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Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation vs Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation and Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$45,200
$58,260
Employment · BLS OEWS
25,200
126,750
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
23rd pct
0th pct

At a glance

Dimension Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators
Median pay $45,200 $58,260
Employment 25,200 126,750
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+3.8%) Declining (-6.5%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 4,100 10,700
Typical education · O*NET Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 23rd pct Low · 0th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 12th pct · 13% of tasks 49th pct · 27% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No No

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Customer and Personal Service, Biology, Production and Processing, Near Vision, English Language, Control Precision, Administration and Management, Active Listening, Oral Comprehension, Problem Sensitivity, Deductive Reasoning, Public Safety and Security, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Time Management, Education and Training, Written Comprehension, Oral Expression, Mathematics, Law and Government, Chemistry, Mechanical, Reading Comprehension, Coordination, Complex Problem Solving, Operations Monitoring, Operation and Control, Judgment and Decision Making, Inductive Reasoning, Information Ordering, Selective Attention.

Specific to Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation

  • Arm-Hand Steadiness
  • Speech Recognition
  • Manual Dexterity
  • Multilimb Coordination
  • Transportation
  • Social Perceptiveness
  • Category Flexibility
  • Static Strength

Specific to Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators

  • Monitoring
  • Computers and Electronics
  • Engineering and Technology
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Troubleshooting
  • Repairing
  • Quality Control Analysis
  • Administrative

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Electronic mail software , Data base user interface and query software , Geographic information system .

Specific to Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation

Specific to Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation or Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

More comparisons

Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation vs Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/pesticide-handlers-sprayers-and-applicators-vegetation-vs-water-and-wastewater-treatment-plant-and-system-operators

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation vs Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/pesticide-handlers-sprayers-and-applicators-vegetation-vs-water-and-wastewater-treatment-plant-and-system-operators

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-pesticide-handlers-sprayers-and-applicators-vegetation-vs-water-and-wastewater-treatment-plant-and-system-operators,
  title  = {Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation vs Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/pesticide-handlers-sprayers-and-applicators-vegetation-vs-water-and-wastewater-treatment-plant-and-system-operators}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.