---
title: "Agricultural Engineer"
description: "Apply knowledge of engineering technology and biological science to agricultural problems concerned with power and machinery, electrification…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/agricultural-engineer"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Agricultural Engineer

**Category:** Architecture and Engineering · **SOC code:** 17-2021 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 17-2021.00

Apply knowledge of engineering technology and biological science to agricultural problems concerned with power and machinery, electrification, structures, soil and water conservation, and processing of agricultural products.

Also advertised as: Agricultural Engineer; Agricultural Systems Specialist; Conservation Engineer; Engineer; Field Engineer; Product Engineer; Product Technology Scientist; Project Engineer.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $98,590 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $47.40/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $68,060 to $166,460, with the middle half between $82,260 and $124,880
- **Total US employment:** 1,480
- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's
- **Preparation required:** Medium preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +6.9% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 100 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 34/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 1,480 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $68,060 |
| 25th | $82,260 |
| 50th (median) | $98,590 |
| 75th | $124,880 |
| 90th | $166,460 |
| Mean (average) | $108,230 |

### Pay by state

The 12 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| OH | $119,250 | $128,538 | 60 |
| MN | $115,940 | $117,561 | 60 |
| IA | $96,290 | $109,717 | 100 |
| TX | $95,220 | $98,107 | 50 |
| IN | $94,730 | $101,501 | 150 |
| MS | $91,560 | $105,298 | 40 |
| CO | $88,650 | $86,025 | 30 |
| OK | $86,970 | $99,006 | 120 |
| MI | $80,490 | $83,655 | Not published by BLS |
| PA | $80,300 | $82,298 | Not published by BLS |
| AR | $57,740 | $66,416 | 40 |
| PR | $40,690 | No BEA price parity | 40 |

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 1,500 in the 2025–2035 base year to 1,600 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 100 jobs, or +6.9%. Faster than average: 6.9% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 100 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Medium preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Bachelor's Degree | 75.0% |
| Master's Degree | 10.0% |
| Doctoral Degree | 10.0% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 5.0% |

## What the work involves

- Prepare reports, sketches, working drawings, specifications, proposals, and budgets for proposed sites or systems.
- Discuss plans with clients, contractors, consultants, and other engineers so that they can be evaluated and necessary changes made.
- Visit sites to observe environmental problems, to consult with contractors, or to monitor construction activities.
- Meet with clients, such as district or regional councils, farmers, and developers, to discuss their needs.
- Test agricultural machinery and equipment to ensure adequate performance.
- Provide advice on water quality and issues related to pollution management, river control, and ground and surface water resources.
- Conduct educational programs that provide farmers or farm cooperative members with information that can help them improve agricultural productivity.
- Design sensing, measuring, and recording devices, and other instrumentation used to study plant or animal life.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Science — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Evaluation — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Engineering and Technology — importance 4.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Computers and Electronics — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Design — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Physics — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Biology — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Inductive Reasoning — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Investigative (I), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 6.65 |
| I — Investigative | 6.29 |
| C — Conventional | 3.77 |
| E — Enterprising | 2.31 |
| A — Artistic | 2.19 |
| S — Social | 1.73 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTP | 85.5 |
| ISTJ | 84.2 |
| INTJ | 83.0 |
| INTP | 71.2 |
| ESTJ | 59.3 |

Best-fitting types: ISTP, ISTJ, INTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Soil and Plant Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/soil-and-plant-scientist) — median $78,850
- [Precision Agriculture Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/precision-agriculture-technician) — median $49,630
- [Industrial Ecologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/industrial-ecologist) — median $82,220
- [Conservation Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/conservation-scientist) — median $73,010
- [Environmental Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/environmental-engineer) — median $107,110
- [Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/biofuels-biodiesel-technology-and-product-development-manager) — median $171,270
- [Industrial Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/industrial-engineer) — median $102,440
- [Farmer or Agricultural Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/farmer-or-agricultural-manager) — median $89,900
- [Biofuels Production Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/biofuels-production-manager) — median $126,060
- [Water/Wastewater Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/water-wastewater-engineer) — median $100,840

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

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