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Last Update 04/02/2006

FELS Wage & Benefit Surveys

Since 1980 FELS has annually conducted a Wage and Benefit Survey. The survey provides a market reference for growers making wage and benefit decisions.

Each year FELS invites other organizations to participate in the survey. These organizations will send the same survey form to their members. Then these forms are tallied by FELS and used in the overall tabulations. Here are the participating organizations:

Organizations Participating In Survey

Members of the organizations listed below can access the tabulations of the current year by clicking on the appropriate link below. Your organization can provide you with appropriate login and password.

(To view an association's survey results click on its link above. Accessing the data will require a login and password.)

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For each survey year FELS produces a booklet which contains the tabulated results of the current year's Wage and Benefit Survey.

Puchase Survey Tabulations

Copies of the full Wage and Benefit Survey tabulation may be purchased. A copy of the booklet costs $20 (FELS subscribers receive a 20% discount), plus $5 shipping and handling fee and California sales tax (total cost $26.88--$22.58 FELS subscribers).
#FELS-406 - $19.00/booklet
For previous year tabulations contact FELS at 800-753-9073

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The booklet contains the following tabulations:

Commodities:

  • Vegetable Crops
  • Field/Row Crops
  • Grape Crops
  • Tree Crops
  • Horticultural Crops
  • Dairy/Livestock
  • Poultry
  • Other

Regions (See map below):

  • Northern California
  • Central Valley North
  • Central Valley South
  • Central Coast
  • Southern California

Size of Employement:

  • Between 1 and 5 Employees
  • Between 5 and 10 Employees
  • Between 10 and 25 Employees
  • More than 2 5 Employee

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Regions:

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2007 Wage & Benefit Tabulation

All Associations

2007 Agricultural Wage and Benefit Survey Report

Report based on All Commodities producer data

I. Wages

       Job Title
            Hourly Wages 

Avg 

Low-
est 

Avg
Low 

Avg
High 

High-
est 

sd

n

N

Supervisor

16.68

7.50

15.70

17.66

46.00

6.13

62

114

Foreman

12.79

7.50

12.01

13.56

35.00

3.69

116

249

Shop mechanic 1

14.87

7.50

14.31

15.42

50.00

6.06

145

224

Shop mechanic 2

12.01

7.50

11.42

12.60

28.60

3.56

93

163

Equipment operator

11.42

7.50

10.75

12.09

28.00

3.56

122

271

Tractor driver 1

10.34

7.50

9.88

10.81

30.00

2.58

136

313

Tractor driver 2

9.77

7.50

9.33

10.21

24.50

2.04

96

224

Milker

10.49

7.50

10.19

10.79

17.50

2.33

16

32

Irrigator - flood/row

8.83

7.50

8.47

9.20

18.00

1.55

103

195

Irrigator - lines

9.33

7.50

8.93

9.73

20.00

2.08

83

185

Pruner - tree or vine

9.34

7.50

8.64

10.04

24.00

2.01

78

174

Nursery propagator

9.25

7.50

8.48

10.02

18.40

2.16

16

39

General laborer 1 (Direct Hire)

8.84

7.50

8.43

9.26

19.00

1.56

136

290

General laborer 1 (FLC)

8.41

7.50

8.08

8.74

30.00

1.63

71

111

General laborer 2 (Direct Hire)

8.27

7.50

8.02

8.52

15.06

1.09

133

212

General laborer 2 (FLC)

8.10

7.50

7.94

8.25

15.00

1.17

73

100

            Monthly Salaries

Supervisor

4,748

1,461

4,405

5,091

11,210

1,843

111

202

Foreman

3,335

1,400

3,115

3,555

6,500

885

65

123

Shop mechanic 1

3,555

1,650

3,470

3,639

7,100

1,021

36

44

Shop mechanic 2

2,757

1,650

2,717

2,796

4,550

894

5

7

Equipment operator

2,238

1,500

2,161

2,316

3,000

428

5

8

Tractor driver 1

2,237

1,500

2,184

2,289

3,000

431

7

9

Tractor driver 2

2,227

1,500

2,152

2,302

3,600

663

4

7

Milker

2,290

1,400

2,139

2,441

4,300

600

10

23

 

Contract Production Services

Respondents who hire any contractors for production

52.53 %

Average share of total labor expenses paid through contractors     

39.90 %

 

II. Benefits

Benefits Provided

% providing
to yr-round

N

% providing
to seasonal

N

Health care (employee only)

46.15 %

494

7.69 %

494

Health care (family)

46.76 %

494

5.47 %

494

Vacation pay

67.00 %

494

5.87 %

494

Holiday pay (days per year)

51.21 %

494

9.72 %

494

Average days

5.92  

253

5.27  

48

Sick-leave pay

27.53 %

494

1.21 %

494

Yearly profit-sharing or bonus

42.71 %

494

9.11 %

494

Retirement pay/pension

27.73 %

494

6.68 %

494

Housing

27.33 %

494

7.89 %

494

Utilities in housing

18.02 %

494

5.67 %

494

Farm products

15.18 %

494

4.86 %

494

See notes below.  Report produced at UCB College of Natural Resources.
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Tabulation Footnotes:

As an aid to interpreting the survey reports, the explanation below describes terms used and aspects of data treatment.

Wages Section:

The tables show the overall average, the average low and high, and the absolute low and high wages reported for each job by respondents in the specified associationXcommodity group. They indicate not only the total number (N) of respondents reporting any wage for each respective job-paytype (pay for eight job titles could be reported per hour, month, or both) but also the number (n) who report paying a single rate (lowest=highest) for each job. The standard deviation (sd) is of the midpoint between the lowest and highest wage rate for the job reported by each respondent. The smaller the standard deviation, the closer that wages paid by all responding firms for the given job tend to cluster around their average.

Each Job Title was briefly defined on the survey form (page 2) so that survey participants could report wages relative to similar job content.

Benefits Section:

Changes in the survey form after 2003 affect the meaning and year-to-year comparability of results shown in the benefits section. While check boxes for both "yes" and "no" responses were included in surveys through 2003, respondents could only indicate "yes" in 2004 and 2005, and the standard for an affirmative response was clarified to "received by more than half of employees without their having to co-pay more than 25% of the cost." The portion of replies with a "yes" for each benefit was calculated before 2004 considering a base (denominator) of only those who checked either of the two boxes, i.e., ignoring those who left the item blank. Because the portion is now calculated in relation to all respondents, including both those who would have left the item blank and those who would have explicitly checked "no," the 2004-2005 figures tend to be lower than pre-2004. N is the total number of respondents in the specified associationXcommodity tabulation group.

Workers' Compensation Insurance Premium Expense Section:

The reports show the percentage change [current year premium minus previous premium] divided by [previous premium], considering only respondents who report both previous and current year premiums. N is the number of such respondents. There is no control for year-to-year differences in number of employees covered.

We hope you find these survey results helpful. Any suggestions to improve this service are welcomed.