How To Become A Salvage Worker: What It Is and Career Path

What is a salvage worker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a salvage worker. For example, did you know that they make an average of $12.24 an hour? That's $25,459 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 358,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreSalvage WorkerUS Average

Salary

2.0

Avg. Salary $25,459

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.4

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.07%

Asian 4.14%

Black or African American 15.14%

Hispanic or Latino 20.12%

Unknown 5.16%

White 54.37%

Gender

female 20.00%

male 80.00%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

6.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.7

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a salvage worker

Explore salvage worker education requirements

Most common salvage worker degrees

High School Diploma

76.9 %

Certificate

15.4 %

Bachelor's

7.7 %

Start to develop specific salvage worker skills

Skills	Percentages
Safety Rules	100.00%

Complete relevant salvage worker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New salvage workers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a salvage worker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real salvage worker resumes.

Research salvage worker duties and responsibilities

Build pallets according to department specifications.
Unload and load truck trailers by using a variety of work tools such as dollies, forklifts, and pallet jack.

Prepare your salvage worker resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your salvage worker resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a salvage worker resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable salvage worker resume templates

Build a professional salvage worker resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your salvage worker resume.