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The differences between packaging associates and inspector packers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a packaging associate has an average salary of $31,519, which is higher than the $31,345 average annual salary of an inspector packer.
The top three skills for a packaging associate include pallets, defective products and basic math. The most important skills for an inspector packer are defective products, pallets, and safety procedures.
| Packaging Associate | Inspector Packer | |
| Yearly salary | $31,519 | $31,345 |
| Hourly rate | $15.15 | $15.07 |
| Growth rate | -3% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 40,179 | 33,923 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 34% | High School Diploma, 55% |
| Average age | 44 | 40 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
Packaging associates are skilled employees who are responsible for wrapping material around consumer items. This serves to protect and clean products, making them marketable. These associates must perform maintenance on the packaging equipment to ensure that they are running efficiently with minimal downtime. They must inspect completed products for defects and abnormalities to satisfy their customers. Packaging associates must also communicate with technicians and supervisors to rectify problems and ensure that the products are with standards and following their customers' requirements.
An inspector packer is an employee who works in the warehouse to stack and pile goods into their correct containers and prepare them for shipment using various equipment. Inspector packers must ensure that the packing of goods follows a specific set of instructions while inspecting the boxes are damage free. They keep track of their inventory by maintaining a database of packages; however, they manually fill out forms and papers to record measurement, wealth, and products. They also are required to remove defective products or materials so that they can avoid delivery delays.
Packaging associates and inspector packers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Packaging Associate | Inspector Packer | |
| Average salary | $31,519 | $31,345 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $39,000 | Between $25,000 And $38,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | Rochester, NY |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Minnesota |
| Best paying company | PepsiCo | Jelly Belly |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a packaging associate and an inspector packer in terms of educational background:
| Packaging Associate | Inspector Packer | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 34% | High School Diploma, 55% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between packaging associates' and inspector packers' demographics:
| Packaging Associate | Inspector Packer | |
| Average age | 44 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 57.9% Female, 42.1% | Male, 34.6% Female, 65.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 3.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.2% Asian, 7.9% White, 60.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% | Black or African American, 13.3% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 19.9% Asian, 7.3% White, 55.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 7% |