Production employee vs industrial worker

The differences between production employees and industrial workers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a production employee has an average salary of $32,872, which is higher than the $31,464 average annual salary of an industrial worker.

The top three skills for a production employee include production floor, quality standards and safety standards. The most important skills for an industrial worker are industrial cleaning, pallets, and hand tools.

Production employee vs industrial worker overview

	Production Employee	Industrial Worker
Yearly salary	$32,872	$31,464
Hourly rate	$15.80	$15.13
Growth rate	-	1%
Number of jobs	75,730	99,045
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 34%	High School Diploma, 47%
Average age	43	38
Years of experience	-	-

Production employee vs industrial worker salary

Production employees and industrial workers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Production Employee	Industrial Worker
Average salary	$32,872	$31,464
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $42,000	Between $24,000 And $39,000
Highest paying City	Cleveland, OH	White Bear Lake, MN
Highest paying state	Minnesota	Connecticut
Best paying company	Steel Dynamics	Clean Harbors
Best paying industry	Automotive	Automotive

Differences between production employee and industrial worker education

There are a few differences between a production employee and an industrial worker in terms of educational background:

	Production Employee	Industrial Worker
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 34%	High School Diploma, 47%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Production employee vs industrial worker demographics

Here are the differences between production employees' and industrial workers' demographics:

	Production Employee	Industrial Worker
Average age	43	38
Gender ratio	Male, 69.6% Female, 30.4%	Male, 61.3% Female, 38.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 7.9% White, 60.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 12.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 4.6% White, 63.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage	5%	9%

Differences between production employee and industrial worker duties and responsibilities

Production employee example responsibilities.

Accomplish collating training for revisions and charts.
Handle set up and operation of CNC mills and lathes for production.
Machine (CNC) axle shafts from a raw forging state to a finish product ready for final assembly.
Execute production activities as directed by supervisor, including performing GMP cell culture of biologic products using closed-system device.
Coordinate and participate in Kaizen cost improvement activities.

Industrial worker example responsibilities.

Maximize efficiency by critically evaluating resources by utilizing on-the-spot math and visualizing complete orders to minimize error before building a pallet.
Help develop acontrol atmosphere brazing oven for a new cupro braze radiator

Production employee vs industrial worker skills

Common production employee skills

Production Floor, 25%
Quality Standards, 16%
Safety Standards, 13%
Work Ethic, 8%
Production Process, 6%
HACCP, 4%

Common industrial worker skills

Industrial Cleaning, 19%
Pallets, 18%
Hand Tools, 16%
Assembly Line, 14%
Safety Standards, 8%
Pallet Jack, 4%

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Production and Manufacturing Industry
Production Employee
Production Employee vs Industrial Worker

Updated January 8, 2025

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