Food Inspector Overview
Working as a Food Inspector
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a food inspector. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.06 an hour? That's $47,971 a year!
What Does a Food Inspector Do
There are certain skills that many food 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 physical stamina.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a food inspector, we found that a lot of resumes listed 15.1% of food inspectors included food preparation, while 7.9% of resumes included red meat, and 7.7% of resumes included human consumption. 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 food inspector job title. But what industry to start with? Most food inspectors actually find jobs in the technology and non profits industries.
How To Become a Food Inspector
If you're interested in becoming a food inspector, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 34.6% of food inspectors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 10.1% of food inspectors have master's degrees. Even though some food 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 food inspector. When we researched the most common majors for a food inspector, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or high school diploma degrees. Other degrees that we often see on food inspector resumes include associate degree degrees or master's degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a food inspector. In fact, many food inspector jobs require experience in a role such as cashier. Meanwhile, many food inspectors also have previous career experience in roles such as assistant manager or internship.
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Food Inspector Jobs
Food 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 food inspector can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as inspector, progress to a title such as technician and then eventually end up with the title branch manager.
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Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Food Inspector
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Food Safety and Inspection Service Food Inspector Food Inspector | Food Safety and Inspection Service Food Safety and Inspection Service | 10/30/2020 10/30/2020 | $34,91610/30/2020 $34,916 |
Food Safety and Inspection Service Food Inspector (Imports) Food Inspector (Imports) | Food Safety and Inspection Service Food Safety and Inspection Service | 10/28/2020 10/28/2020 | $49,39010/28/2020 $49,390 |
Food Safety and Inspection Service Food Inspector Food Inspector | Food Safety and Inspection Service Food Safety and Inspection Service | 09/25/2020 09/25/2020 | $43,24309/25/2020 $43,243 |
Department of Agriculture Intermittent Food Inspector Intermittent Food Inspector | Department of Agriculture Department of Agriculture | 08/26/2020 08/26/2020 | $43,24308/26/2020 $43,243 |
Department of Agriculture Food Inspector Food Inspector | Department of Agriculture Department of Agriculture | 08/20/2020 08/20/2020 | $43,24308/20/2020 $43,243 |
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Top Colleges for Food Inspectors
1. Stanford University
Stanford, CA
2. University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Lincoln, NE
3. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
4. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL
5. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
6. Maine Maritime Academy
Castine, ME
7. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
8. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA
9. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY
10. Villanova University
Villanova, PA
Entry Level Jobs For Becoming A Food Inspector
Top Skills For a Food 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, 15.1% of food inspectors listed food preparation on their resume, but soft skills such as dexterity and math skills are important as well.
- Food Preparation, 15.1%
- Red Meat, 7.9%
- Human Consumption, 7.7%
- Food Inspection, 7.6%
- Federal Laws, 7.1%
- Other Skills, 54.6% See All Food Inspector Skills
Best States For a Food Inspector
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a food inspector. The best states for people in this position are New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Food inspectors make the most in New York with an average salary of $57,759. Whereas in New Jersey and Rhode Island, they would average $57,685 and $53,318, respectively. While food inspectors would only make an average of $52,739 in Connecticut, 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
$50,101
Avg. Salary
2. New Hampshire
$50,579
Avg. Salary
3. Connecticut
$52,740
Avg. Salary
How Do Food Inspector Rate Their Jobs?
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I want to become food inspector. • April 2019What do you like the most about working as Food Inspector?
As a food inspector i should responsible for ensuring that foods are suitable for human consumption or not. Show MoreTop Food Inspector Employers
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