Agricultural Technicians

Moderate Risk
Low High

Explore safer careers (5)

Lower estimated automation risk

Soil and Plant Scientists
10% automation risk | Minimal Risk
Pays better
40.1 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Uses crop, soil, pest, yield, and research knowledge with additional scientific education.

Forest and Conservation Technicians
28% automation risk | Low Risk
Pays better More jobs
21.7 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Related field sampling, land observation, records, equipment, and natural-resource data collection.

Geographic Information Systems Technologists and Technicians
28% automation risk | Low Risk
Pays better Higher growth
22.4 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Uses field-location data, mapping, yield patterns, and spatial records with GIS tool training.

Animal Scientists
10% automation risk | Minimal Risk
Pays better
39.8 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Fits technicians with animal breeding, nutrition, specimen, and research support experience.

Precision Agriculture Technicians
27% automation risk | Low Risk
22.6 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Direct move using crop data, field sampling, sensors, equipment, and yield-improvement workflows.

Compare this job with others
or search for another job
Share your results with friends and family.

Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
4.0/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

50% (Moderate Risk)

Moderate Risk (41-60%): This occupation may be meaningfully affected by automation. Some parts of the role may be suitable for AI, software, or robotics, while others still rely on human skill, judgement, trust, or real-world context. People in this range may benefit from building skills that complement automation and reduce replacement risk.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Originality

Quite important
Why this matters
Coming up with novel ideas and creative solutions when there isn’t an obvious playbook to follow.
Jobs that also use this strength

Decision-making and problem solving

Quite important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
Jobs that also use this strength

Instructing

Quite important
Why this matters
Teaching or coaching others—explaining steps, giving feedback, and adapting to different learners so they can do the work safely and correctly.
Jobs that also use this strength

Active learning

Quite important
Why this matters
Keeps learning from new information and applying it to make better decisions now and in the future, especially when situations change.
Jobs that also use this strength

What users think

Based on 27 votes

52% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted they are unsure if this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 50% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Agricultural Technicians will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

View sentiment trend

Pay & outlook

Wages

Low paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Agricultural Technicians was $46,790 ($22 per hour).

The median annual wage for Agricultural Technicians was 5.5% lower than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Agricultural Technicians' job openings is expected to rise 4.3% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Lower range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 14,340 people employed as 'Agricultural Technicians' within the United States.

This represents around < 0.001% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 10 thousand people are employed as 'Agricultural Technicians'.

People also viewed

Accountants and Auditors Web Developers Lawyers Computer Programmers Actors

What people are saying (0)

Leave a reply about this occupation
0/8000

Job description

Work with agricultural scientists in plant, fiber, and animal research, or assist with animal breeding and nutrition. Set up or maintain laboratory equipment and collect samples from crops or animals. Prepare specimens or record data to assist scientists in biology or related life science experiments. Conduct tests and experiments to improve yield and quality of crops or to increase the resistance of plants and animals to disease or insects.

O*NET-SOC code: 19-4012.00