Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products
SOC 45-2041 · 2024-2034
Grade, sort, or classify unprocessed food and other agricultural products by size, weight, color, or condition.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
Shrinking -5.7%
California projects this job will shrink over the next ten years. Fewer openings may mean a harder search.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $37,314per year
- Projected openings
- 11,300
- Projected change
- -5.7%
- Usually needs
- No formal educational credential
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Monitoring
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Coordination
- Critical Thinking
- Judgment and Decision Making
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $47,925 | 180 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $42,535 | 510 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $42,325 | 590 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $38,726 | 260 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $38,623 | 430 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $38,602 | 760 |
| Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties) | $37,995 | 160 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $37,851 | 150 |
| Salinas MSA (Monterey County) | $37,666 | 1,420 |
| Hanford-Corcoran MSA (Kings County) | $36,791 | 410 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $36,729 | 1,620 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $36,667 | 430 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $36,667 | 450 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $36,307 | 660 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $36,266 | 1,600 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $36,080 | 890 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $34,258 | 770 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | Not reported | 230 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $35,250
- A quarter earn under
- $35,815
- Half earn under
- $37,314
- Three quarters earn under
- $38,814
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $43,312
A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Packers and Packagers, Hand | $38,076 | 104,810 | -3.1% |
| Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders | $46,641 | 2,090 | 0% |
| Food Batchmakers | $42,621 | 17,970 | +7.9% |
| Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers | $37,404 | 11,860 | +5.3% |
| Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders | $45,024 | 51,810 | +4.1% |
| Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders | $45,761 | 3,190 | 0% |