Graders and Sorters build coordination, judgment and decision making and time management skills that carry over to other work. Below are 25 careers ranked by how closely their skills match, with pay from BLS May 2025. The closest match is Packers and Packagers, Hand (85%).
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Sorted by skill match.
| # | Career | Skill match | Median pay | Pay change | Extra education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Packers and Packagers, Hand | 85% | $36,280 | +2% | None |
| 2 | Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers | 84% | $38,300 | +7% | None |
| 3 | Food Batchmakers | 83% | $42,290 | +18% | None |
| 4 | Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, Recordkeeping | 83% | $46,380 | +30% | None |
| 5 | Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders | 82% | $44,810 | +25% | None |
| 6 | Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders | 81% | $43,220 | +21% | None |
| 7 | Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders | 81% | $41,590 | +16% | None |
| 8 | Bakers | 78% | $37,160 | +4% | None |
| 9 | Log Graders and Scalers | 76% | $46,330 | +30% | None |
| 10 | Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders | 74% | $43,530 | +22% | None |
Compared with Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products, median $35,730. Skill match is our estimate (0–99) from O*NET 31.0 skills, knowledge, work activities and interests, adjusted for preparation and big pay drops. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025, national median.
How important each skill is in work as graders and sorters (O*NET importance, scale 1–5).
The gaps that show up most often across your top 10 matches.
Free and low-cost training: use the CareerOneStop training finder below.
A concrete first step, the skills to add, and the hard parts of each job, from O*NET 31.0 education, training and work context data.
85% skill match · $36,280 · +2% pay
Equipment Selection · Operations Monitoring · Operation and Control
84% skill match · $38,300 · +7% pay
Management of Personnel Resources · Instructing · Equipment Selection
83% skill match · $42,290 · +18% pay
Operations Monitoring · Operation and Control · Operations Analysis
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Packers and Packagers, Hand (85% skill match, median $36,280), Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers (84% skill match, median $38,300) and Food Batchmakers (83% skill match, median $42,290), based on O*NET 31.0 data and BLS May 2025 pay.
Among the 25 matches, 22 pay more than graders and sorters at the median. The biggest increases: Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators (+64%, $58,470), Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders (+44%, $51,610) and Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers (+36%, $48,570).
25 of the 25 matches usually need no more education than you have now, based on O*NET Job Zones.
We compare the importance of skills, knowledge, work activities and interests in O*NET 31.0 for your job and every other career, then adjust for extra preparation and big pay drops. The full method is on our Methodology page.