Farm in Washington: licence, certification and what employers require (2026)

Washington does not license farm workers: no licence; a pesticide applicator licence or CDL applies to some roles. This page says what a farm worker licensed or working in another state has to do to work in Washington, in the order to do it, and what goes wrong when the order is reversed.

How the transfer works

Farm and ranch work is not licensed. A pesticide applicator licence transfers by reciprocity through the state department of agriculture in many states, and a CDL transfers like any licence. Nothing else to file in Washington.

What to have ready before you move

• Pesticide licence if held
• CDL if held
• Equipment experience listed

Start the paperwork before you give notice. There is no Washington licence to wait for, so the only clock is the employer's.

What people get wrong

• Comparing wages without housing; much farm work includes it

Who hires farm workers in Washington

Farm workers in Washington are hired by farms, ranches, dairies, feedlots, nurseries and agricultural contractors. The metros with the most of that work are Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver and Bellevue. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are on the Washington openings page.

For the money side: the median farm worker in Washington earned $37,090 a year ($18 an hour) in May 2024 across 7,280 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Washington has no state income tax on wages. What that leaves you after tax is its own page.

Everything about Washington, on one page

The Washington page has the registries and boards, the income tax table, the programs that pay you to come and the openings filed this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of Washington employers hiring from out of state.