Agricultural Equipment Operators Career, Salary and Skills
Agricultural Equipment Operators have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $41,730 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 28,500. Wage data is published for 117 locations.
Occupation description
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
Typical education
Less than a High School Diploma
Experience
None
National salary and employment
Median annual
$41,730
Hourly median
$20.06
Employment
28,500
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Operation and Control | 3.88 | 3.75 |
| Operations Monitoring | 3.75 | 3.62 |
| Troubleshooting | 3.12 | 3.00 |
| Quality Control Analysis | 3.00 | 2.75 |
| Equipment Maintenance | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| Active Listening | 3.00 | 2.88 |
| Repairing | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| Critical Thinking | 2.88 | 2.75 |
| Social Perceptiveness | 2.88 | 2.12 |
| Coordination | 2.75 | 2.50 |
Typical tasks
- 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.
- Load and unload crops or containers of materials, manually or using conveyors, handtrucks, forklifts, or transfer augers.
Technology
- Farm Management Software Hay and Crop Manager
- Martens Farms Farm Site Mate
- Martens Farms Farm Trac
- Microsoft Access
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft PowerPoint
Agricultural Equipment Operators salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Agricultural Equipment Operators Salary in CAMedian $38,820 · Employment 7,940
- Agricultural Equipment Operators Salary in TXMedian $34,260 · Employment 2,200
- Agricultural Equipment Operators Salary in ILMedian $46,050 · Employment 1,910
- Agricultural Equipment Operators Salary in IAMedian $47,220 · Employment 1,530
- Agricultural Equipment Operators Salary in NEMedian $46,670 · Employment 1,090
- Agricultural Equipment Operators Salary in Fresno, CAMedian $36,650 · Employment 910
- Agricultural Equipment Operators Salary in MNMedian $48,520 · Employment 900
- Agricultural Equipment Operators Salary in MOMedian $46,490 · Employment 900
- Agricultural Equipment Operators Salary in WIMedian $47,100 · Employment 830
- Agricultural Equipment Operators Salary in INMedian $46,280 · Employment 810
- Agricultural Equipment Operators Salary in FLMedian $36,660 · Employment 790
- Agricultural Equipment Operators Salary in AZMedian $36,600 · Employment 730
Related careers
- Maintenance Workers, MachineryNational median $60,850
- Packers and Packagers, HandNational median $36,280
- Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersNational median $46,570
- Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment OperatorsNational median $53,340
- Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except SawingNational median $43,380
- Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and TendersNational median $43,220
- Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface MiningNational median $57,430
- Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass FibersNational median $46,350
Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.