Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
SOC 51-9061 · 2024-2034
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.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $55,539per year
- Projected openings
- 72,700
- Projected change
- 0%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
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.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| Hanford-Corcoran MSA (Kings County) | $66,586 | 200 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $63,680 | 2,300 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $59,978 | 7,060 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $59,942 | 5,240 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $59,753 | 700 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $59,650 | 370 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $57,567 | 6,710 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $53,997 | 230 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $52,848 | 570 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $52,407 | 2,240 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $51,884 | 340 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $51,752 | 15,170 |
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties) | $51,637 | 50 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $51,565 | 560 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $51,401 | 120 |
| Napa MSA (Napa County) | $50,355 | 270 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $50,119 | 1,380 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $49,534 | 1,160 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $49,517 | 9,070 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $48,265 | 200 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $47,687 | 110 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $47,441 | 6,780 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $47,215 | 1,550 |
| Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties) | $47,072 | 110 |
| El Centro MSA (Imperial County) | $46,610 | 140 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $45,933 | 630 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $45,174 | 110 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $44,312 | 290 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $44,312 | 900 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $44,096 | 1,560 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $39,634
- A quarter earn under
- $46,671
- Half earn under
- $55,539
- Three quarters earn under
- $70,145
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $90,223
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calibration Technologists and Technicians | $81,222 | 1,070 | 0% |
| Industrial Machinery Mechanics | $76,504 | 28,510 | +13.8% |
| Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers | $65,092 | 2,580 | -13.3% |
| Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, Recordkeeping | $46,812 | 8,760 | +1.3% |
| Engine and Other Machine Assemblers | $47,878 | 960 | -16.7% |
| Machine Feeders and Offbearers | $41,264 | 5,140 | -10.2% |
Programs that train for this job — 3
Quality Control Inspector
Strong Workforce Apprenticeship Group (SWAG) · Valencia · $0
Refinery Safety Technician
California State University, Dominguez Hills · Carson · $5,768
Quality Control Inspector
Q.P.E. Technical Institute · Anaheim · $5,145