Agricultural Equipment Operators build operation and control, operations monitoring and troubleshooting skills that carry over to other work. Below are 25 careers ranked by how closely their skills match, with pay from BLS May 2025. The closest match is Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic (83%).
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Sorted by skill match.
| # | Career | Skill match | Median pay | Pay change | Extra education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | 83% | $52,800 | +27% | None |
| 2 | Machine Feeders and Offbearers | 82% | $41,220 | −1% | None |
| 3 | Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | 82% | $45,760 | +10% | None |
| 4 | Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | 81% | $51,610 | +24% | None |
| 5 | Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining | 81% | $57,430 | +38% | None |
| 6 | Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators | 80% | $46,420 | +11% | None |
| 7 | Helpers--Extraction Workers | 80% | $47,730 | +14% | None |
| 8 | Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | 79% | $48,540 | +16% | None |
| 9 | Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators | 79% | $59,850 | +43% | None |
| 10 | Conveyor Operators and Tenders | 79% | $42,420 | +2% | None |
Compared with Agricultural Equipment Operators, median $41,730. Skill match is our estimate (0–99) from O*NET 31.0 skills, knowledge, work activities and interests, adjusted for preparation and big pay drops. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025, national median.
How important each skill is in work as agricultural equipment operators (O*NET importance, scale 1–5).
The gaps that show up most often across your top 10 matches.
Free and low-cost training: use the CareerOneStop training finder below.
A concrete first step, the skills to add, and the hard parts of each job, from O*NET 31.0 education, training and work context data.
83% skill match · $52,800 · +27% pay
Operations Analysis · Programming · Time Management
82% skill match · $41,220 · −1% pay
Management of Material Resources · Management of Financial Resources · Time Management
82% skill match · $45,760 · +10% pay
Operations Analysis · Time Management · Installation
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic (83% skill match, median $52,800), Machine Feeders and Offbearers (82% skill match, median $41,220) and Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders (82% skill match, median $45,760), based on O*NET 31.0 data and BLS May 2025 pay.
Among the 25 matches, 24 pay more than agricultural equipment operators at the median. The biggest increases: Power Plant Operators (+145%, $102,040), Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining (+79%, $74,500) and Pile Driver Operators (+76%, $73,300).
25 of the 25 matches usually need no more education than you have now, based on O*NET Job Zones.
We compare the importance of skills, knowledge, work activities and interests in O*NET 31.0 for your job and every other career, then adjust for extra preparation and big pay drops. The full method is on our Methodology page.