Career
Graders and sorters, agricultural products
Sort and grade crops and farm products.
$35,730
Median pay
-3.4%
Job growth, 2025–35
5,800
Openings a year
No formal educational credential
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Place products in containers according to grade and mark grades on containers.
- Weigh products or estimate their weight, visually or by feel.
- Discard inferior or defective products or foreign matter, and place acceptable products in containers for further processing.
- Grade and sort products according to factors such as color, species, length, width, appearance, feel, smell, and quality to ensure correct processing and usage.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Place products in containers according to grade and mark grades on containers.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Monitoring, Speaking, Active Listening, Critical Thinking.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though short-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $35,730 a year and 5,800 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- NO MATCHCIP 99.9999
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Packers and Packagers, Hand$36,280 · -5.0%
- Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders$44,810 · +0.4%
- Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers$38,300 · +5.7%
- Food Batchmakers$42,290 · +6.5%
- Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders$43,220 · +4.1%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.