Quality Inspector Hourly Pay, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 7,868 US job postings by 2,837 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for quality inspectors: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 7,868 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for quality inspectors in US job postings is $25.19 an hour (1,824 postings from 696 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $21.83 to $31.00 an hour.
- Postings that ask for up to 1 year of experience advertise a median of $23.50 an hour (356 postings).
- The skills that most set quality inspector postings apart are micrometers, calipers, attention to detail.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 2 years of experience.
Quality Inspector job postings in the US, October 2026
- $25.19/hr
- Median advertised pay (1,824 postings)
- $21.83–$31.00
- Middle 50% of postings
- $23.50/hr
- Starting pay (postings asking up to 1 year)
- 7,868
- US job postings from 2,837 employers
How much does a quality inspector make an hour?
The median advertised pay is $25.19 an hour, from 1,824 US job postings by 696 employers that state pay. That is about $56,000 a year at 2,080 hours.
Advertised pay in 1,824 US quality inspector job postings: median $56,000 a year ($25.19 an hour), middle half $46,000 to $68,000.
- Median: $56,000 ($25.19/hr)
- 25th percentile: $46,000
- 75th percentile: $68,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $20K–$30K | 0.4% |
| $30K–$40K | 9.0% |
| $40K–$50K | 27.4% |
| $50K–$60K | 22.1% |
| $60K–$70K | 18.6% |
| $70K–$80K | 9.8% |
| $80K–$90K | 5.1% |
| $90K–$100K | 2.2% |
| $100K–$110K | 2.0% |
| $110K–$120K | 1.5% |
| $120K–$130K | 0.8% |
| $130K–$140K | 0.4% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | Most common titles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an hourly rate | $25.19 | $21.83–$31.00 | 1,314 | Quality Inspector, Quality Technician, Quality Control Inspector |
| Postings that state an annual salary | $68,000 | $58K–$84K | 259 | Quality Inspector, Quality Technician, Quality Control Inspector |
| All pay postings, annualised | $56,000 | $46K–$68K | 1,824 | – |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers (51-9061) at $49,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for a quality inspector?
Postings that ask for up to 1 year of experience advertise a median of $23.50 an hour (356 postings).
| Experience asked | Median advertised pay | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1 years | $23.50/hr | 356 |
| 2-4 years | $28.58/hr | 771 |
| 5+ years | withheld | 137 |
Quality inspector levels and pay
Levels as they appear in job titles, ordered by the median experience asked.
| Level in title | Share of postings | Median experience asked | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level I | 4.6% | 1 year | – |
| No level in title | 87.8% | 2 years | $27.00/hr |
| Level II | 3.7% | 2 years | – |
Highest-paying quality inspector jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quality Technician | $25.38/hr | 360 | 165 |
| Quality Inspector (general) | $25.35/hr | 582 | 287 |
Quality inspector pay by state
Single-location US postings; states with at least 100 postings that state pay. States with pay-transparency laws (such as California, Colorado, New York and Washington) are over-represented among postings that state pay.
| State | Median pay | Middle 50% | Postings with pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $28.50/hr | $23.12–$35.50 | 167 | 8.9% |
| Illinois | $23.64/hr | $21.00–$29.38 | 106 | 3.8% |
Skills employers ask for in quality inspector job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 34% |
| Attention to detail | 30% |
| Excel | 25% |
| Microsoft Office | 18% |
| Problem-solving | 15% |
| Organizational skills | 15% |
| Word | 14% |
| Work independently | 12% |
| Micrometers | 10% |
| Calipers | 10% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set quality inspectors apart
- Micrometers46.9× as often as in all postings · 10%
- Calipers52.6× as often as in all postings · 10%
- Gd&t25.4× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Basic computer skills3.6× as often as in all postings · 7%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a quality inspector job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a quality inspector do?
Employers post these jobs as Quality Technician, Quality Control Inspector, Quality Control Technician, Quality Assurance Technician, CMM Programmer and other titles. The largest specializations are Quality Technician (18%), Quality Control Technician (12%), Inspector (12%), CMM Programmer (3%), Quality Assurance Technician (4%), QA Technician (3%).
The closest official occupation is Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers (51-9061.00). Its most important tasks:
- Discard or reject products, materials, or equipment not meeting specifications.
- Mark items with details, such as grade or acceptance-rejection status.
- Measure dimensions of products to verify conformance to specifications, using measuring instruments, such as rulers, calipers, gauges, or micrometers.
- Notify supervisors or other personnel of production problems.
- Inspect, test, or measure materials, products, installations, or work for conformance to specifications.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be a quality inspector?
Among 3,018 postings that state a minimum, the median is 2 years. 3% say 0 years and 29% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 3,018 US quality inspector job postings: median 2 years, and 29% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 4% |
| 1 yr | 25% |
| 2 yrs | 32% |
| 3-4 yrs | 24% |
| 5-7 yrs | 12% |
| 8-9 yrs | under 1% |
| 10+ yrs | 2% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Full-time 95%, Part-time 5% of the 681 postings that state working hours.
Other names for a quality inspector: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Quality Inspector | 572 (20.2%) |
| Quality Technician | 490 (17.3%) |
| Quality Control Inspector | 262 (9.2%) |
| Quality Control Technician | 215 (7.6%) |
| Quality Assurance Technician | 123 (4.3%) |
| CMM Programmer | 114 (4.0%) |
| QC Inspector | 90 (3.2%) |
| QA Technician | 81 (2.9%) |
| Quality Auditor | 71 (2.5%) |
| Quality Assurance Inspector | 57 (2.0%) |
| Quality Lab Technician | 52 (1.8%) |
| QC Technician | 52 (1.8%) |
| Metrology Technician | 51 (1.8%) |
| Quality Inspector I | 50 (1.8%) |
| Quality Inspector II | 47 (1.7%) |
| Quality Control Specialist | 46 (1.6%) |
| Quality Tech | 45 (1.6%) |
| QA Inspector | 44 (1.6%) |
| Quality Technician I | 42 (1.5%) |
| Quality Control Associate | 38 (1.3%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Quality inspector job titles compared
The titles people search for most, from the US job postings that use each exact title (October 2026).
| Job title | Open postings | Employers | Median pay | Median experience | Skills named most |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quality Control Inspector | 407 | 262 | – | – | communication, attention to detail, Excel |
| Quality Control Technician | 341 | 215 | – | – | Excel, attention to detail, communication |
| Quality Assurance Technician | 165 | 123 | – | – | Excel, communication, attention to detail |
| Quality Technician | 833 | 490 | – | 2 years | Excel, communication, attention to detail |
Quality Inspector compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quality Inspector | $25.19/hr | 2 years | 7,868 | – |
| Machinist | $30.00/hr | 3 years | 7,453 | 14 |
| Manufacturing Technician | $25.00/hr | 2 years | 3,947 | 18 |
| Quality Assurance Specialist | $105K | 3 years | 5,481 | 16 |
| Machine Operator | $21.38/hr | 1 year | 20,043 | 13 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Machinist | 14 | $30.00/hr |
| Manufacturing Technician | 18 | $25.00/hr |
| Quality Assurance Specialist | 16 | $105K |
| Machine Operator | 13 | $21.38/hr |
| Quality Engineer | 13 | $108K |
| Aircraft Mechanic | 16 | $35.18/hr |
Applying for quality inspector jobs?
- Quality inspector resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find quality inspector jobs: search open postings
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 18 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.