Agricultural Engineer

What agricultural engineers make

The national median is $98,590 a year. The bottom tenth earn $68,060 or less and the top tenth $166,460 or more, in 2025 figures.

The lower end

New graduates usually start in this part of the range. Government agencies and conservation districts offer a pension and Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

Where pay is highest

Minnesota ($115,940) and Iowa ($96,290) come next. Arkansas is the lowest, at $57,740. The survey counts employees. Engineers who run their own consulting practice on irrigation, drainage and manure systems for large farms are not counted, and their income depends on the business.

What it costs to get there

File the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) every year. Agricultural colleges also run their own scholarships, so ask the college directly.

What comes with the job

• Paid internships

  Equipment makers and food companies run summer programs, and many graduates are hired from them.

• Field travel

  You will not be at a desk every day. Site visits to farms, plants and project sites are part of the work.

• Government pensions

  Federal and state conservation agencies hire agricultural engineers and still offer defined pensions.

• Retirement savings with a match

  A 401(k) plan where the employer adds money on top of yours, standard in private industry.

The path to becoming an agricultural engineer, step by step

A normal engineering degree, taken in an agricultural college.

1. 1

   High school

   Grades 11 and 12

   Calculus, physics, chemistry and biology. Farm or shop experience is genuinely useful here in a way it is not in most engineering fields.

2. 2

   Bachelor's degree

   4 years

   Agricultural, biological or biosystems engineering, accredited by ABET (the accrediting body for engineering degrees in the United States). Purdue, Iowa State, Nebraska and Texas A&M all run large accredited departments.

3. 3

   Internships

   Summers

   A summer at an equipment manufacturer, a food plant or a conservation agency. This is how people get hired.

4. 4

   First engineering job

   Year 1

   Design, testing or project work under a senior engineer.

5. 5

   Professional Engineer license, if your work needs it

   4 or more years

   The Fundamentals of Engineering exam, four years of experience, then the Principles and Practice of Engineering exam.

High school courses that help you become an agricultural engineer

• Calculus and physics

  The core of any engineering degree, and the entry requirement.

• Biology

  This field is engineering applied to living systems: soils, crops, animals, food.

• Agriculture or shop

  If your school has an agriculture program, take it. Knowing how a farm actually works is an advantage.

• Computer science

  Sensors, controls and data analysis run modern agriculture.

Time and money, at a glance

When you need a license

Engineering licenses come from state boards, coordinated by NCEES (the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying), which covers 68 member boards. Agricultural engineers working for a manufacturer usually do not need one, because companies making products are exempt. You do need it if you design and stamp drawings for other people: drainage systems, dams, grain structures, manure lagoons, anything a county will inspect. If you think you might end up consulting, sit the Fundamentals of Engineering exam in your final year while the material is fresh.

Where people study

• Purdue University

  One of the oldest agricultural and biological engineering departments, accredited, with undergraduate and graduate programs.

• Iowa State, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Texas A&M University

  Large land grant programs sitting right next to the industry they feed.

• Your state's land grant university

  Every state has one, and its agricultural engineering department is tied directly to local employers.

Where the specialties are

• Machinery design

  Tractors, combines, planters and the automation inside them.

• Soil and water

  Irrigation, drainage and erosion control. This is where licensure matters most.

• Food and process engineering

  Getting a crop from field to package safely and at scale.

• Structures

  Grain bins, livestock housing, ventilation and storage.

• Precision agriculture

  GPS (Global Positioning System) guidance, yield sensors, drones and the software that ties them together.

Nice-to-haves

• A summer on a farm or in a dealership

  You learn what breaks and why, which is half of designing something better.

• Computer-aided design

  Expected from your first day in any design role.

• Data skills

  Python and basic statistics. Modern farm equipment produces enormous amounts of data.

• A welding or machining class

  Engineers who can build a prototype themselves are unusual and valued.

Working for the government

The United States Department of Agriculture and state conservation agencies hire agricultural engineers to design and approve soil, water and waste systems on farms. The projects are public and the job security is high. These roles qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which cancels your remaining federal student loans after 10 years of payments while working for a government or nonprofit employer.

What an agricultural engineer does day to day

Half the field works like any other design engineer: modeling a component, checking stress, running a simulation, sitting in a review. The other half is out on sites, measuring a field's slope for a drainage plan, watching a prototype planter in real dirt, or walking a food plant line to find where product is being damaged. It is one of the few engineering careers where mud on your boots is a normal Tuesday.

The honest pros and cons of being an agricultural engineer

Work life

Similar paths

• Mechanical EngineerDesign anything that moves, heats, cools or carries a load. The broadest engineering degree there is.
• AgronomistThe science of soil and crops. You tell farmers what to plant, what to feed it and why the yield dropped.
• Environmental EngineerDesign the systems that keep water drinkable, air breathable and contaminated ground safe. Four years of school, then a license if you want to sign off on designs.

One of the smallest engineering fields

O*NET OnLine (the Department of Labor's occupation database) counted about 1,500 agricultural engineers in the United States in 2025, with about 100 openings a year projected from 2025 to 2035. Job listings are scarce, so expect to move for the right one.

The society writes the standards

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers publishes the technical standards the farm equipment industry runs on. It is why an implement built by one company hitches to a tractor built by another.

The degree has two names

Many universities renamed agricultural engineering as biological or biosystems engineering to reflect work in food, bioenergy and the environment. It is the same accredited degree, so search for both names when you look at schools.