How To Become A Line Runner: What It Is and Career Path

What is a line runner and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a line runner. For example, did you know that they make an average of $14.98 an hour? That's $31,162 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 372,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreLine RunnerUS Average

Salary

2.4

Avg. Salary $31,162

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.1

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.66%

Asian 7.88%

Black or African American 6.41%

Hispanic or Latino 16.78%

Unknown 4.64%

White 63.63%

Gender

female 38.61%

male 61.39%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

5.1

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.7

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a line runner

Explore line runner education requirements

Most common line runner degrees

High School Diploma

51.6 %

Diploma

15.2 %

Associate

13.7 %

Start to develop specific line runner skills

Skills	Percentages
Sops	23.24%
Assembly Line	22.45%
Pallets	21.41%
Line Equipment	11.57%
Food Preparation	4.69%

Complete relevant line runner training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New line runners learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a line runner based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real line runner resumes.

Research line runner duties and responsibilities

Set up and operate an extrusion machine in accordance with establish procedures and guidelines and customer requirements.
Lift raw materials, finish products, and pack items, manually or using hoists.

Prepare your line runner resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your line runner resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a line runner resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable line runner resume templates

Build a professional line runner resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your line runner resume.