Agricultural Equipment Operators Salary in the United States
The median annual wage for agricultural equipment operators in the U.S. is $41,730 ($20.06 per hour), according to the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 estimates.
- Median annual wage
- $41,730
- Mean annual wage
- $43,710
- Median hourly wage
- $20.06
- Employment
- 28,500
28,500 employed
Wage percentiles
| Percentile | Annual wage | Hourly wage |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $33,500 | $16.11 |
| 25th percentile | $36,810 | $17.70 |
| Median (50th) | $41,730 | $20.06 |
| 75th percentile | $48,100 | $23.12 |
| 90th percentile | $58,650 | $28.20 |
Highest-paying states for agricultural equipment operators
| State | Median annual wage | Employment |
|---|---|---|
| Montana | $58,770 | 130 |
| Louisiana | $58,520 | 270 |
| New York | $50,020 | — |
| Delaware | $49,910 | 40 |
| Massachusetts | $49,150 | 40 |
| Minnesota | $48,520 | 900 |
| North Dakota | $48,080 | 430 |
| South Dakota | $48,060 | 240 |
| Virginia | $47,890 | 120 |
| Iowa | $47,220 | 1,530 |
Lowest-paying states
- Arkansas: $32,060 median annual wage
- Alabama: $33,910 median annual wage
- Texas: $34,260 median annual wage
- South Carolina: $34,490 median annual wage
- Oklahoma: $34,900 median annual wage
About this occupation
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.
Typical tasks
- Operate towed machines such as seed drills or manure spreaders to plant, fertilize, dust, and spray crops.
- Irrigate soil, using portable pipes or ditch systems, and maintain ditches or pipes and pumps.
- Weigh crop-filled containers, and record weights and other identifying information.
- Guide products on conveyors to regulate flow through machines, and to discard diseased or rotten products.
- Drive trucks to haul crops, supplies, tools, or farm workers.
- Load hoppers, containers, or conveyors to feed machines with products, using forklifts, transfer augers, suction gates, shovels, or pitchforks.
Education of the current workforce — typical entry: No formal educational credential
| Education level | Share of workers |
|---|---|
| Less than high school diploma | 46.2% |
| High school diploma or equivalent | 28.8% |
| Some college, no degree | 10.7% |
| Associate's degree | 4.8% |
| Bachelor's degree | 7.8% |
| Master's degree | 1.3% |
| Doctoral or professional degree | 0.5% |
Occupation profile data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Related occupations
- Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse$35,660
- Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals$36,670
- First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers$59,320
- Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products$35,730
- Logging Equipment Operators$49,740
- Agricultural Inspectors$49,940
- Forest and Conservation Workers$43,680
- Agricultural Workers, All Other$39,850
About this data
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — data period May 2025, retrieved August 13, 2026.
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics — data period May 2025, retrieved August 13, 2026.
- CareerOneStop Occupation Profiles — data period 2026-08, retrieved August 14, 2026.
Figures are shown exactly as published by the source or derived by the documented formulas on our methodology page. Where a source suppresses an estimate, we show “—” rather than a substitute value.