Agricultural Equipment Operators vs Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse: $42K vs $36K Median Pay

Agricultural Equipment Operators vs Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse: what changes?

Consider Agricultural Equipment Operators if you want to 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. Consider Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse if you would rather manually plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables, fruits, nuts, horticultural specialties, and field crops. Both list no formal educational credential; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Agricultural Equipment Operators and Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Agricultural Equipment Operators

National median pay (2025): $41,730
Route into the job: No formal educational credential; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Load and unload crops or containers of materials, manually or using conveyors, handtrucks, forklifts, or transfer augers.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 10,100

Know before you choose

Operating or riding in vehicles is a recurring part of the work rather than an occasional trip.

See the full Agricultural Equipment Operators brief

Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse

National median pay (2025): $35,660
Route into the job: No formal educational credential; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Record information about crops, such as pesticide use, yields, or costs.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 72,500

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 2.4% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse brief

How the national numbers differ

Agricultural Equipment Operators has the edge on projected growth

Agricultural Equipment Operators is at 8.6% projected growth, compared with -2.4% projected growth for Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse.

Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse has the edge on annual openings

Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse is at 72,500 annual openings, compared with 10,100 annual openings for Agricultural Equipment Operators.

Agricultural Equipment Operators has the edge on median pay

Agricultural Equipment Operators is at $41,730, compared with $35,660 for Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse.

57.8/ 100

Agricultural Equipment Operators

45.8/ 100

Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Agricultural Equipment Operators vs Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse

Dimension	Agricultural Equipment Operators	Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse
Median pay (2025)	$41,730	$35,660
Pay percentile	13.5 percentile	3.7 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	8.6%	-2.4%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	10,100	72,500
2025 employment	66,900	546,800
How you qualify	No formal educational credential; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing	No formal educational credential; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 2	Job Zone 2
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.	One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Agricultural Equipment Operators brief Read Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse brief

Agricultural Equipment Operators vs Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Agricultural Equipment Operators

Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse

How the national numbers differ

Agricultural Equipment Operators has the edge on projected growth

Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse has the edge on annual openings

Agricultural Equipment Operators has the edge on median pay

Agricultural Equipment Operators vs Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse

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