There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a sorter/packer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $14.75 an hour? That's $30,672 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 156,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

What Does a Sorter/Packer Do

There are certain skills that many sorter/packers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed hand-eye coordination, listening skills and physical strength.

Learn more about what a Sorter/Packer does

How To Become a Sorter/Packer

If you're interested in becoming a sorter/packer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 7.2% of sorter/packers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 0.4% of sorter/packers have master's degrees. Even though some sorter/packers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Sorter/Packer Career Paths

Average Salary for a Sorter/Packer

Sorter/Packers in America make an average salary of $30,672 per year or $15 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $37,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $25,000 per year.
Average Sorter/Packer Salary
$30,672 Yearly
$14.75 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Sorter/Packer

There are several types of sorter/packer, including:

Packer

Role:

The natural habitat of a Packer is the warehouse. Fulfilling customer orders in a timely manner, packers pull and pack products, operate equipment such as forklifts, dolly loaders, or pallet wrappers.

Generally assigned to a specific area of the warehouse, they search for the required item in their neck of the woods. They confirm the products meet quality standards before packaging them for shipment. They clean, load, and label containers and arrange them on vessels or vehicles.

It is the packers' responsibility to keep the warehouse organized, to maintain a clean and secure working area that is always up to speed with safety regulations, and to report any mechanical problems they note.

The ideal packer displays physical strength and stamina as well as an affinity for detailed observation and an organized and disciplined mind.
  • Average Salary: $30,118
  • Degree: High School Diploma

Picker And Packer

Role:

A packer works in a warehouse or distribution center, retrieving and organizing products to fulfill daily retail orders. They manage the inventory of the warehouse, package and label goods in preparation for shipping.

An appropriate rotation of products in a warehouse is essential, and packers see to it that this is maintained. They perform quality checks regularly, as well and report any problems they might come across. A clean warehouse is a safe warehouse, and packers are expected to live by this motto.

They use specific equipment to handle large products and to manage the large spaces of a warehouse. Forklifts, pallet wrappers, and dolly loaders are at their disposal, which they need to be able to operate safely and report any mechanical issues if they occur.
  • Average Salary: $30,841
  • Degree: High School Diploma

Sorter

Role:

So you want to start a career as a sorter. You've come to the right place. You've probably already gathered from the career title alone that the majority of what a sorter does is, well, sort things. The great thing about this job is the opportunities that follow.

There are factories all over the U.S. that are in need of sorters. Someone has to be able to sort items during the production process. But even more than that, you'll need to move those items to trucks that will deliver them to the right place.

So, as you can tell, this sorter job is serious business. Without you, how else would kids get the bike of their dreams for Christmas? Or how would paper towels make it into the homes of messy eaters? The short answer is that they wouldn't. And what a sad world it would be without you, a sorter.
  • Average Salary: $31,465
  • Degree: High School Diploma

States With The Most Sorter/Packer Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active sorter/packer jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where sorter/packers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Sorter/Packer Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1New Jersey1,352$31,214
2Pennsylvania847$31,429
3California428$31,343
4Ohio344$30,743
5Illinois303$29,462
6Michigan278$24,589
7Indiana221$37,470
8Massachusetts220$32,581
9Wisconsin209$31,478
10New York197$36,075
11Kentucky181$30,941
12Tennessee174$28,905
13Georgia171$29,827
14Texas162$27,733
15Iowa152$31,605
16Minnesota141$33,356
17Arizona138$30,730
18Florida135$22,926
19Virginia134$28,451
20Maryland131$32,824
21North Carolina131$28,739
22Missouri89$29,585
23Kansas74$35,030
24Rhode Island48$30,898
25Nevada45$33,761
26Colorado41$33,033
27North Dakota35$33,741
28Utah34$32,863
29Washington34$34,269
30Alabama28$27,898
31Mississippi26$31,035
32Connecticut26$32,192
33Maine24$35,483
34New Hampshire21$34,910
35South Carolina20$27,252
36Oregon19$32,188
37Idaho19$27,885
38Nebraska17$29,914
39Delaware13$32,583
40Arkansas13$28,380
41Oklahoma11$26,915
42Louisiana9$30,190
43Vermont7$36,710
44Montana4$34,164
45West Virginia3$32,796
46South Dakota2$31,695
47Alaska2$32,453
48New Mexico1$31,550
49Wyoming0$30,874
50Hawaii0$28,902

Sorter/Packer Education

Sorter/Packer Majors

17.7 %

Sorter/Packer Degrees

High School Diploma

55.2 %

Diploma

17.4 %

Associate

11.6 %

Top Skills For a Sorter/Packer

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 27.6% of sorter/packers listed defective products on their resume, but soft skills such as hand-eye coordination and listening skills are important as well.

  • Defective Products, 27.6%
  • Pallet Jack, 19.7%
  • Safety Regulations, 11.5%
  • Assembly Line, 9.6%
  • RF Scanner, 6.5%
  • Other Skills, 25.1%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Sorter/Packer Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Sorter/Packer templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Sorter/Packer resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Sorter/Packer Resume

Sorter/Packer Demographics

Sorter/Packer Gender Distribution

Female
Female
59%
Male
Male
41%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among sorter/packers, 58.6% of them are women, while 41.4% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among sorter/packers is Hispanic or Latino, which makes up 42.0% of all sorter/packers.

  • The most common foreign language among sorter/packers is Spanish at 92.8%.

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Best States For a Sorter/Packer

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a sorter/packer. The best states for people in this position are Indiana, Vermont, New York, and Maine. Sorter/packers make the most in Indiana with an average salary of $37,470. Whereas in Vermont and New York, they would average $36,710 and $36,075, respectively. While sorter/packers would only make an average of $35,483 in Maine, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Indiana

Total Sorter/Packer Jobs: 221
Highest 10% Earn:
$45,000
Location Quotient:
1.43

2. Kansas

Total Sorter/Packer Jobs: 74
Highest 10% Earn:
$42,000
Location Quotient:
1.04

3. North Dakota

Total Sorter/Packer Jobs: 35
Highest 10% Earn:
$39,000
Location Quotient:
1.6
Full List Of Best States For Sorter/Packers

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Top Sorter/Packer Employers

Most Common Employers For Sorter/Packer

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Amazon$33,943$16.32653
2FedEx$32,890$15.81124
3UPS$32,534$15.64372
4Waste Management$32,428$15.5929
5OnTrac$32,150$15.4633
6Fort Gordon$32,013$15.3920
7Nike$31,977$15.3721
8Pactiv$31,670$15.2328
9Technicolor$30,643$14.7335
10Integrity Staffing$30,161$14.5053

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