Food inspector vs drug inspector

The differences between food inspectors and drug inspectors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a drug inspector has an average salary of $60,063, which is higher than the $43,824 average annual salary of a food inspector.

The top three skills for a food inspector include food handling, federal laws and food preparation. The most important skills for a drug inspector are enforcement procedures, , and .

Food inspector vs drug inspector overview

	Food Inspector	Drug Inspector
Yearly salary	$43,824	$60,063
Hourly rate	$21.07	$28.88
Growth rate	-3%	3%
Number of jobs	64,809	17,283
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age	50	44
Years of experience	2	-

Food inspector vs drug inspector salary

Food inspectors and drug inspectors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Food Inspector	Drug Inspector
Average salary	$43,824	$60,063
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $70,000	Between $32,000 And $111,000
Highest paying City	Harrisburg, PA	-
Highest paying state	Pennsylvania	-
Best paying company	Office of Human Services	-
Best paying industry	Government	-

Differences between food inspector and drug inspector education

There are a few differences between a food inspector and a drug inspector in terms of educational background:

	Food Inspector	Drug Inspector
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common major	Business	Pharmacy
Most common college	Stanford University	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Food inspector vs drug inspector demographics

Here are the differences between food inspectors' and drug inspectors' demographics:

	Food Inspector	Drug Inspector
Average age	50	44
Gender ratio	Male, 52.9% Female, 47.1%	Male, 71.0% Female, 29.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 13.2% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 20.9% Asian, 5.5% White, 56.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.8% Asian, 2.7% White, 71.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	8%	9%

Differences between food inspector and drug inspector duties and responsibilities

Food inspector example responsibilities.

Provide education to plant management and employees in regard to federal regulations, HACCP and SSOP.
Perform health and safety verification sampling and tests for detection of specific microbes, residues or contaminants.
Identify and document deviations from plant's written procedures outline in HACCP and SSOP plans to ensure compliance with federal regulations.
Perform CSI duties as needed.
Report information from inspection shifts to plant DVM.
Have knowledge of FSIS procedures and can adapt to current procedures

Drug inspector example responsibilities.

Manage customs service's facility and team in the immediate AO to active military and DoD civilians.
Receive an award for providing life saving CPR to an infant child in respiratory distress.
Perform patrol and line inspector training on job functions and duties.
Coordinate customer interaction, providing direction and oversight in regard to maintenance, safety, quality assurance and training.
Implement aggressive FOD control program and analyze trends to identify potential hazardous areas and opportunities.

Food inspector vs drug inspector skills

Common food inspector skills

Food Handling, 31%
Federal Laws, 15%
Food Preparation, 14%
Sanitation Procedures, 10%
Human Consumption, 6%
Food Animals, 3%

Common drug inspector skills

Enforcement Procedures, 100%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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