Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025

$89,900

Half earn more, half earn less

Middle half earn

$66,300 – $118,860

25th to 75th percentile

People employed, May 2025

6,500

Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)

Projected change, 2025–35

-3.4%

Shrinking (below 0%)

Openings a year (projected)

70,800

New jobs plus replacing people who leave

Typical education to enter

High school diploma or equivalent

BLS

• All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
• Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
• Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Plan, direct, or coordinate the management or operation of farms, ranches, greenhouses, aquacultural operations, nurseries, timber tracts, or other agricultural establishments. May hire, train, and supervise farm workers or contract for services to carry out the day-to-day activities of the managed operation. May engage in or supervise planting, cultivating, harvesting, and financial and marketing activities.

Main tasks

• Collect and record growth, production, and environmental data.
• Manage nurseries that grow horticultural plants for sale to trade or retail customers, for display or exhibition, or for research.
• Direct and monitor trapping and spawning of fish, egg incubation, and fry rearing, applying knowledge of management and fish culturing techniques.
• Direct and monitor the transfer of mature fish to lakes, ponds, streams, or commercial tanks.
• Determine how to allocate resources and to respond to unanticipated problems, such as insect infestation, drought, and fire.
• Determine plant growing conditions, such as greenhouses, hydroponics, or natural settings, and set planting and care schedules.
• Devise and participate in activities to improve fish hatching and growth rates, and to prevent disease in hatcheries.
• Position and regulate plant irrigation systems, and program environmental and irrigation control computers.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)

High school diploma or equivalent

Work experience in a related job: 5 years or more

O*NET Job Zone 4

Considerable preparation

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 34 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

• Agricultural Technicians

  $49,630 median · +5.4% projected

• Agricultural Engineers

  $98,590 median · +6.9% projected

• Soil and Plant Scientists

  $78,850 median · +6.7% projected

• First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers

  $59,320 median · +3.8% projected

• Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary

  $98,700 median · +2.9% projected

• Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products

  $77,710 median · +6% projected