Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between quality inspectors and quality leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a quality lead has an average salary of $90,301, 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 lead are continuous improvement, product quality, and quality standards.
| Quality Inspector | Quality Lead | |
| Yearly salary | $33,197 | $90,301 |
| Hourly rate | $15.96 | $43.41 |
| Growth rate | -3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 70,978 | 62,018 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 37% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 45 | 48 |
| Years of experience | - | 6 |
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.
A quality assurance (QA) lead is responsible for organizing and managing the testing of products prior to its release. Your duties will include defining testing standards and strategies, establishing formal QA processes, and overseeing all aspects of QA, such as using best practices and establishing metrics. Additionally, you are responsible for supervising and mentoring QA team members, and developing and implementing scripts, test cases, and procedures. You are also responsible for managing off quality products and developing and institutionalizing ISO complaints.
Quality inspectors and quality leads have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Inspector | Quality Lead | |
| Average salary | $33,197 | $90,301 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $42,000 | Between $63,000 And $127,000 |
| Highest paying City | Minneapolis, MN | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | Nabors Industries | |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a quality inspector and a quality lead in terms of educational background:
| Quality Inspector | Quality Lead | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 37% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between quality inspectors' and quality leads' demographics:
| Quality Inspector | Quality Lead | |
| Average age | 45 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 53.5% Female, 46.5% | Male, 58.7% Female, 41.3% |
| 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, 3.8% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 13.1% Asian, 9.1% White, 69.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 8% |