Farming remains one of the most hazardous occupations in the United States, according to a report by MoneyGeek based on federal workplace-fatality data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Farmers, ranchers and agricultural managers ranked 11th most dangerous, with a fatal-injury rate of 19.4 deaths per 100,000 workers in 2024 — nearly six times the national average across all occupations.

In numbers, 175 farmers, ranchers and agricultural managers died at work in 2024. A second agricultural category, miscellaneous agricultural workers, ranked 12th with a rate of 19 deaths per 100,000 and 147 fatalities. For both groups transportation incidents were the leading cause of death: vehicle crashes, equipment-related transport accidents and roadway incidents.

Logging topped the national list at 110.4 deaths per 100,000 workers, followed by fishing and hunting workers, roofers, structural iron and steel workers, and refuse and recyclable collectors. Across the whole economy 5,070 US workers died from job-related injuries in 2024 — fewer than in recent years, but still one death roughly every 104 minutes — and transport incidents accounted for more than a third of them.

The report also notes a rising toll among older workers: employees aged 65 and over suffered 824 fatal injuries in 2024, the highest in the five-year study period and nearly 22% more than in 2020. By state, Wyoming had the highest fatality rate at 13.9 per 100,000 workers, followed by Mississippi, Alaska and North Dakota.

Transport hazards, heavy equipment, livestock handling and long hours all feed agriculture's figures, and the report points to training, awareness and proper equipment as the levers that can move them. National fatality rates have fallen for two years running, it adds, but high-risk occupations such as farming still need attention.

Source: Farms.com