Last updated: April 30, 2026

Quality Control Inspector Salary by State (2025-2026)

Quality control pay isn't uniform, and that matters if you're hiring inspectors, quoting labor-heavy work, or benchmarking plant payroll. The national median for inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers is $22.82 per hour, or about $47,466 per year. But in Alaska the median rises to $98,800, while Alabama sits at $39,187.

That gap is not a rounding error. It changes recruiting strategy, overtime exposure, margin planning, and the way a plant competes for workers against aerospace, medical device, food processing, and durable goods employers in the same labor market. This page compiles salary data for all 50 states plus Washington, DC, using CareerOneStop wage tables backed by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Every key figure links to its source.

National quality control inspector salary overview

The best national benchmark for this occupation is the CareerOneStop wage table for inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers. It shows a median hourly wage of $22.82. Annualized over a 2,080-hour work year, that works out to about $47,466. For a plant manager or HR lead, that number is the starting point, not the finish line. Shift premium, overtime, certification requirements, regulated production environments, and the local labor market can all move real compensation higher.

State-level data gives a much clearer hiring picture. Alaska is more than 108% above the national median. Alabama is about 17% below. Even among large manufacturing states, the spread is meaningful. Texas sits at $43,784, Ohio at $46,218, and Washington at $58,448. If your company recruits in multiple states, a one-size pay band will be off.

It also helps to remember what this occupation includes. The BLS-backed category covers incoming inspection, in-process quality checks, final inspection, sampling, testing, and line-side verification. In some plants, these workers are closely tied to metrology or customer quality. In others, they are entry-level floor roles tied to SOP execution. That's why the national median is useful, but state context is what makes the number actionable.

1. National median hourly pay is $22.82. CareerOneStop
2. National median annualized pay is about $47,466. CareerOneStop
3. The average of all 50 states plus DC in this dataset is $50,510. Calculation basis
4. The highest median in the dataset is $98,800 in Alaska. Alaska source
5. The lowest median in the dataset is $39,187 in Alabama. Alabama source
6. The state-to-state pay spread is $59,613. Top source and bottom source

Quality control inspector salary by state table

The table below shows the median hourly and annual pay for quality control inspectors in every state plus Washington, DC. These are median wages, not job-board asking prices. That matters. Medians are more stable than posted ranges, and they're better for benchmarking because they come from a structured labor-market data pipeline rather than from self-reported submissions or one-off openings.

If you're trying to answer questions like how much does a quality inspector make, what is the average quality control salary in my state, or how far should I stretch a pay offer to fill a second-shift opening, this table is the practical starting point. Once you know your state's median, you can layer on your own realities, such as clean-room requirements, AS9100 documentation work, CMM experience, or travel between plants.

Highest-paying states for quality control inspectors

The top of the ranking is a mix of outliers and specialized labor markets. Alaska leads the dataset at $98,800, well above every other state. Washington, Maryland, Colorado, and Wyoming also land near the top. Those are not interchangeable markets. Alaska reflects a small and unusual labor pool. Maryland and Washington benefit from defense, aerospace, and tightly controlled manufacturing environments. Colorado and Wyoming tend to reward technical roles in smaller labor pools where replacement hiring is tougher.

For manufacturers, the takeaway is straightforward. The highest-paying states often have one or more of these conditions: a smaller candidate pool, a more technical product mix, or local competition from industries that value documentation discipline and inspection accuracy. If you are trying to hire a quality inspector with blueprint-reading skill, first-article inspection experience, or ISO documentation exposure in one of these markets, the state median may still understate what your plant needs to offer.

Lowest-paying states for quality control inspectors

The bottom of the ranking is dominated by southern and lower-cost markets. Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Idaho, Michigan, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee make up the 10 lowest state medians in this dataset. Pay in those markets ranges from about $39,187 to $44,866.

Lower state medians do not automatically mean easier hiring. In practice, some of these states have heavy manufacturing footprints and persistent labor competition. Texas is a good example. Its median of $43,784 sits below the national benchmark, but the actual labor fight in aerospace, energy equipment, and electronics corridors can push offers above the statewide figure fast. The same logic applies in North Carolina around regulated production and in Michigan where automotive quality systems raise the bar even when the statewide median looks modest.

Regional pay patterns

Looking at regions smooths out some of the noise in the state-by-state chart. In this dataset, the West posts the highest average median annual pay, pushed up by Alaska, Washington, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, and Wyoming. The Northeast stays competitive because of states like Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. The South includes some high-pay pockets, especially Maryland and DC, but it also contains many of the lowest medians, which drags the regional average down.

This matters when a company is deciding where to expand quality staffing. A plant with a multi-state footprint can use regional averages for budget planning, but it should still price each plant locally. A Maryland site and an Alabama site do not operate in the same labor market, even if they run the same quality procedures.

How quality inspector pay compares with other manufacturing roles

Quality inspectors usually sit in the middle of the plant pay ladder. They tend to earn more than many entry-level production roles because the job requires judgment, documentation discipline, and the ability to stop bad parts before they ship. At the same time, the role often pays less than advanced maintenance, toolmaking, and engineering positions. That positioning creates a real management challenge. Good inspectors are valuable enough to lose, but not always expensive enough to automatically protect with premium pay bands.

The national comparison below shows where quality control wages fit relative to other common manufacturing occupations. If your plant asks inspectors to handle layered process audits, measurement systems analysis, CAPA paperwork, or customer-facing nonconformance work, your internal pay range may need to sit above the published median just to stay competitive with skilled trades and junior technical roles.

What this pay data means for hiring and retention

If you're hiring quality control inspectors, the median state wage is the floor for planning, not the ceiling. Plants that want first-shift general inspection coverage may be able to hire close to market. Plants that need calibration knowledge, AS9102 first-article support, supplier quality coordination, or regulated traceability work are usually shopping in a narrower talent pool. That is where median pay stops being enough.

The other trap is assuming low-wage states are cheap forever. They are cheaper on paper, but they can still be hard to staff when multiple manufacturers chase the same dependable people. If a candidate can inspect at a plant, read prints, document defects cleanly, and communicate with supervisors without drama, that person is useful almost anywhere. Plants that lose those workers usually feel it in scrap, rework, customer returns, and line disruptions long before they see it in a neat HR dashboard.

So use this data for three things. First, set location-based salary bands instead of national bands. Second, separate basic inspection jobs from more technical quality roles. Third, price the cost of a bad hire or a vacancy honestly. A few thousand dollars in wage difference can be cheaper than the cost of one escaped defect in the wrong account.

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