.
  • Connect hoses and nozzles selected according to terrain, distribution pattern requirements, types of infestations, and velocities.

Choose a location

Salary analysis — United States

$35,570
10th
$39,160
25th
$46,340
Median
$51,240
75th
$61,420
90th

10th percentile

$35,570

25th percentile

$39,160

75th percentile

$51,240

90th percentile

$61,420

Most important skills

  • Time Management3.0
  • Operations Monitoring3.0
  • Operation and Control2.9
  • Critical Thinking2.9
  • Active Listening2.9
  • Judgment and Decision Making2.9
  • Social Perceptiveness2.9
  • Reading Comprehension2.9
  • Speaking2.8
  • Coordination2.8
  • Monitoring2.6
  • Complex Problem Solving2.6

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 2 identified skills

Matched

0

Missing

2

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

SkillImportanceRequired levelYour levelGap
Time Management3.02.9Not selected2.9
Operations Monitoring3.02.9Not selected2.9

Ordered by required level gap multiplied by O*NET importance. No prediction or recommendation is implied.

Related careers

How salary varies by location

LocationMedianEmploymentYear
Boston, MA$62,9902025
MA$62,9802025
Portland, OR$58,5501002025
Columbus, OH$55,830702025
Seattle, WA$54,5301102025
San Francisco, CA$54,4201002025
DE$54,190402025
Cleveland, OH$51,640502025
OR$51,5902902025
Boulder, CO$51,2702025
HI$51,240602025
Indianapolis, IN$51,2203302025
ND$50,4902802025
Cincinnati, OH$50,350702025
Bend, OR$50,150302025
Denver, CO$50,1504302025
OH$50,0604902025
Champaign, IL$49,740402025
Nashville, TN$49,6002025
Rochester, MN$49,550702025
All locations with published data

Career transition paths

Compare the skills of a career you hold today with Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation to see shared skills, target-only skills and skill overlap.

Build a transition comparison

Career 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.