How To Become A Dairy Worker: What It Is and Career Path

What is a dairy worker 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 dairy worker. For example, did you know that they make an average of $13.22 an hour? That's $27,504 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 6,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreDairy WorkerUS Average

Salary

2.1

Avg. Salary $27,504

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.6

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.19%

Asian 1.84%

Black or African American 4.51%

Hispanic or Latino 28.45%

Unknown 3.08%

White 60.93%

Gender

female 32.46%

male 67.54%

Age - 39

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 - 39

Stress level

6.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.4

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.8

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a dairy worker

Explore dairy worker education requirements

Most common dairy worker degrees

High School Diploma

39.4 %

Bachelor's

27.5 %

Associate

21.1 %

Start to develop specific dairy worker skills

Skills	Percentages
Milking	38.27%
Safety Procedures	11.27%
Customer Service	10.81%
Calf	9.93%
Dairy Products	6.59%

Complete relevant dairy worker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New dairy workers 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 dairy worker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real dairy worker resumes.

Research dairy worker duties and responsibilities

Manage regular routines of dairy calf sector, developing skill in feeding, housing, sanitation, parasite and disease control.
Used the milking devices and help keep the parlor clean.
Operate and maintain a milking parlor under sanitary conditions and prepare cows for milking.
Monitor and maintain crops to maximize product quality and quantity during harvest.

Prepare your dairy worker resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your dairy worker 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 dairy worker resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable dairy worker resume templates

Build a professional dairy worker 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 dairy worker resume.