Keep tractors, combines and sprayers running. Two years of training, a laptop in one hand and a wrench in the other.
Click through it
Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Counsellors: send it to a student from your own email in one click.
The median pay is about $56,550 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $37,470 at the lower end to about $78,740 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
1 to 3 years after high school, on the usual route.
$1,000 to $19,000 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
No. There is no license to hold, though many employers still ask for training or a certificate.
Very high demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.
Or read the whole thing here
What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Median
$56,550
Bottom tenth
$37,470
Top tenth
$78,740
The national median is $56,550 a year. The bottom tenth earn $37,470 or less and the top tenth $78,740 or more. These are the 2025 federal figures for farm equipment mechanics and service technicians, the survey group for this job.
$37,470 to $46,450
What the bottom tenth to bottom quarter of farm equipment mechanics earn, 2025
Apprentices and junior dealership technicians usually start in this part of the range. You are paid from the first day. Many dealers also pay for your college terms and your manufacturer training while you work for them.
$65,250 a year
The median in Nevada, the highest of any state
North Dakota ($63,030) and New Jersey ($62,300) come next. West Virginia is the lowest, at $46,240. Overtime comes on top: during planting and harvest a broken combine can cost a farmer the harvest window, so shops run long days and pay overtime.
Roughly, all in
$1,000 to $19,000
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is a dealership apprenticeship: the training is paid work, so your only real cost is a starter set of hand tools. The high end is a two year associate degree at in-state community college prices, a fuller tool set built up over several years, and the testing for a commercial driver's license. Dealers usually cover manufacturer training courses, often give a tool allowance, and frequently pay for the driving training too. Tools are the cost that never quite stops, but you keep them.
File the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) even for a two year program. Pell Grant money often covers most of community college tuition outright, and a registered apprenticeship costs you nothing at all.
Tool allowance
Most dealerships put money toward your tool set every year.
Paid manufacturer training
Week long factory courses, paid for by the dealer.
Overtime in season
Spring and fall are long weeks at premium rates.
Sponsored schooling
Many dealers pay part of your tuition in exchange for working for them while you study and for a year or two after.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Two years, paid most of the way, with a job waiting at the end.
High school diploma
Grade 12
Shop, small engines, welding and math. Any farm or garage experience counts for a lot here.
Find a dealer sponsor
Weeks to months
The strongest programs pair you with a local dealership before you start. The dealer gives you paid work between school terms and often helps with tuition.
Two year associate degree
2 years
Agricultural power technology, diesel equipment technology or a manufacturer branded program at a community college. School terms alternate with paid work at the dealership.
Manufacturer certification levels
Ongoing
Each brand runs its own ladder of factory courses in engines, hydraulics, electrical and precision agriculture systems. You climb it over several years.
Master technician
5 to 10 years
The top service grade at a dealership, and the point where you can also move into service management or field service.
Shop and small engines
The closest thing to the actual job that a high school can offer.
Math
Hydraulic pressure, gear ratios and electrical calculations are daily arithmetic.
Physics
Hydraulics and power transmission are applied physics.
Computer classes
Modern machines are diagnosed with software before anyone picks up a wrench.
Welding and agriculture
If your school offers either, take both.
No state licenses agricultural equipment technicians. What employers look at instead is your manufacturer certification level and whether your college program meets national technical standards. The AED Foundation (the workforce arm of the Associated Equipment Distributors trade group) accredits college diesel equipment technology programs and runs technician assessments in six areas: diesel engines, powertrains, electrical and electronics, heating and air conditioning, hydraulics and safety. A commercial driver's license is the other credential that gets you more work, because field service means driving a service truck.
Community colleges in farm states
Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas and Minnesota all have colleges running manufacturer sponsored equipment technology programs next door to the dealers who hire from them.
Registered apprenticeships
Some dealer groups run apprenticeships registered with the Department of Labor, where the classroom part is built into paid employment.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Precision agriculture systems
GPS (Global Positioning System) guidance, yield monitors, variable rate controllers.
Hydraulics
The most common and most expensive failures on large machinery.
Electrical diagnostics
Modern machines are rolling networks. Shops look for technicians who can trace a fault to a sensor.
Air conditioning certification
Federal rules require certification to handle refrigerant, and every cab has air conditioning.
Welding and fabrication
Farm repairs often mean making a part that no longer exists.
A clean driving record
Field service technicians drive company trucks. Insurers check.
Your own basic tool set
Turning up with your own tools on day one signals you are serious.
Farm background
Understanding what the customer is in the middle of makes you far better at the job.
Patience with software
Half of modern diagnostics is software updates and settings, not mechanical work.
Technicians move into service management, parts management or territory service roles at a manufacturer. Some go independent and run a mobile repair business serving farms directly, which needs a truck, tools and a reputation. The same skills also transfer straight across to construction equipment and heavy truck work, where the work runs all year.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Morning in the shop: plug a laptop into a tractor, read the fault codes, then find out whether the software is right. Repairs on hydraulics, transmissions, engines and electrical systems, usually on machines the size of a house. In season you are more likely to be in a service truck, driving to a field where a combine has stopped and a harvest is waiting, fixing it with what you brought. Paperwork at the end because every job is billed by the hour.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
O*NET OnLine (the Department of Labor's occupation database) counted about 41,900 farm equipment mechanics and service technicians in 2025. It projects growth of 7 percent or more by 2035, much faster than average, with about 3,700 openings a year.
The AED Foundation (the workforce arm of the Associated Equipment Distributors trade group) puts out a regular technician shortage report on the equipment industry, because dealers cannot fill the jobs they have. That shortage is why they pay for your schooling.
Apprenticeship.gov, the Department of Labor's site, reports a 93 percent employment retention rate for people who complete a registered apprenticeship and an average starting salary of $86,000 across all trades afterward. Those are figures for every apprenticeship, not this trade alone.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Vehicles and equipment first, then the rest of the field. See every career in skilled trades.
Last checked October 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in United States dollars, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data and published pay scales. They vary by state, employer and experience. Tuition is for in-state students at public schools unless the card says otherwise. How every figure on this site is sourced and checked.
Tell us about this page. A person reads every message.
No email app on this device? Use Gmail instead: report a mistake in Gmail or say what you like in Gmail.