Agricultural Economist
Impact: Food security and agricultural prosperity through rigorous economic analysis and policy research
Analyse economic factors affecting agricultural markets, farm businesses, and food systems. Study supply and demand dynamics, commodity prices, agricultural policy, and trade flows to inform farm management decisions, investment strategies, and policy development.
What the day looks like
- People interaction
- Minimal
- Team vs solo
- 40% Team / 60% Solo
- Client facing
- Sometimes
- Impact visibility
- Moderate
- Travel
- 10 to 20% for conferences and fieldwork
- Schedule flexibility
- Flexible
- Remote work
- Hybrid
- Typical work hours
- 40 to 50 hours/week
- Stress level
- Low
At a glance
- Median salary
- $115,000
- Entry-level
- $65,000 - $90,000
- Senior
- $175,000+
- Growth by 2033
- 8% (as fast as average)
- Demand
- Stable
- Freelance potential
- Moderate
- Salary growth potential
- High - 65 to 80% growth from entry to senior
- Typical student debt
- $20,000 - $60,000
Skills you'll use
Hard skills
- Econometrics
- R
- Python
- Agricultural market analysis
- Policy analysis
- Financial modelling
Soft skills
- Analytical thinking
- Communication
- Data literacy
- Economic reasoning
- Writing
Technical complexity: High
How to get there
- Minimum education
- Master's Degree
- Licensing
- No
- Years to mid-career
- 2 to 4 years
- Years to senior
- 5 to 8 years
- Career switching
- Hard
Where this career leads
How people arrive here
Where you can go from here
Typical progression
- Research Analyst > Agricultural Economist > Senior Economist > Chief Economist > Research Director
Future outlook
- Automation probability
- 20% moderate risk as AI automates some economic modelling tasks
- AI disruption risk
- Low
- Demand trend
- Stable
How people feel about it
- Overall satisfaction
- 8/10
- Meaning
- 8.2/10
- Work-life balance
- 7.5/10
- Prestige
- 7.5/10
- Social perception
- High