Quality inspector vs quality assurance inspector

The differences between quality inspectors and quality assurance inspectors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a quality assurance inspector has an average salary of $36,842, which is higher than the $33,197 average annual salary of a quality inspector.

The top three skills for a quality inspector include calipers, micrometers and quality standards. The most important skills for a quality assurance inspector are calipers, micrometers, and corrective action.

Quality inspector vs quality assurance inspector overview

	Quality Inspector	Quality Assurance Inspector
Yearly salary	$33,197	$36,842
Hourly rate	$15.96	$17.71
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	70,978	74,410
Job satisfaction	-	3
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 34%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	-	-

What does a quality inspector do?

A Quality Control Inspector is responsible for making sure that the manufactured products in a particular company or organization are up to standard and adheres to the rules and regulations. They continuously monitor production operations where they manually inspect products, accepting and rejecting those that do not meet the standard quality, and provide recommendations should it be necessary. Moreover, the Quality Control Inspectors coordinates with workers to ensure improvements, and with management to report the results.

What does a quality assurance inspector do?

Quality Assurance Auditors are employees who ensure the adherence of other employees to company processes and guidelines. They are expected to be experts on quality assurance processes and procedures. They also have in-depth knowledge of the expected outcomes of such processes to ensure that the company only provides quality products and services. Quality assurance auditors are also familiar with regulatory laws and policies of governing bodies that oversee companies in their particular industry. They ensure that their companies are compliant and may conduct random quality checks every now and then.

Quality inspector vs quality assurance inspector salary

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

	Quality Inspector	Quality Assurance Inspector
Average salary	$33,197	$36,842
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $42,000	Between $27,000 And $49,000
Highest paying City	Minneapolis, MN	Renton, WA
Highest paying state	Washington	Washington
Best paying company	Nabors Industries	Los Alamos National Laboratory
Best paying industry	Health Care	Government

Differences between quality inspector and quality assurance inspector education

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

	Quality Inspector	Quality Assurance Inspector
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 34%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Quality inspector vs quality assurance inspector demographics

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

	Quality Inspector	Quality Assurance Inspector
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 53.5% Female, 46.5%	Male, 71.7% Female, 28.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 8.5% White, 57.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	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 quality inspector and quality assurance inspector duties and responsibilities

Quality inspector example responsibilities.

Task involve use of calipers, optical comparators, volt/ohm meters and curve tracer.
Utilize measuring instruments like calipers, gauges, and micrometers to assure product conformance to customers specifications.
Recycle ESD products as required.
Maintain logs of products as required per AS9100.
Document and inspect for ESD requirements and for proper handling of MSD moisture sensitive devices.
Perform surface plate set-ups, utilizing gage blocks, angle blocks, sine plates and bars.

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.

Quality inspector vs quality assurance inspector skills

Common quality inspector skills

Calipers, 9%
Micrometers, 7%
Quality Standards, 6%
Quality Inspection, 6%
Inspection Results, 4%
CMM, 4%

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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Quality Inspector
Quality Inspector vs Quality Assurance Inspector

Updated January 8, 2025

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