Agricultural and food science technicians
Salary, job outlook, AI risk & career information
Agricultural and food science technicians in the United States earn a median salary of $51,160 per year — about $25 per hour, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Roughly 39K people work in this occupation nationwide, with projected employment growth of +5%.
AI & Automation Risk
This occupation involves a significant amount of physical labor, such as collecting biological samples, maintaining farm equipment, and operating laboratory hardware, which provides a buffer against full automation. However, AI will heavily impact the data-heavy portions of the job, including compiling test results, analyzing chemical properties, and generating reports, making technicians more productive but potentially reducing the number of workers needed for data processing.