Plant production worker vs process plant operator

The differences between plant production workers and process plant operators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a process plant operator has an average salary of $41,902, which is higher than the $31,409 average annual salary of a plant production worker.

The top three skills for a plant production worker include safety policies, plant production and USDA. The most important skills for a process plant operator are plant operations, plant process, and minor maintenance.

Plant production worker vs process plant operator overview

	Plant Production Worker	Process Plant Operator
Yearly salary	$31,409	$41,902
Hourly rate	$15.10	$20.15
Growth rate	-	-7%
Number of jobs	85,055	61,085
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 41%	Bachelor's Degree, 32%
Average age	38	47
Years of experience	-	2

Plant production worker vs process plant operator salary

Plant production workers and process plant operators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Plant Production Worker	Process Plant Operator
Average salary	$31,409	$41,902
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $38,000	Between $28,000 And $62,000
Highest paying City	Appleton, WI	-
Highest paying state	North Dakota	-
Best paying company	Land O'Lakes	-
Best paying industry	Transportation	-

Differences between plant production worker and process plant operator education

There are a few differences between a plant production worker and a process plant operator in terms of educational background:

	Plant Production Worker	Process Plant Operator
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 41%	Bachelor's Degree, 32%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Plant production worker vs process plant operator demographics

Here are the differences between plant production workers' and process plant operators' demographics:

	Plant Production Worker	Process Plant Operator
Average age	38	47
Gender ratio	Male, 68.1% Female, 31.9%	Male, 81.7% Female, 18.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 6.2% White, 59.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 20.6% Asian, 4.3% White, 59.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	9%	11%

Differences between plant production worker and process plant operator duties and responsibilities

Plant production worker example responsibilities.

Manage and instruct workers in the art of food preparation as culinary team leader.
Ensure that the plant are cleaned in accordance with USDA regulations.
Document readouts, troubleshoot defects via oscilloscope and analog measurements, and report test analysis.
Operate RF scanning equipment to account and inventory manufacture products.

Process plant operator example responsibilities.

Manage distillation process to determine product specification compliance, and prepare unit for shutdown or turnaround process.
Move to the assembly department building electrical panels, installing electrical panels, installing various electrical devices on new centrifuges.
Batch SCC, Shotcrete and other loads to client specifications.

Plant production worker vs process plant operator skills

Common plant production worker skills

Safety Policies, 35%
Plant Production, 22%
USDA, 20%
Production Equipment, 6%
Machine Operation, 6%
Quality Checks, 5%

Common process plant operator skills

Plant Operations, 30%
Plant Process, 10%
Minor Maintenance, 9%
Plant Equipment, 7%
OSHA, 7%
Continuous Operation, 6%

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Plant Production Worker
Plant Production Worker vs Process Plant Operator

Updated January 8, 2025

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