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Architecture & engineering

Agricultural engineers

Typically requires Bachelor's degree

What is this page & how do I use it?

This is a research report for one career — the kind an analyst would write for a stock. The rating at the top is the neutral baseline (same for everyone); below it come the cases for and against, how the last official forecast for this career actually aged, and what the education path costs and pays.

How to use it: read the bulls-vs-bears case, then hit Score this career to weigh it against your other options with your own interests factored in.

CareerStar rating
MixedMedium uncertainty
top 13% of all 730 careers

Analyst take: Strong market prospects — +5.9% projected growth, moderate AI exposure (43/100).

59
/ 100
low riskhigh
top row = high reward

Moat (borrowed from investing — the water that defends a castle): how shielded this career is from AI. Wide = well-defended — few automatable tasks, built on skills few other jobs have.

The small grid is a style box (borrowed from Morningstar’s fund reports): the blue square places this career on reward (top row = high) versus risk (left column = low), against all 730 careers. Medium uncertainty means the score leans partly on forward-looking bets like AI exposure, so treat the exact number loosely.

🐂 Bulls say
  • +Strong projected growth — outpaces 80% of careers (+5.9%).
  • +High pay — above 79% of careers ($84,630).
  • +Low AI exposure — resilient (43% of tasks exposed).
🐻 Bears say
  • Its softest spot: it carries some AI exposure (43% of tasks).
📜 Reality check — how the last forecast for this career fared

In 2014, the U.S. government projected +3.4% growth for this career by 2024. What actually happened: -41.4%. Reality fell short of the forecast — a reminder that every number on this page is an estimate, and this is how the last one aged. Full back-test →

Was this rating fair?
Projected growth
+5.9%
Median pay
$84,630
AI exposure
43/100
share of tasks exposed to AI — not job loss

Education & ROI — how to get here

Real outcomes for the college majors that feed this occupation, across 39 bachelor’s programs.

Median earnings
$59,306
1 year after graduating
Typical debt
$23,000
median federal debt
Pay-to-debt
2.6×
first-year pay ÷ debt
Feeder majors
Agricultural Engineering
Selective schools offering these majors
Cornell University
NY · 9% admit rate
$88,140/yr
$104,043 grad pay
University of California-Los Angeles
CA · 9% admit rate
$38,614/yr
$82,511 grad pay
University of California-Berkeley
CA · 11% admit rate
$45,619/yr
$92,446 grad pay
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
FL · 21% admit rate
$23,970/yr
$44,349 grad pay
University of Florida
FL · 24% admit rate
$22,523/yr
$71,588 grad pay
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
CA · 31% admit rate
$32,265/yr
$90,768 grad pay

Earnings & debt from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard; majors mapped to this occupation via the NCES CIP→SOC crosswalk. A grounded ROI snapshot, not a guarantee — pay varies widely by school and specialty.

What this work involves

engineeringdesignmathtechnical