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The differences between inspectors and home inspectors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a home inspector has an average salary of $51,264, which is higher than the $38,757 average annual salary of an inspector.
The top three skills for an inspector include sketch, good communication and magnetic particle. The most important skills for a home inspector are crawl spaces, pest control, and plumbing.
| Inspector | Home Inspector | |
| Yearly salary | $38,757 | $51,264 |
| Hourly rate | $18.63 | $24.65 |
| Growth rate | -3% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 17,670 | 55,491 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | 5 |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 34% | Bachelor's Degree, 45% |
| Average age | 45 | 50 |
| Years of experience | - | 6 |
An inspector is responsible for overseeing the overall condition of the site, ensuring that it complies with the safety standards and regulations. Inspectors' duties include monitoring the quality of the materials used, inspecting any defects and discrepancies that might compromise the operations, generating reports to assess the product costing if it meets the budget goals, and utilizing available resources in the market for the highest quality project. An inspector must have excellent decision-making and critical-thinking skills to perform comprehensive actions on risk management and service delivery.
A home inspector is primarily in charge of performing inspections and assessments to identify problem areas and potential risks. Although the extent of their responsibilities depends on their line of work or company of employment, it usually includes studying and assessing the structural elements of houses such as its floors and ceilings, testing the alarm or fire detecting equipment, inspecting drainage and pipe systems, and checking appliances should there be any. Moreover, a home inspector produces detailed reports along with recommendations to help the clients in making decisions.
Inspectors and home inspectors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Inspector | Home Inspector | |
| Average salary | $38,757 | $51,264 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $54,000 | Between $32,000 And $82,000 |
| Highest paying City | Vancouver, WA | - |
| Highest paying state | Louisiana | - |
| Best paying company | Los Alamos National Laboratory | - |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | - |
There are a few differences between an inspector and a home inspector in terms of educational background:
| Inspector | Home Inspector | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 34% | Bachelor's Degree, 45% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | San Diego State University |
Here are the differences between inspectors' and home inspectors' demographics:
| Inspector | Home Inspector | |
| Average age | 45 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 61.7% Female, 38.3% | Male, 85.7% Female, 14.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 8.1% White, 56.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 8.1% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.8% Asian, 3.4% White, 69.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 5% |