Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2020

51-9061 Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers

Inspect, test, sort, sample, or weigh nonagricultural raw materials or processed, machined, fabricated, or assembled parts or products for defects, wear, and deviations from specifications. May use precision measuring instruments and complex test equipment.

National estimates for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
Industry profile for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
Geographic profile for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers

National estimates for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
549,200	0.7 %	$ 21.43	$ 44,580	0.4 %

Percentile wage estimates for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 12.62	$ 15.31	$ 19.45	$ 25.72	$ 32.80
Annual Wage (2)	$ 26,240	$ 31,840	$ 40,460	$ 53,500	$ 68,220

Industry profile for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Employment Services	37,760	1.18	$ 17.51	$ 36,430
Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services	28,500	1.90	$ 23.50	$ 48,880
Plastics Product Manufacturing	24,250	4.32	$ 18.69	$ 38,880
Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing	23,290	4.44	$ 29.45	$ 61,250
Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing	20,680	4.34	$ 20.77	$ 43,200

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Apparel Knitting Mills	650	7.71	$ 15.03	$ 31,260
Foundries	5,740	5.41	$ 20.98	$ 43,650
Fabric Mills	2,430	5.27	$ 16.16	$ 33,610
Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing	15,530	5.21	$ 23.65	$ 49,190
Coating, Engraving, Heat Treating, and Allied Activities	6,480	4.93	$ 19.83	$ 41,250

Top paying industries for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Scheduled Air Transportation	450	0.10	$ 41.59	$ 86,510
Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution	1,030	0.27	$ 34.73	$ 72,230
Natural Gas Distribution	750	0.70	$ 33.44	$ 69,550
Other Pipeline Transportation	130	1.61	$ 32.80	$ 68,230
Oil and Gas Extraction	240	0.19	$ 32.61	$ 67,820

Geographic profile for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	56,130	3.42	0.87	$ 22.48	$ 46,750
Texas	49,540	4.09	1.04	$ 21.15	$ 44,000
Ohio	29,120	5.67	1.44	$ 21.43	$ 44,570
Michigan	29,110	7.42	1.88	$ 19.04	$ 39,590
Illinois	28,240	5.02	1.27	$ 20.41	$ 42,460

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Michigan	29,110	7.42	1.88	$ 19.04	$ 39,590
Indiana	19,930	6.83	1.73	$ 20.00	$ 41,600
Wisconsin	17,630	6.51	1.65	$ 20.32	$ 42,260
South Carolina	12,790	6.35	1.61	$ 18.98	$ 39,480
Kentucky	10,690	6.00	1.52	$ 20.88	$ 43,430

Top paying states for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Alaska	220	0.75	0.19	$ 34.43	$ 71,620
District of Columbia	70	0.11	0.03	$ 31.12	$ 64,740
North Dakota	1,560	3.89	0.99	$ 30.63	$ 63,700
Washington	12,000	3.75	0.95	$ 29.85	$ 62,080
Wyoming	1,010	3.84	0.97	$ 27.47	$ 57,140

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	22,970	3.94	1.00	$ 22.09	$ 45,950
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	20,940	4.80	1.22	$ 21.00	$ 43,690
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	18,080	2.05	0.52	$ 22.44	$ 46,670
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	15,640	5.27	1.33	$ 21.89	$ 45,530
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	15,030	4.19	1.06	$ 20.34	$ 42,300
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	14,100	7.92	2.01	$ 19.98	$ 41,560
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	10,260	3.90	0.99	$ 18.91	$ 39,340
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	8,220	4.20	1.06	$ 32.69	$ 67,990
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	7,460	2.87	0.73	$ 25.42	$ 52,880
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	6,930	3.75	0.95	$ 22.94	$ 47,720

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Carbondale-Marion, IL	950	18.78	4.76	$ 12.04	$ 25,050
Morristown, TN	660	15.11	3.83	$ 16.81	$ 34,970
Dalton, GA	840	14.00	3.55	$ 16.61	$ 34,550
Elkhart-Goshen, IN	1,650	13.10	3.32	$ 19.38	$ 40,310
Columbus, IN	570	12.17	3.08	$ 20.03	$ 41,670
Albany, GA	650	11.12	2.82	$ 28.31	$ 58,890
Vineland-Bridgeton, NJ	630	11.01	2.79	$ 16.83	$ 35,010
Jackson, MI	510	11.00	2.79	$ 18.91	$ 39,320
Waco, TX	1,230	10.66	2.70	$ 18.81	$ 39,120
Spartanburg, SC	1,600	10.32	2.61	$ 18.56	$ 38,600