Also called: Cowhand, Livestock Farmworker, Wrangler
Works cattle and other livestock on ranches: feeding, moving herds, branding, and fixing fence.
You saddle up at first light to move a herd to fresh pasture, maybe with a dog working alongside you. Afternoon is fixing a mile of barbed-wire fence or checking water tanks with an ATV. In spring, branding days bring neighbors together for a big, dusty, hard day of work.
Housing and meat are often included, which adds real value.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
No formal education, about 0 years after high school. Learned on the job; riding and roping skills are a big plus.
Ways in: On-the-job training. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Growing about average (about 2% over 10 years). Farmworkers, farm/ranch animals.
Low risk for 10 years. GPS collars and drones help find cattle, but riding, roping, doctoring calves and fixing fence on rough land stay human.
Age 16+. One way to start: Ask ranches, sale barns and feed stores about ranch hand or summer help jobs; ranch job boards list them too
Classes: Ag mechanics or welding, Animal science CTE, Biology.
Official data: O*NET occupation 45-2093.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.