Occupational Employment and Wages, 2002

45-2092 Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse

Manually plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables, fruits, nuts, horticultural specialties, and field crops. Use hand tools, such as shovels, trowels, hoes, tampers, pruning hooks, shears, and knives. Duties may include tilling soil and applying fertilizers; transplanting, weeding, thinning, or pruning crops; applying pesticides; cleaning, grading, sorting, packing and loading harvested products. May construct trellises, repair fences and farm buildings, or participate in irrigation activities. Exclude "Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products" (45-2041). Exclude "Forest, Conservation, and Logging Workers" (45-4011 through 45-4029).

National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
State profile for this occupation
Metropolitan area profile for this occupation

National estimates for this occupation: Top

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1) Employment
RSE (3)
Mean hourly
wage
Mean annual
wage (2)
Wage RSE (3)
218,020 3.2 % $7.86 $16,340 0.7 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median)
75% 90%
Hourly Wage $6.24 $6.85 $7.24 $8.37 $10.32
Annual Wage (2) $12,980 $14,260 $15,070 $17,410 $21,460

Industry profile for this occupation: Top

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Employment rank Wage rank
Support activities for crop production 158,280 $7.60 $15,810 1 44
Employment services 16,600 $7.24 $15,060 2 50
Misc. nondurable goods merchant wholesalers 8,430 $8.41 $17,480 3 35
Lawn and garden equipment and supplies stores 7,490 $8.56 $17,810 4 33
Services to buildings and dwellings 6,590 $9.68 $20,130 5 24

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Employment rank Wage rank
Federal government (OES designation) 110 $14.91 $31,010 28 1
Lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets (6) $12.80 $26,620 (6) 2
Other amusement and recreation industries 30 $12.64 $26,290 42 3
State government (OES designation) 190 $12.43 $25,860 20 4
RV parks and recreational camps (6) $11.75 $24,440 (6) 5

State profile for this occupation: Top

States with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment Wage rank within State
California 124,140 $7.93 $16,500 0.858% 683
New Mexico 4,060 $6.29 $13,080 0.556% 559
Arizona 8,930 $6.88 $14,310 0.398% 603
Florida 22,640 $7.12 $14,810 0.318% 678
Idaho 1,180 $6.95 $14,450 0.209% 515

Top paying States for this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment Wage rank within State
Rhode Island 160 $11.48 $23,880 0.034% 411
Alaska 40 $10.85 $22,570 0.014% 400
Delaware 110 $10.54 $21,920 0.027% 425
Massachusetts 610 $10.07 $20,950 0.019% 606
Minnesota 750 $9.83 $20,450 0.029% 600

Metropolitan area profile for this occupation: Top

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
Salinas, CA MSA 19,740 $8.69 $18,080 13.048%
Yuma, AZ MSA 6,110 $6.78 $14,110 11.936%
Visalia-Tulare-Porterville, CA MSA 11,780 $7.84 $16,310 9.808%
Bakersfield, CA MSA 18,430 $7.34 $15,270 8.050%
Fresno, CA MSA 24,580 $7.45 $15,490 7.073%

Top paying Metropolitan areas for this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
San Francisco, CA PMSA 290 $12.84 $26,710 0.029%
Dayton-Springfield, OH MSA 50 $12.16 $25,290 0.011%
Decatur, IL MSA 70 $12.10 $25,160 0.131%
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL MSA 30 $11.85 $24,650 0.017%
Wilmington-Newark, DE-MD PMSA 40 $11.68 $24,300 0.013%

About 2002 National, State, and Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

To see profiles of other occupations, select from the major groups below:

These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in every State and the District of Columbia. The top five employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable Excel files(XLS).

Percentile wage estimates show the percentage of workers in an occupation that earn less than a given wage and the percentage that earn more. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.


(1) Data for detailed occupations does not sum to the totals because the totals include data for occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

(6) Estimates not released.

All Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations

2002 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2002 Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2002 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

List of Occupations in SOC Code Number Order

List of Occupations in Alphabetical Order

Download 2002 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates in Zipped Excel files

Technical notes

 

Last Modified Date: November 26, 2003