This report is the fifteenth in a series on hired crop workers’ demographic and employment characteristics. Its findings are based on 3,582 interviews that were conducted in California in fiscal years 2015 to 2019. The report’s nine chapters summarize findings on key characteristics, including place of birth and legal status; education and language skills; housing and transportation; job characteristics and employment experience; income and assets; and health insurance coverage.

Most hired crop workers in California are foreign-born. In 2015-2019, 84 percent of California crop workers were born in Mexico, 12 percent in the United States or Puerto Rico, and 4 percent in Central America. Over this period, 49 percent of hired crop workers in California had authorization to work in the United States.

The NAWS portrays a California crop labor force that is aging and settling in one place with families that include U.S.-born children. In 2015-2019, the average age of California crop workers was 40 and 16 percent were 55 or older. Only 13 percent of crop workers in California had migrated (traveled more than 75 miles between jobs or between their residence and a job) sometime in the year prior to their interview. Among all California crop workers, 63 percent were married and 58 percent had children.

California crop workers were employed, on average, 37 weeks in farm jobs in the previous 12 months. They worked an average of 47 hours in the previous week at their current farm job. The majority were paid by the hour at their current farm job (86%) and, over the six-year period (fiscal years 2015-2019) averaged $12.13 per hour. Mean and median personal incomes the previous year were $20,000 to $24,999, while mean and median total family incomes were $25,000 to $29,999. A third of California crop workers had below-poverty-level incomes (33%), and nearly six in ten had health insurance (58%).

The NAWS portrays a California farm labor market characterized by an experienced labor force that largely intends to continue working in agriculture. In 2015-2019, only 2 percent of crop workers were foreign-born newcomers in their first year of U.S. farm work. Seventy-six percent of crop workers worked for only 1 farm employer in the previous 12 months, 16 percent worked for 2 employers, and 8 percent had 3 or more employers. On average, crop workers had been with their current employer 8 years. The majority of crop workers expected to continue doing farm work for more than 5 years (82%).