Families / Steward

Livestock Rancher

Manages grazing animals, land and herd health across seasons. Capital-heavy and largely inherited or slowly assembled.

Pay band (est.)
$88k–$157k
Time to competence
6 years
Licence
None
Setting
field
Leverage
medium
Place constraint
high
Physical demand
85/100
Hours burden
82/100

Factor percentiles

Percentile against the whole curated set. Higher is better on that factor only.

  • Play61th

    Absorbing rather than merely paid.

  • Specific knowledge47th

    A combination of skills that is hard to copy.

  • Leverage49th

    Output that scales through code, media, capital or crew.

  • Demand9th

    Durability and shortage, scored conservatively.

  • Pay61th

    Mid-career floor and the range above it.

  • Body3th

    Inverse of physical demand and hours.

  • Autonomy31th

    Control of methods and time.

  • People fit36th

    Distance from your preferred people level.

  • Place flexibility6th

    Remote fit and freedom from specific metros.

  • Time to skill44th

    Inverse of years to competence.

  • Meaning load50th

    Closeness to the families you marked as meaningful. Your mapping, not ours.

  • Downside tolerance21th

    Inverse of named risk to body, market or platform.

Downside

Land cost is the barrier; drought and commodity prices dominate.

Examine this against your weights

The percentiles above use the default weights. Set your own on the ranking and this vocation moves with them.

Source note: BLS OEWS May 2024, Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers (11-9013): median $87,980, 90th percentile $156,530. Outlook from BLS 2025-35 projections, -3.4%. Other scores editorial. All figures are estimates for comparison.