Lumber inspector vs quality assurance inspector

The differences between lumber inspectors and quality assurance inspectors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a lumber inspector has an average salary of $43,538, which is higher than the $36,842 average annual salary of a quality assurance inspector.

The top three skills for a lumber inspector include equipment maintenance, shop safety and hardwood. The most important skills for a quality assurance inspector are calipers, micrometers, and corrective action.

Lumber inspector vs quality assurance inspector overview

	Lumber Inspector	Quality Assurance Inspector
Yearly salary	$43,538	$36,842
Hourly rate	$20.93	$17.71
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	16,889	74,410
Job satisfaction	-	3
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 34%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	-	-

Lumber inspector vs quality assurance inspector salary

Lumber inspectors and quality assurance inspectors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Lumber Inspector	Quality Assurance Inspector
Average salary	$43,538	$36,842
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $67,000	Between $27,000 And $49,000
Highest paying City	-	Renton, WA
Highest paying state	-	Washington
Best paying company	-	Los Alamos National Laboratory
Best paying industry	-	Government

Differences between lumber inspector and quality assurance inspector education

There are a few differences between a lumber inspector and a quality assurance inspector in terms of educational background:

	Lumber Inspector	Quality Assurance Inspector
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 34%
Most common major	Property Management	Business
Most common college	-	-

Lumber inspector vs quality assurance inspector demographics

Here are the differences between lumber inspectors' and quality assurance inspectors' demographics:

	Lumber Inspector	Quality Assurance Inspector
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 96.6% Female, 3.4%	Male, 71.7% Female, 28.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.8% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 6.6% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 21.2% Asian, 9.1% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	4%	4%

Differences between lumber inspector and quality assurance inspector duties and responsibilities

Lumber inspector example responsibilities.

Operate and maintain planers, saws, and kiln dryers.
Contract with local hardwood lumber production facilities to grade and upgrade rough green lumber to be sell.
Supervise 5 people (green chain) / inspecting & grading multiple hardwood species, segregation by dimension/species, up to 40Kbf/day
Conduct dimensional and visual inspections procedures on CMM machines to ensure geometrical characteristics of the product are in specification.
Inspect, monitor and GPS recording of all water installations to ensure compliance with requirements and specifications.

Quality assurance inspector example responsibilities.

Coordinate joint surveys with SATORP inspectors and manage clearance of all issue active LBE and NCR.
Work with IPC and ISO regulations.
Examine parts for damage or excessive wear using micrometers and gauges and other specialize test equipment.
Measure dimensions of products to verify conformance to specifications, using measuring instruments such as rulers, calipers or micrometers.
Inspect and measure surgical steel medical devices for critical dimensions, checking tolerance using micrometers and calipers reading from blueprint designs.
Qualify coating systems and painters to ASTM standards.

Lumber inspector vs quality assurance inspector skills

Common lumber inspector skills

Equipment Maintenance, 32%
Shop Safety, 27%
Hardwood, 21%
Quality Standards, 10%
Band Saws, 6%
Customer Specifications, 5%

Common quality assurance inspector skills

Calipers, 7%
Micrometers, 6%
Corrective Action, 5%
Safety Standards, 5%
Inspection Reports, 4%
Quality Standards, 4%

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Lumber Inspector
Lumber Inspector vs Quality Assurance Inspector

Updated January 8, 2025

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