Agricultural Engineers
What Agricultural Engineers Do
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.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- None
- Self-employed
- Not available
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 4 of 5Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Experience
- A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations.
- Education
- Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
- Job training
- Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- Engineering and Technologyimportance 4.8/5
- Computers and Electronicsimportance 4.5/5
- Designimportance 4.3/5
- Mathematicsimportance 4.3/5
- Physicsimportance 4.3/5
- Biologyimportance 4.1/5
- Mechanicalimportance 3.9/5
- English Languageimportance 3.9/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- E-Mail5.0/5
- Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.5/5
- Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.3/5
- Telephone Conversations4.2/5
- Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team4.2/5
- Importance of Being Exact or Accurate4.2/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- Industrial Engineers93% skill match
- Materials Engineers93% skill match
- Nuclear Engineers92% skill match
- Materials Scientists91% skill match
- Animal Scientists91% skill match
- Soil and Plant Scientists91% skill match
- Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors91% skill match
- Commercial and Industrial Designers90% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.9/5
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.9/5
- Systems Evaluationimportance 3.9/5
- Systems Analysisimportance 3.8/5
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.1/5
- Coordinationimportance 3.1/5
- Operations Monitoringimportance 3.1/5
- Instructingimportance 3.0/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
Other Software Used
- ESRI ArcView
- Eagle Point LANDCADD
- PTC Creo Parametric
- PTC Pro/Pipe
- Supervisory control and data acquisition SCADA software
- Web browser software
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Attention to Detail
- Innovation
- Dependability
- Intellectual Curiosity
- Cautiousness
- Integrity
- Achievement Orientation
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- RealisticHigh
- InvestigativeHigh
- ConventionalMedium
- EnterprisingLow
- ArtisticLow
- SocialLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where agricultural engineers make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN53.93× national avg
- 2Oklahoma City, OK17.04× national avg
- 3St. Louis, MO-IL7.93× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- Industrial EngineersLateral Move
- Soil and Plant ScientistsCareer Change
- Nuclear EngineersLateral Move
- Materials ScientistsCareer Change
Related Education Programs
Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.
Agricultural Engineering
- University of Maryland-College Park (College Park, MD)grads earn ~$93,440
- Purdue University-Main Campus (West Lafayette, IN)
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Champaign, IL)grads earn ~$89,400
- Iowa State University (Ames, IA)grads earn ~$88,576
- Purdue University-Main Campus (West Lafayette, IN)grads earn ~$86,306