A consumer safety inspector is a skilled professional who examines production facilities and ensures compliance with the processing and sanitation regulations. They may work in private companies or government agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which value and promote consumer protection.
They serve as the consumers' line of defense against unsafe products and unfair practices such as misbranding. Their responsibilities involve the inspection of products for safe consumption and the appropriate handling of consumer complaints. If they work for the FDA, they have the authority to initiate legal actions against companies over safety violations. They also file administrative reports and keep complete records of their inspections.
Becoming a consumer safety officer requires a bachelor's degree. Health-related fields are preferable to land this position within the FDA or pharmaceutical organizations. Specialization in biosciences, agriculture, or life sciences may open the opportunity to work in food production companies. Work experience in a specific industry is also mandatory. The average income of a consumer safety inspector is $19.48 per hour or $40,528 per year.
Consumer Safety Inspector Overview
Consumer Safety Inspector Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a consumer safety inspector. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.13 an hour? That's $52,267 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -18% and produce -100,900 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Consumer Safety Inspector Do
There are certain skills that many consumer safety inspectors 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 dexterity, math skills and mechanical skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a consumer safety inspector, we found that a lot of resumes listed 11.1% of consumer safety inspectors included procedures, while 10.9% of resumes included ensure compliance, and 10.5% of resumes included regulatory agencies. 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 consumer safety inspector job title. But what industry to start with? Most consumer safety inspectors actually find jobs in the government and retail industries.
How To Become a Consumer Safety Inspector
If you're interested in becoming a consumer safety inspector, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 47.1% of consumer safety inspectors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 20.0% of consumer safety inspectors have master's degrees. Even though most consumer safety inspectors 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 a consumer safety inspector. When we researched the most common majors for a consumer safety inspector, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on consumer safety inspector resumes include associate degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a consumer safety inspector. In fact, many consumer safety inspector jobs require experience in a role such as food inspector. Meanwhile, many consumer safety inspectors also have previous career experience in roles such as inspector or safety inspector.
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Consumer Safety Inspector 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, a consumer safety inspector can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as quality assurance manager, progress to a title such as quality manager and then eventually end up with the title director of quality.
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Average Salary for a Consumer Safety Inspector
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Department of Agriculture Consumer Safety Inspector Consumer Safety Inspector | Department of Agriculture Department of Agriculture | 03/27/2021 03/27/2021 | $53,43303/27/2021 $53,433 |
Department of Agriculture Consumer Safety Inspector Consumer Safety Inspector | Department of Agriculture Department of Agriculture | 03/27/2021 03/27/2021 | $53,43303/27/2021 $53,433 |
Department of Agriculture Consumer Safety Inspector Consumer Safety Inspector | Department of Agriculture Department of Agriculture | 03/25/2021 03/25/2021 | $53,43303/25/2021 $53,433 |
Department of Agriculture Consumer Safety Inspector Consumer Safety Inspector | Department of Agriculture Department of Agriculture | 03/25/2021 03/25/2021 | $55,67703/25/2021 $55,677 |
Department of Agriculture Consumer Safety Inspector Consumer Safety Inspector | Department of Agriculture Department of Agriculture | 03/25/2021 03/25/2021 | $53,43303/25/2021 $53,433 |
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Top Colleges for Consumer Safety Inspectors
1. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
2. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
3. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
4. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Public
5. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Public
6. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
7. SUNY Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY • Public
8. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
9. New York University
New York, NY • Private
10. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN • Public
Top Skills For a Consumer Safety Inspector
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, 11.1% of consumer safety inspectors listed procedures on their resume, but soft skills such as dexterity and math skills are important as well.
- Procedures, 11.1%
- Ensure Compliance, 10.9%
- Regulatory Agencies, 10.5%
- Ssop, 9.0%
- Food Safety, 7.8%
- Other Skills, 50.7% See All Consumer Safety Inspector Skills
Best States For a Consumer Safety Inspector
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a consumer safety inspector. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Delaware. Consumer safety inspectors make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $62,239. Whereas in Connecticut and Rhode Island, they would average $59,977 and $59,903, respectively. While consumer safety inspectors would only make an average of $59,811 in Delaware, 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. Pennsylvania
$59,592
Avg. Salary
2. Nevada
$56,821
Avg. Salary
3. Rhode Island
$59,903
Avg. Salary