The article analyzes the effects of economic sectors and educational level of workers on their probability to earn higher wages, at the county level in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Special emphasis is given to the agricultural sector, since it employs 20% of the total labor force occupied in the state. The IBGE Demographic Census of 2000 is the basis for the data. Logit is the statistical model used for the analysis. One of the conclusions of the analysis is that the possibility of the agricultural sector, in a county, to generate higher wages is limited, as long as it remains solely a producer of the primary product. In order to generate higher wages, it is necessary that the county aggregates other sectors, as for example, industrialization, storage and transportation. Besides, the qualification of the worker is also important, so he can assume new job opportunities in the aggregated sectors, which contributes for higher wages.
labor income; agriculture; educational level
