Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse Salary

The median farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse salary in the United States is $35,660 per year ($17.15/hour). Salaries range from $32,900 at the entry level to $45,690+ for the top 10% of earners. There are 265,500 farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse jobs nationwide. Employment is projected to decline 3.3% through 2034.

Last updated: June 2026 Β· Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Median Salary
$35,660
per year
Hourly Rate
$17.15
per hour
Employment
265,500
jobs in the U.S.

Salary Distribution

10th percentile
$32,900
25th percentile
$34,320
Median
$35,660
75th percentile
$38,840
90th percentile
$45,690

Job Growth (2024-2034)

-3.3%
Decline

Annual Openings

71,700
jobs/year (growth + replacements)

Education Required

No formal educational credential

Training Needed

Short-term on-the-job training

Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse Career Guide

Interview questions, resume templates, and a career ladder written specifically for farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouses.

Farmworkers, crop laborers, and nursery/greenhouse workers plant, cultivate, harvest, sort, and pack fresh produce, cut flowers, and container-grown plants. Work spans field-crop harvest crews (Driscoll's strawberry ranches, Dole banana and vegetable fields, Fresh Express spinach and lettuce lines), orchard crews on tree fruits and citrus, nursery/greenhouse teams at Costa Farms, Bonnie Plants, and Monrovia Nursery, and cut-flower operations at Ocean Mist Farms and Sun Valley Group. BLS national median is $35,660 (about $17.15/hr); p10 sits at $32,900 and p90 at $45,690, with 265,500 workers nationally. The p90 tier is dominated by year-round crew leaders on H-2A visa crews, greenhouse zone leads at large ornamental nurseries, and piece-rate harvesters in peak strawberry and blueberry seasons who clear $22-28/hr on high-yield days.

Core Skills Hiring Managers Screen For

Piece-rate harvest speed & quality
Strawberry harvest at Driscoll's is $2.75-3.75 per flat depending on region and variety; a fast picker clears 55-90 flats a day. Speed alone isn't enough β€” culls (rot, over-ripe, under-size) reduce the piece rate, so a good picker balances speed with grade quality.
Crop-specific handling
Berries are picked one at a time by hand and placed, not dropped, into clam-shells. Iceberg and romaine at Fresh Express is cut and cored on a rolling harvester line. Bananas at Dole are cut, floated in canals, and boxed. Each crop has its own bruise-and-decay profile β€” knowing the crop is more valuable than raw speed.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) awareness
Scouts and lead workers spot aphids, whiteflies, thrips, mites, and pathogens (botrytis on strawberries, downy mildew on lettuce) early. Getting the call to the crop manager 3 days earlier can save $20-80k on a single field or a greenhouse bay.
Nursery/greenhouse propagation & transplanting
Costa Farms and Monrovia run a highly mechanized transplant line β€” plug trays, potting mix bunkers, injection-mold pots. Learn the transplant machine, the media hopper, the drench-and-tag stations. Zone leads at these nurseries earn a $2-4/hr premium over general labor.
Post-harvest handling & cold chain
Field heat kills shelf life. Every minute between pick and hydrocooler on lettuce, or forced-air cool on strawberries, cuts retail shelf life by hours. Crews at Ocean Mist Farms and Fresh Express run to the cool truck β€” that's not eagerness, that's protocol.
H-2A visa & CA/state farm labor rules
H-2A crews follow federally set wage rates (AEWR β€” Adverse Effect Wage Rate β€” updated annually per state). Piece-rate must still hit AEWR per hour worked (CA AB 1513 codifies this and other states are following).
Safe pesticide handling & WPS compliance
EPA Worker Protection Standard (WPS) mandates pre-application notice, re-entry intervals (REI), PPE, and decontamination stations. A missed REI on a chlorpyrifos-treated field can pull a producer's crop off the market and cost the operator seven figures.

How to Become a Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse

  1. 1
    Apply directly to a large operator or via a farm labor contractor
    Driscoll's contracts with growers who hire H-2A and local workers; Dole, Fresh Express, and Bonnie Plants recruit through in-person applications at ranch offices and via labor contractors. Wage starts at $16.50-19.50/hr in CA (2024 AEWR is $19.75); other states range $14-17.50/hr.
  2. 2
    Pass the E-Verify / I-9 process or the H-2A visa process
    Domestic workers complete I-9 verification. H-2A workers apply through the DOL certification process; the employer handles the paperwork. Piece rate is disclosed in writing before the first day worked.
  3. 3
    Complete WPS (Worker Protection Standard) training
    EPA-mandated for anyone working within 30 days of a pesticide application. Employer provides; 45-60 min training, refreshed annually. Bilingual materials are standard.
  4. 4
    Cross-train on multiple crops or nursery stations
    Workers who can move from strawberry to blueberry to iceberg to cauliflower across a growing season stay employed year-round in CA's Salinas Valley. Nursery workers who can run the potting line, transplant machine, and irrigation crew earn $2-4/hr more than single-station labor.
  5. 5
    Move into crew leader / foreman
    3-6 years in, promote to crew lead at $22-28/hr. Owns crew safety, WPS compliance, piece-rate reconciliation, and daily throughput. Bilingual English/Spanish and Mixteco is a hard requirement in most CA operations.
  6. 6
    Advance to Ranch Manager / Growing Manager / Production Manager
    Salaried $58-95k. Requires 8-15 years of field experience plus written English proficiency (audit reports, DOL filings, buyer specs). Large nursery growing managers at Costa Farms clear $85-120k with bonus.

Career Progression

General Farm Worker / Nursery Laborer
0-2 yrs$33k-38k ($15.50-18.25/hr) hourly or piece rate
  • β€’Plant, transplant, weed, thin, and harvest under crew leader direction
  • β€’Run the potting line, transplant machine, or irrigation drops at a nursery
  • β€’Grade and pack produce or plants to buyer spec (retail-pack, foodservice-pack, or wholesale)
  • β€’Complete WPS training; wear PPE for pesticide-adjacent work
Next: Sr worker / picker on piece rate or specialty station lead at 12-24 months.
Piece-Rate Harvester / Skilled Nursery Worker
2-5 yrs$38k-50k (piece rate on harvest crews; $18-22/hr on nursery specialty)
  • β€’Hit crew-average piece-rate yield with above-average grade quality on strawberry, blueberry, cherry, or cut-flower crews
  • β€’Run a nursery specialty station (grafting, tissue culture, media hopper, transplant tag-and-drench)
  • β€’Train new workers on crop-specific technique and grade standards
  • β€’Own daily post-harvest logistics β€” flat counts, cool-truck timing, tag paperwork
Next: Crew lead / foreman at 4-7 years once you're consistently top-decile and bilingual.
Crew Leader / Foreman / Greenhouse Zone Lead
4-8 yrs$47k-62k ($22-28/hr) hourly + overtime + housing stipend at some operations
  • β€’Lead a crew of 15-45 workers on a field, orchard, or greenhouse bay
  • β€’Enforce WPS, REI, and PPE compliance; sign off on daily safety walk
  • β€’Reconcile piece-rate cards to daily throughput; verify AEWR make-whole for slow-day workers
  • β€’Own crop-quality escalation to the ranch or growing manager; call the harvest window
Next: Ranch manager / growing manager at 8-13 years.
Ranch Manager / Greenhouse Growing Manager
8-15 yrs$62k-95k salaried + bonus + housing at ranch operations
  • β€’Own a ranch (100-2,000 acres) or a greenhouse growing zone (2-20 acres under glass or plastic)
  • β€’Set harvest windows, irrigation schedules, and nutrient programs with the agronomy team
  • β€’Own H-2A / domestic labor mix, DOL filings, and audit-readiness (GLOBALG.A.P., PrimusGFS, or SQF)
  • β€’Report daily yield, cull, and cost per acre to Production Manager or COO
Next: Production Manager / Director of Grower Operations at 14-20 years.
Production Manager / Director of Grower Operations
14+ yrs$95k-165k salaried + bonus + LTIP at large ag companies
  • β€’Oversee 3-25 ranches or greenhouse sites; own regional P&L, capex, and yield programs
  • β€’Report to VP Growing or COO at Driscoll's, Dole, Fresh Express, Costa Farms, Monrovia, or Bonnie Plants
  • β€’Lead multi-year projects: variety trials, mechanized harvest adoption, IPM overhauls
  • β€’Represent the operation in industry (California Strawberry Commission, CFBF, USDA)

Interview Questions & Answers

5 free questions below. Career Kit unlocks 15 total plus resume bullets for every level.

Q1. Walk me through a strawberry harvest morning on a Driscoll's contract ranch in Watsonville.technical
Crew shows up at 5:45 a.m. Foreman does the WPS check β€” re-entry intervals on any recently sprayed blocks, PPE distribution, decontamination station location. Crew starts at 6:00 with the sun just up so we can see grade. Piece rate for the day is posted in Spanish and English β€” usually $3.20-3.75 per flat on Driscoll's Sweet Ann or Portola variety this time of year. I pick with two hands, thumb and forefinger, one berry at a time, placing (not dropping) into the clamshell. Culls (rot, over-ripe, under-size, sunburned) go into the cull bucket, which affects the piece-rate audit. Flats go on the row cart, cart heads to the cool truck within 20 minutes of picking so field heat doesn't kill shelf life. A good day is 65-80 flats; a great day is 90+.
Q2. It's 96Β°F and humidity is 65%. Your crew is behind on the day's flat target. What do you do as a foreman?situational
Safety first, always. California heat illness prevention (Cal/OSHA 3395) mandates a 10-minute shade break every 2 hours at 95Β°F, plus water within 10 feet of every worker. I stop the crew for water and shade at the next check-in, no exceptions. Then I do the honest math with the ranch manager β€” losing 30 minutes of production is a bad trade against a heat-illness workers-comp claim, which can shut a whole ranch operation down and pull certifications. If the target genuinely can't be hit safely, I call the ranch manager and re-scope; the retail buyer will re-schedule a partial load, and the operator will not go back on this call. At Ocean Mist Farms and Driscoll's, foremen who cut corners on heat protocol lose their crews permanently.
Q3. Describe a time you spotted a pest or disease that saved a field.behavioral
STAR. Situation: I was walking a lettuce field at a Fresh Express-contracted grower outside Salinas at the end of a cool wet week. Task: routine scout during my morning row. Action: I saw the first white fuzz of downy mildew on a few plants at the field's low corner where water pooled. I called the crop manager on my radio within 5 minutes. Result: we harvested those blocks 4 days ahead of the schedule and saved roughly 8 acres from being culled at grade-out. On a $18,000-per-acre lettuce crop, that's $140k in saved revenue. On a piece-rate crew you can catch this stuff before the scout does because you're closer to the plant.
Q4. Why farm and nursery work instead of construction, warehouse, or fast food?culture
The work is outdoors, physical, and seasonal in a way that fits how I want to live. There's a clear ladder β€” general labor to piece-rate harvester to crew lead to ranch manager β€” and I've watched people at Driscoll's contract ranches and Costa Farms actually move through it. Bilingual English/Spanish makes me useful faster because most crews are 80-100% Spanish-speaking and every promotion requires the ability to lead in Spanish. Ag also has H-2A structure for year-round employment on well-run operations, which is more stable than the off-and-on nature of construction day work.
Q5. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?closer
Crew lead / foreman by year 4 on a strawberry or lettuce crew with a large contractor (Driscoll's or Fresh Express), or a greenhouse zone lead at Costa Farms or Monrovia if the nursery side opens up. Bilingual, WPS-current, and with a Pesticide Applicator Certificate. Long term I want to move into ranch or growing manager, which is a $65-95k salary with year-round employment and housing at some operations. I'll add a two-year ag-business certificate at the community college in the evenings to bridge into the salaried side, and I'll target GLOBALG.A.P. auditor familiarity so I can help the operation on its audit weeks.

Resume Template β€” General Farm Worker / Nursery Laborer (0-2 yrs)

Copy these bullets into your resume as a starting point. Career Kit includes bullets for every level of the ladder.

General Farm Worker / Nursery Laborer (0-2 yrs)
  • β–ΈStrawberry harvest crew, Driscoll's-contracted grower, Watsonville CA: averaged 68 flats/day at piece rate $3.20 per flat; cull rate held under 4% (crew avg 7%).
  • β–ΈCross-trained on iceberg cut-and-core line and cauliflower harvest for winter-season employment.
  • β–ΈWPS-trained and current; forklift + pallet jack certified. Bilingual English/Spanish.
  • β–ΈPiece rate + hourly reconciliation cleared $19.40/hr avg; H-2A eligible, seasonal housing.

What Gets You Rejected

  • βœ—No WPS training or expired WPS refresher β€” operator can't put you on any block within 30 days of a pesticide application, which limits assignment.
  • βœ—Ignoring the re-entry interval (REI) posted on a treated block β€” one violation triggers WPS enforcement action from the state and can pull crop certifications.
  • βœ—Skipping the two-hand hand-picking technique on berries to gain speed β€” cull rate spikes and the piece-rate audit pulls your card.
  • βœ—Missing water/shade breaks in heat above 95Β°F β€” Cal/OSHA 3395 is strict enforcement; a single incident can result in a $20k+ fine and a workers-comp claim.
  • βœ—Not calling the crop manager on a pest or disease sighting to preserve piece-rate flow β€” the entire field can go, and the crew loses days of work.

Salary Negotiation Levers

  • βœ“AEWR (Adverse Effect Wage Rate) is the federally set floor for H-2A workers and de facto benchmark for domestic workers on the same crews β€” 2024 California AEWR is $19.75/hr; other states range $14.50-16.50/hr. Employers can pay above AEWR but not below.
  • βœ“Piece rate is negotiated crop-by-crop and grower-by-grower; strong pickers push for a $0.10-0.25/flat premium on high-yield varieties (Portola, Sweet Ann) versus older varieties.
  • βœ“Housing at ranch operations (Driscoll's contract ranches, Ocean Mist Farms, Dole vegetable operations) is often included at reduced or no rent β€” a housing stipend worth $600-1,400/mo.
  • βœ“Bilingual English/Spanish (and English/Mixteco in some Central Coast operations) is a hard requirement for crew lead β€” worth $2-4/hr on promotion.
  • βœ“Year-round employment via cross-training is worth $8-15k a year over strict-seasonal piece-rate work; ask directly about the cross-training path at hire.
  • βœ“Nursery specialty stations (grafting, tissue culture, transplant machine operator) at Costa Farms, Bonnie Plants, and Monrovia pay a $1-3/hr specialty differential over general labor.
  • βœ“H-2A visa workers get transport, housing, and the AEWR guaranteed by federal contract β€” domestic workers on the same crew can negotiate for equivalent stipends.

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Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse Salary by State

Best Cities (cost-adjusted) β†’

Salary Map β€” Click a state for details

$30K
$55Kβ–  No data

Top Paying States

Wyoming
$55K
+55%
South Dakota
$42K
+19%
Montana
$41K
+16%
Illinois
$41K
+15%
New York
$41K
+15%
Nebraska
$40K
+11%
Washington
$39K
+10%
Maine
$39K
+10%
Michigan
$39K
+8%
Maryland
$38K
+8%
Vertical line = national median. Click a state for full details.
StateMedianvs. National
Wyoming$55,180+54.7%
South Dakota$42,260+18.5%
Montana$41,390+16.1%
Illinois$41,050+15.1%
New York$40,930+14.8%
Nebraska$39,530+10.9%
Washington$39,170+9.8%
Maine$39,060+9.5%
Michigan$38,680+8.5%
Maryland$38,420+7.7%
1–10 of 50

Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse Salary by Metro Area

Metro AreaMedianvs. National
Champaign-Urbana, IL$48,390+35.7%
Portland-South Portland, ME$48,210+35.2%
Bloomington, IL$47,210+32.4%
Helena, MT$46,610+30.7%
Lincoln, NE$45,280+27.0%
Bozeman, MT$45,150+26.6%
Napa, CA$44,370+24.4%
Sioux Falls, SD-MN$44,150+23.8%
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ$43,970+23.3%
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA$43,690+22.5%
1–10 of 241
Data Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Data reflects the most recent annual survey.
How does this compare to pro athletes?
A farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse earning $35,660/year would need 1672 years to match Stephen Curry's NBA salary, or 1795 yearsto match Patrick Mahomes' NFL contract.
See all sports & celebrity salaries β†’
πŸ“ˆ See how farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse salaries have changed over the past decade.
View Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse salary trend (2011–2024) β†’