Updated
PERM occupation, SOC 45-2091.00, #119 of 1,410 by filings
Agricultural Equipment Operators
- Biggest sponsor
- Riverview, LLP · 15% of its filings
- Busiest state
- MN · 16% of its filings
- Major group
- Farming, fishing and forestry · SOC 45
Weighing an offer for this job?
Where it falls among certified offers, and the four wage levels DOL sets for it by area.
Median wage
$40,456
all PERM $103,272
Filings
450
#119 of 1,410
Approval
92.9%
field 96.8%
Median days
487
10 slower than the field
What it pays
Where its median offer sits among every occupation, then the whole ladder of certified offers by year and by state.
Median offered wage
$40,456above 23%
Approval rate
92.9%ahead of 26%
Median days to decision
487 daysahead of 13%
Each bar counts occupations at that value. More
- 5th to 95th
- 25th to 75th
- Median
- 10th and 90th
FY2025
$37,232 median · 219 certified cases
FY2026
$41,600 median · 169 certified cases
- 10th
- $32,344
- +14.1% since FY2025
- Median
- $41,600
- +11.7% since FY2025
- 90th
- $52,062
- +6.3% since FY2025
- 95th
- $54,038
- +3.9% since FY2025
Each row is that fiscal year's certified filings, counted on their own. A percentile is over the year, so a year with far fewer cases behind it is a thinner measurement than one with more.
| Fiscal year | Cases | 5th | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th | 95th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | 219 | $28,000 | $28,350 | $31,450 | $37,232 | $41,860 | $48,959 | $52,000 |
| FY2026 | 169 | $30,222 | $32,344 | $35,901 | $41,600 | $47,382 | $52,062 | $54,038 |
A median answers whether pay moved. More
Who files it
The sponsors and firms with the most PERM filings under this code, the places the work sits, and who the workers were.
Sponsors filing it
- Riverview, LLP 69 filings · 100.0% approved
- Grant 4D Farms, LLC 32 filings · 50.0% approved
- GARY & KAREN JACKSON FARMS 26 filings
- Jentzsch Kearl Farms 21 filings
- MANDUJANO BROTHERS 13 filings
- Troy Kuck Silage Harvesting, LLC 11 filings
How this is counted
The employers with the most applications under this code. 172 of 450 filings, 38% of the total.
Firms filing it
- Versfeld & Hugo, LLC 57 filings · 98.1% approved
- Davis Immigration Lawyers PLLC 47 filings · 100.0% approved
- Davis and Goldfarb PLLC 34 filings · 100.0% approved
- Labor Consultants International 32 filings · 50.0% approved
- MAS Labor 365, LLC 25 filings
- Anderson Immigration Law Firm, P.C. 21 filings
How this is counted
The law firms named on the most applications under this code. 216 of 450 filings, 48% of the total.
Where the jobs are
- Minnesota 74
- Texas 73
- Idaho 54
- North Dakota 46
- Nebraska 27
- Kansas 19
How this is counted
The worksite state on the application, which is where the job is and not where the company is headquartered. Volume by state across everyone is on the state map. These 6 states cover 293 of 450 filings.
Where the work is
- Rupert, ID 53
- Morris, MN 48
- Seminole, TX 28
- Coyanosa, TX 13
- Tintah, MN 13
- Bertrand, NE 11
How this is counted
The worksite city on the application, which is where the job is. These 6 cities cover 166 of 450 filings.
- Every sponsor that files it, by state, approval rate, offered wage and time to a decision
- Every filing for it, PERM, wage requests and H-1B, case by case
Newspapers it advertised in
- 49 cases
Star Tribune
- 39 cases
Times-News
- 26 cases
HOBBS NEWS SUN
- 15 cases
Grand Forks Herald
- 14 cases
The Weekly Mailer
- 13 cases
The Fort Stockton Pioneer
How this is counted
The newspaper or professional journal named for each case's two print ads, one count per paper per case, however the filer spelled it.
Additional steps it used
- 3 cases
Job search websites
- 3 cases
Radio or TV ads
- 2 cases
Local or ethnic newspapers
- 1 cases
The employer's website
How this is counted
The steps a professional job needs beyond the job order and the ads, by the number of cases that name each.
How long before filing it began
- 0.0%
Under 30 days
- 0.0%
30 to 59 days
- 29%
60 to 89 days
- 22%
90 to 119 days
- 18%
120 to 149 days
- 31%
150 to 180 days
- 0.5%
Over 180 days
How this is counted
Days from the first recruitment step to the filing. 20 C.F.R. § 656.17(e) puts the job order and ads 30 to 180 days before filing.
The job itself
What O*NET says the work is, what the market pays it by BLS's survey, its outlook, and DOL's wage levels year by year.
- United States28,500 jobs
- Northwest Minnesota nonmetropolitan areaMorris, Tintah
- Southeast-Central Idaho nonmetropolitan areaRupert
- Northwestern Region of Texas nonmetropolitan areaSeminole, Coyanosa
- middle half of pay (BLS)
- median
- 10th to 90th percentile
- DOL's Levels I to IV, left to right
- median PERM offer
| Area | BLS median | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $41,730 | ||||
| Northwest Minnesota nonmetropolitan area | $49,130 | $39,562 | $44,387 | $49,192 | $54,018 |
| Southeast-Central Idaho nonmetropolitan area | $38,630 | $34,632 | $37,294 | $39,957 | $42,619 |
| Northwestern Region of Texas nonmetropolitan area | $34,260 | $29,640 | $32,282 | $34,944 | $37,586 |
How these figures fit together
BLS surveys employers on what they pay everyone in a job; DOL builds its four levels from the same survey a year later (the July 2026 wage year uses BLS's May 2025 estimates). DOL publishes levels by area, not nationally, so the United States line has none. Levels are hourly in DOL's tables; here they're shown a year at 2,080 hours, as DOL computes them. The metros are the ones holding the most of this job's PERM filings, placed by Census's county files.
The block is the middle half of what employers report paying everyone in this job, citizen or not; the ticks under it are DOL's four prevailing wage levels for that metro, the floors a PERM or H-1B offer is held to. More
DOL's levels for this job in Northwest Minnesota nonmetropolitan area, year by year
Each July DOL resets the four levels from BLS's newest survey. A determination keeps the figures of the year it was issued in.
| Wage year | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | $39,562 | $44,387 | $49,192 | $54,018 |
| 2025-26 | $41,974 | $45,573 | $49,192 | $52,790 |
| 2024-25 | $36,317 | $41,558 | $46,821 | $52,062 |
| 2023-24 | $32,698 | $36,130 | $39,562 | $42,994 |
| 2022-23 | $32,469 | $35,568 | $38,667 | $41,766 |
| 2021-22 | $28,808 | $31,803 | $34,798 | $37,794 |
What the job is
Drive and control equipment to support agricultural activities such as tilling soil; planting, cultivating, and harvesting crops; feeding and herding livestock; or removing animal waste. May perform tasks such as crop baling or hay bucking. May operate stationary equipment to perform post-harvest tasks such as husking, shelling, threshing, and ginning.
- Preparation
- Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- O*NET Job Zone 1-2
- DOL's education basis
- None
- Wage year 2026-27
- Jobs, 2025 to 2035
- +8.6%
- About 10,100 openings a year (BLS)
- Typical entry
- No formal educational credential
- BLS
Bright Outlook O*NET OnLine lists this job for rapid growth.
The work, most important first
- Load and unload crops or containers of materials, manually or using conveyors, handtrucks, forklifts, or transfer augers.
- Mix specified materials or chemicals, and dump solutions, powders, or seeds into planter or sprayer machinery.
- Spray fertilizer or pesticide solutions to control insects, fungus and weed growth, and diseases, using hand sprayers.
- Observe and listen to machinery operation to detect equipment malfunctions.
- Manipulate controls to set, activate, and adjust mechanisms on machinery.
- Operate or tend equipment used in agricultural production, such as tractors, combines, and irrigation equipment.
The education workers in it report
- 57%
Less than a High School Diploma
- 19%
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 14%
Post-Secondary Certificate
- 10%
Some College Courses
Titles people use for it
Equipment Operator, Farm Equipment Operator, Loader Operator, Rake Operator, Baler Operator, Cutter Operator, Hay Baler, Packing Tractor Machine Operator.
Related jobs: Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse, Machine Feeders and Offbearers, Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic, Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders.
This section includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database and O*NET OnLine 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. PERM Tracker has modified some of this information (the shares are rounded and only the top tasks are shown); what changed. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Against other jobs
Where this sits in the ranking
Ranked 119 of 1,410 by volume: 118 filed at least as many filings, and 1,291 filed no more.
- Just above
- Cooks, Fast Food 452 filings
- Just below
- Human Resources Specialists 440 filings
Other farming, fishing and forestry roles
Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. More
Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. Wages inside a group still swing hard, because the group holds every seniority level and every metro.
- #128 Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals 405 filings · 55 denied
- #149 First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers 326 filings · 26 denied
- #84 Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products 765 filings · none denied
- #74 Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse 847 filings · 31 denied
- #186 Nursery Worker 234 filings · 8 denied
- #223 Animal Breeders 183 filings · 1 denied
The same job on H-1B
5 certified H-1B labor condition applications for this occupation since FY2020, offering a median of $39,083 a year; the middle half ran $30,000 to $43,888. By state and year in the salary explorer.
Notes on these numbers
Reading the wage
A floor, not a salary survey: every level and metro mixed. DOL's four wage levels for this job, by area.
What the median is
The median wage employers committed to in federal filings for this occupation. It mixes every experience level and every metro, and it's a floor: the employer must offer at least the prevailing wage DOL determines for the occupation, level and county. Across all PERM filings the middle half of offered wages runs $45,178 to $141,357, so a figure inside that band is unremarkable whichever occupation it belongs to. The levels page reads DOL's OFLC wage search live.
What these numbers don't say
4 notes
- The code is the identity
- This one is SOC 45-2091.00. Two SOC codes can carry the same job title, so a title that looks duplicated on the ranking is two different occupations. Match on the code when you're checking a specific filing.
- A median isn’t an offer
- It's the middle of all 450 wages committed to for this occupation across the country, entry level and principal alike. The same role's medians swing hard by worksite, which the state map shows directly.
- Approval isn’t about the occupation
- The denial rate moves with what happened in the filing rather than with the job title, so nothing here is a property of Agricultural Equipment Operators. The measured factors are on the denial risk page, published as separate rates.
- Nothing here is pending
- All 450 counted here carry a decision date, because every case in DOL's disclosure files does, so a case still waiting is in none of them. The largest filer of this occupation is Riverview, LLP. Where the queue stands today is on the processing times page.
The window these figures cover: DOL's PERM disclosure files for fiscal years 2024 to 2026, through the third quarter of 2026, 373,939 decided cases. Nothing pending is counted here. How each figure is built
Weighing an offer?
Compare it against this median, then check the state map, where the same occupation's medians swing hard by worksite.
Setting one?
All 1,410 occupations sort together on the wages page, and denial rates show how outcome moves with the offered wage.
Filings newer than DOL's last published file can't be attributed to this occupation until DOL publishes them. The live list on the case search page carries them by employer.
Case data: DOL quarterly disclosure files (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly
Employers and firms: Derived from DOL's disclosure files · data through Jun 30, 2026 · rebuilt with each quarterly load
O*NET occupation data: O*NET Database, USDOL/ETA (onetcenter.org) · data through Aug 16, 2026 · twice a year
BLS market pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (bls.gov) · data through May 31, 2025 · yearly, each spring
BLS employment projections: BLS Employment Projections (bls.gov) · data through Dec 31, 2025 · yearly, each autumn
DOL wage tables: DOL OFLC wage data downloads (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jul 1, 2026 · yearly, each july
What each source includes
Case data: Decided PERM cases only. A case still waiting isn't in here, so counts and durations describe finished cases.
Employers and firms: Employers, law firms and occupations ranked from decided cases only.
O*NET occupation data: What O*NET says each occupation is and takes: its description, tasks, Job Zone and the education workers report. A description of the job everywhere, not of any one employer's opening.
BLS market pay: What employers report paying everyone in each job, nationally, by state and by metro, from BLS's yearly survey (May of the year named). Citizens and immigrants alike; not PERM offers.
BLS employment projections: BLS's ten-year projection of each job's employment and yearly openings, and the entry education it calls typical. A projection, not a count.
DOL wage tables: The four prevailing wage levels DOL publishes for every job in every area, each wage year from 2021-22, as DOL's own tables print them. The floors an offer is held to, not what anyone was paid.
Cite this page
Waiting on a PERM case?
- When it'll likely be decided
- An email when DOL moves it