Food inspector vs livestock inspector

The differences between food inspectors and livestock inspectors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a food inspector and a livestock inspector. Additionally, a livestock inspector has an average salary of $45,498, which is higher than the $43,824 average annual salary of a food inspector.

Food inspector vs livestock inspector overview

	Food Inspector	Livestock Inspector
Yearly salary	$43,824	$45,498
Hourly rate	$21.07	$21.87
Growth rate	-3%	-
Number of jobs	64,809	16,791
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

Food inspector vs livestock inspector salary

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

	Food Inspector	Livestock Inspector
Average salary	$43,824	$45,498
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $70,000	Between $25,000 And $81,000
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 livestock inspector education

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

	Food Inspector	Livestock Inspector
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Business	Agricultural Business
Most common college	Stanford University	Ohio State University

Food inspector vs livestock inspector demographics

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

	Food Inspector	Livestock Inspector
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 52.9% Female, 47.1%	Male, 79.2% Female, 20.8%
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, 12.1% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.6% White, 63.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between food inspector and livestock 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

Livestock inspector example responsibilities.

Conduct entomological surveys for various species across Nevada utilizing various technologies including GPS and PDA data gathering techniques.
Audit annually by the FDA for performance quality assessments and standardization.

Food inspector vs livestock 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 livestock inspector skills

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Updated January 8, 2025

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