Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation
Agriculture, Food and Natural ResourcesO*NET 37-3012.00United States
Mix or apply pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides through sprays, dusts, vapors, soil incorporation, or chemical application on trees, shrubs, lawns, or crops. Usually requires specific training and state or federal certification.
- Median annual earnings
- $45,934
- Projected change
- +7.6%
- Typical education
- High school diploma or less
- Employment
- 29.78K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
71.2% of the workforce
Growing to 32.04K by 2035
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ASU learning related to this career
These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What pesticide handlers, sprayers, and applicators, vegetation do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Mix pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides for application to trees, shrubs, lawns, or botanical crops.
- Fill sprayer tanks with water and chemicals, according to formulas.
- Lift, push, and swing nozzles, hoses, and tubes to direct spray over designated areas.
- Identify lawn or plant diseases to determine the appropriate course of treatment.
- Cover areas to specified depths with pesticides, applying knowledge of weather conditions, droplet sizes, elevation-to-distance ratios, and obstructions.
- Start motors and engage machinery, such as sprayer agitators or pumps or portable spray equipment.
- Connect hoses and nozzles selected according to terrain, distribution pattern requirements, types of infestations, and velocities.
- Clean or service machinery to ensure operating efficiency, using water, gasoline, lubricants, or hand tools.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $34,933
- 25th percentile
- $38,529
- 50th percentile
- $45,934
- 75th percentile
- $51,052
- 90th percentile
- $61,594
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $45,934 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+7.6%faster than average
202529,777 jobs
2035 projected32,038 jobs
2,261 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- High school diploma or less
- 71.2%
- Certificate
- 15.7%
- Bachelor's degree
- 12.8%
- Associate degree
- 0.3%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Residential Lawn Specialists1,354 postings
- 02Spray Technicians1,199 postings
- 03Lawn Technicians1,094 postings
- 04Custom Applicators555 postings
- 05Pesticide Applicators419 postings
- 06Maintenance Technicians348 postings
- 07Landscape Technicians326 postings
- 08Fertilizer/Chemical Applicators215 postings
- 09Applicators155 postings
- 10Lawn Care Specialists124 postings
- 11Lawn Mowers106 postings
- 12Agriculture Educators78 postings
- 13Technicians78 postings
- 14Sprinkler Technicians69 postings
- 15Irrigation Technicians64 postings
- 16Service Apprentices64 postings
- 17Sprayers64 postings
- 18Chemical Applicators52 postings
- 19Inside Lawn and Garden Associates49 postings
- 20Greenskeepers48 postings
Top employers
- 01TruGreen1,400 postings
- 02Nutrien240 postings
- 03GPAC177 postings
- 04Brightview155 postings
- 05Helena Agri Enterprises134 postings
- 06Keystone Cooperative110 postings
- 07Deangelo Contracting Services86 postings
- 08Apex Companies81 postings
- 09The Davey Tree Expert Company70 postings
- 10Yellowstone Landscape53 postings
- 11Authority Brands50 postings
- 12SavATree39 postings
- 13Lawn Squad38 postings
- 14Weed Man33 postings
- 15Experigreen MGT30 postings
- 16Southern States Cooperative24 postings
- 17Will Enterprises24 postings
- 18Brookside Lawn Corp21 postings
- 19Green Lawn Fertilizing21 postings
- 20Founders National Golf18 postings
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