How To Become A Certified Pesticide Applicator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a certified pesticide applicator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a certified pesticide applicator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $19.52 an hour? That's $40,605 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 5% and produce 61,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCertified Pesticide ApplicatorUS Average

Salary

3.2

Avg. Salary $40,605

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.1

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 2.69%

Asian 0.38%

Black or African American 1.54%

Hispanic or Latino 15.77%

Unknown 3.08%

White 76.54%

Gender

female 11.11%

male 88.89%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

8.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.0

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a certified pesticide applicator

Explore certified pesticide applicator education requirements

Most common certified pesticide applicator degrees

High School Diploma

32.1 %

Bachelor's

32.1 %

Associate

23.2 %

Start to develop specific certified pesticide applicator skills

Skills	Percentages
CDL	58.23%
Pest Control	29.29%
Customer Service	8.53%
DOT	2.30%
Weed Control	1.66%

Complete relevant certified pesticide applicator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New certified pesticide applicators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a certified pesticide applicator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real certified pesticide applicator resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed certified pesticide applicator usually doesn't require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed certified pesticide applicator in most of states. 29 states require certified pesticide applicators to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Alabama	-	-	Professional Fumigation Pest Control Operator (FC)
Alaska	-	State exam required	Pesticide Applicator
California	Specific course required	State exam required	Qualified Applicator Certificate
Colorado	-	State exam required	Commercial Applicator's License (Pesticides)
Georgia	-	State exam required	Pesticide Applicator

Research certified pesticide applicator duties and responsibilities

Preform all troubleshooting and diagnostics for termite infestations.
Administer appropriate tree and shrub fungicide and insecticide controls, discuss site plans for tree and shrub customers.

Prepare your certified pesticide applicator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your certified pesticide applicator resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a certified pesticide applicator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable certified pesticide applicator resume templates

Build a professional certified pesticide applicator resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your certified pesticide applicator resume.