Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2003

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)
233,450 3.7 % $8.02 $16,670 0.7 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median)
75% 90%
Hourly Wage $6.14 $6.91 $7.43 $8.49 $10.78
Annual Wage (2) $12,780 $14,380 $15,450 $17,660 $22,420

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 162,670 $7.73 $16,080 1 40
Misc. nondurable goods merchant wholesalers 9,870 $8.43 $17,540 2 34
Services to buildings and dwellings 6,830 $10.02 $20,840 3 17
Management of companies and enterprises 2,270 $9.97 $20,730 4 19
Grocery and Related Product Wholesalers 1,770 $7.77 $16,170 5 39

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Employment rank Wage rank
Federal government (OES designation) 140 $15.39 $32,010 21 1
Elementary and secondary schools (6) $14.07 $29,260 (6) 2
Lessors of nonfinancial intangible assets 40 $13.19 $27,440 31 3
State government (OES designation) 190 $12.58 $26,160 18 4
Support activities for mining 70 $12.01 $24,990 28 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 126,340 $8.18 $17,020 0.871% 738
Florida 32,900 $7.08 $14,730 0.457% 733
Arizona 10,320 $6.77 $14,090 0.456% 653
New Mexico 3,040 $6.36 $13,230 0.414% 597
Oregon 3,350 $8.69 $18,070 0.217% 600

Top paying States for this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment Wage rank within State
North Dakota 70 $11.09 $23,070 0.022% 394
Alaska 90 $10.80 $22,460 0.031% 451
Massachusetts 580 $10.62 $22,090 0.018% 643
Minnesota 960 $10.22 $21,260 0.037% 639
Delaware 110 $10.22 $21,260 0.027% 452

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
Yuma, AZ MSA 7,710 $6.73 $14,000 14.303%
Salinas, CA MSA 21,180 $8.84 $18,380 13.664%
Visalia-Tulare-Porterville, CA MSA 14,160 $8.13 $16,920 11.537%
Bakersfield, CA MSA 13,770 $7.60 $15,800 6.188%
Merced, CA MSA 3,200 $7.21 $15,000 5.413%

Top paying Metropolitan areas for this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
Bloomington-Normal, IL MSA (6) $17.86 $37,140 (6)
San Francisco, CA PMSA 510 $12.47 $25,940 0.052%
Decatur, IL MSA 30 $11.95 $24,850 0.055%
Boston, MA-NH PMSA 260 $11.88 $24,700 0.014%
Wilmington-Newark, DE-MD PMSA 50 $11.57 $24,060 0.016%

About May 2003 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) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include 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

2003 May National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2003 May State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2003 May Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2003 May National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

List of Occupations in SOC Code Number Order

List of Occupations in Alphabetical Order

Download May 2003 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates in Zipped Excel files

Technical notes

 

Last Modified Date: May 7, 2004