U.S. employers received certification for 398,258 H-2A positions in fiscal year 2025, according to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Those positions show the program’s scale and its concentration in crop work; they are not a count of unique workers and do not, by themselves, show how the program affects farm output, domestic employment, or wages.
What H-2A is—and what its growth figures mean
H-2A is a federal program that lets agricultural employers hire nonimmigrant foreign workers for temporary or seasonal jobs after completing a labor certification process. The employer must demonstrate that sufficient able, willing, qualified, and available U.S. workers are not available for the work, and that employing H-2A workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers. These principles are described in DOL’s H-2A program overview and Fact Sheet #26.
DOL’s FY 2025 statistics, dated September 30, 2025, show a large program by certified-position count. Applications received were 9.3% higher than in FY 2024. That change is in applications—not in the number of individual workers—and a certified position does not establish that a worker was ultimately hired or how many hours were worked.
| FY 2025 measure | Count | What it represents |
|---|---|---|
| Positions requested | 415,496 | Positions employers sought through applications received by DOL |
| Positions certified | 398,258 | Positions DOL certified in FY 2025 |
Both figures are from DOL’s “H-2A Temporary Agricultural Program – Selected Statistics, Fiscal Year (FY) 2025.” The difference between requested and certified positions is not a count of unfilled jobs: these totals do not tell readers how many positions were later filled, whether a worker completed a contract, or how many people held multiple jobs.
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What work H-2A positions cover
The FY 2025 occupational breakdown is heavily weighted toward crop-related labor rather than evenly spread across all agricultural work.
| Occupation group | Certified positions | Share of FY 2025 certified positions |
|---|---|---|
| Crop, nursery, and greenhouse farmworkers and laborers | 326,438 | 82.0% |
| Agricultural equipment operators | 37,180 | 9.3% |
DOL’s statistics also list positions in animal-related farm work, heavy and tractor-trailer truck driving, construction labor, shuttle driving, grading and sorting, hand packing, and repair-helper work. The two largest categories above account for most of the reported positions; the remaining occupations are not all summarized here with counts.
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Where certified positions are concentrated
State totals are based on the location of employment, not where workers live. In FY 2025, the five states with the largest certified-position totals were:
| State of employment | Certified positions | Share of U.S. total |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | 56,934 | 14.3% |
| Georgia | 42,723 | 10.7% |
| California | 35,138 | 8.8% |
| Washington | 34,560 | 8.7% |
| North Carolina | 26,123 | 6.6% |
These figures, from DOL’s FY 2025 statistics, describe where positions were certified—not the state distribution of unique workers, farms, or total agricultural employment.
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How employers use the program
DOL generally treats a job as temporary when the employer’s need lasts no longer than one year, except in extraordinary circumstances. A labor certification is not a visa, and it does not mean that every position requested will be filled. DOL’s overview describes these steps before an employer files a petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS):
- File a job order. The employer submits it to the relevant state workforce agency 75 to 60 calendar days before the date work is to begin.
- Recruit U.S. workers. The employer conducts the required recruitment and considers eligible, qualified U.S. applicants under program requirements.
- Apply to DOL. The employer submits its temporary labor certification application to DOL’s Chicago National Processing Center.
- File with USCIS. After the DOL process, the employer files a petition with USCIS. The certification and petition are separate steps.
The statutory test is not simply whether an employer would prefer to hire foreign workers. The employer must establish the required shortage of available U.S. workers and satisfy the safeguards concerning effects on similarly employed U.S. workers. DOL’s Fact Sheet #26 also discusses protections for U.S. workers in corresponding employment doing covered work during the job-order period.
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Recruitment and worker protections employers must account for
DOL guidance says employers must recruit U.S. workers and hire qualified, eligible U.S. applicants who apply through the 50-percent point of the contract, subject to program requirements. DOL’s compliance materials also flag job orders or work contracts, recruitment documentation, housing standards, and the three-fourths-hours guarantee. The exact obligations depend on the applicable rules and the facts of a particular job; this overview is not individualized legal advice.
Rule status has changed and is time-sensitive. DOL’s 2024 Farmworker Protection Final Rule described measures intended to strengthen worker self-advocacy, employer accountability, transparency in foreign labor recruitment, vehicle safety, and enforcement. On June 20, 2025, DOL’s Wage and Hour Division said it would not enforce provisions introduced by that rule while litigation continued, while preserving enforcement of preexisting requirements. DOL also posted a proposed rescission. Those dated actions do not establish the status of later court orders or whether a final rescission took effect. Employers and workers making current compliance decisions should check DOL’s current guidance, operative regulations, and relevant court orders.
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What the numbers do—and do not—say about agriculture
The FY 2025 figures establish that employers sought and received certification for many positions, that crop, nursery, and greenhouse labor dominated the occupational mix, and that positions were concentrated in particular states. They do not supply a causal estimate of H-2A’s effect on U.S. farmworker employment, wages, farm output, crop prices, or mechanization. Establishing any of those effects would require additional evidence that accounts for crop, season, location, and a suitable comparison group.
For household and business finances, that distinction matters: position counts describe one part of the agricultural labor system, but they cannot by themselves predict food prices, farm profitability, or local job opportunities. Those outcomes depend on more than H-2A participation, and the DOL statistics cited here do not quantify the program’s independent contribution to them.
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