Assembly workers put together different parts of a product, either assembling the final product or just one particular component of it. They work in factories or manufacturing sites, and as you may have guessed, they work in the assembly line.
As an assembly worker, you need to have good dexterity and eye to hand coordination. Basic math skills will be necessary, and you might have to read a blueprint once in a while, too. You will prepare parts for assembly and position them, measure assembled components, and assemble parts according to specifications. Maintaining equipment and logging production activities are also part of the job.
The assembly line is an ancient invention, at least as far as the timeline of capitalism and consumer society is concerned, and with the massive reduction it allows in production time and costs, it never seems to get old. Today, as an assembly worker, you can work in rotating shifts and you will make around $13.25 per hour.
Assembly Worker Overview
Assembly Worker Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an assembly worker. For example, did you know that they make an average of $12.82 an hour? That's $26,676 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -8% and produce -83,800 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does an Assembly Worker Do
There are certain skills that many assembly workers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed computer skills, dexterity and mechanical skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be an assembly worker, we found that a lot of resumes listed 29.8% of assembly workers included assembly line, while 8.6% of resumes included safety procedures, and 7.3% of resumes included quality standards. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the assembly worker job title. But what industry to start with? Most assembly workers actually find jobs in the manufacturing and automotive industries.
How To Become an Assembly Worker
If you're interested in becoming an assembly worker, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 10.2% of assembly workers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 1.0% of assembly workers have master's degrees. Even though some assembly workers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become an assembly worker. When we researched the most common majors for an assembly worker, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on assembly worker resumes include diploma degrees or bachelor's degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become an assembly worker. In fact, many assembly worker jobs require experience in a role such as cashier. Meanwhile, many assembly workers also have previous career experience in roles such as customer service representative or machine operator.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the right jobs to get there.
Assembly Worker Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, an assembly worker can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as machine operator, progress to a title such as technician and then eventually end up with the title operations manager.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for an Assembly Worker
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Adecco Honda Transmission Assembly Work Honda Transmission Assembly Work | Adecco Adecco | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $33,39201/30/2021 $33,392 |
Adecco Staffing Operations Assembly Worker Operations Assembly Worker | Adecco Staffing Adecco Staffing | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $22,95701/29/2021 $22,957 |
Manpowergroup Assembly Worker-Paid Training Assembly Worker-Paid Training | Manpowergroup Manpowergroup | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $29,21801/29/2021 $29,218 |
Aerotek GO To Work Assemblers! GO To Work Assemblers! | Aerotek Aerotek | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $34,95701/29/2021 $34,957 |
Adecco Staffing Assembly Worker Assembly Worker | Adecco Staffing Adecco Staffing | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $27,13101/29/2021 $27,131 |
Calculate your salary
Use Zippia's Salary Calculator to see how your pay matches up.
Assembly Worker Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming an Assembly Worker. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write an Assembly Worker Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Assembly Worker resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Skills For an Assembly Worker
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 29.8% of assembly workers listed assembly line on their resume, but soft skills such as computer skills and dexterity are important as well.
- Assembly Line, 29.8%
- Safety Procedures, 8.6%
- Quality Standards, 7.3%
- Defective Parts, 6.6%
- Assembly Instructions, 4.5%
- Other Skills, 43.2% See All Assembly Worker Skills
Best States For an Assembly Worker
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an assembly worker. The best states for people in this position are Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and California. Assembly workers make the most in Oregon with an average salary of $32,127. Whereas in Washington and Alaska, they would average $31,601 and $30,834, respectively. While assembly workers would only make an average of $30,045 in California, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Oregon
$32,127
Avg. Salary
2. Vermont
$29,779
Avg. Salary
3. South Dakota
$28,183
Avg. Salary
How Do Assembly Worker Rate Their Jobs?
Top Assembly Worker Employers
Assembly Worker Videos
