Occupations · Transportation and Material Moving
Conveyor Operators and Tenders
Control or tend conveyors or conveyor systems that move materials or products to and from stockpiles, processing stations, departments, or vehicles. May control speed and routing of materials or products.
O*NET 30.3 Database (USDOL/ETA) · occupation code 53-7011.00
What it pays
A single “average salary” hides the spread. This is the whole distribution — the gap between the bottom and top bar is usually the number that matters.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 · national, cross-industry · annual wage
Pay over time
Median up 67% between 2003 and 2024, before inflation. The band shows the 10th to 90th percentile.
BLS OEWS, one release per year. Before May 2011 only national estimates were published, so geography detail starts there.
Where the jobs are
| Metro area | Median wage | Employed |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $41,660 | 1,340 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $39,660 | 740 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $41,380 | 670 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $36,330 | 600 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | $43,990 | 430 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | $42,610 | 360 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $41,900 | 350 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $43,600 | 340 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | $46,500 | 320 |
| Columbus, OH | $37,530 | 310 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA | $44,080 | 310 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | $37,500 | 300 |
BLS OEWS May 2024, metropolitan estimates · the 12 areas with the most people in this occupation
Typical education to enter: No formal educational credential · BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
What people in this job actually do
Ordered by how important the work is rated.
- Observe packages moving along conveyors to identify packages, detect defective packaging, and perform quality control.
- Collect samples of materials or products, checking them to ensure conformance to specifications or sending them to laboratories for analysis.
- Inform supervisors of equipment malfunctions that need to be addressed.
- Position deflector bars, gates, chutes, or spouts to divert flow of materials from one conveyor onto another conveyor.
- Observe conveyor operations and monitor lights, dials, and gauges to maintain specified operating levels and to detect equipment malfunctions.
- Record production data such as weights, types, quantities, and storage locations of materials, as well as equipment performance problems and downtime.
- Repair or replace equipment components or parts such as blades, rolls, and pumps.
- Load, unload, or adjust materials or products on conveyors by hand, by using lifts, hoists, and scoops, or by opening gates, chutes, or hoppers.
- Stop equipment or machinery and clear jams, using poles, bars, and hand tools, or remove damaged materials from conveyors.
- Manipulate controls, levers, and valves to start pumps, auxiliary equipment, or conveyors, and to adjust equipment positions, speeds, timing, and material flows.
- Weigh or measure materials and products, using scales or other measuring instruments, or read scales on conveyors that continually weigh products, to verify specified tonnages and prevent overloads.
- Read production and delivery schedules, and confer with supervisors, to determine sorting and transfer procedures, arrangement of packages on pallets, and destinations of loaded pallets.
O*NET 30.3 task ratings, importance scale
Skills that matter most
Importance, rated 1 to 5.
O*NET 30.3 skills, importance scale
Software and tools
A dot marks what O*NET flags as in demand.
O*NET 30.3 software skills · hot-technology flag
What this work is actually like
Conditions rated against the average across all occupations — only what makes this job different is listed.
O*NET 30.3 Job Zones
Working conditions that stand out
O*NET 30.3 work context, frequency scale · observed 2017-07
How people actually get in
Share of workers by the education they hold.
O*NET 30.2 education, training and experience · observed 2017-07
What kind of person the work suits
Occupational interest profile, rated 1 to 7.
O*NET 30.2 occupational interests (RIASEC)
Tasks O*NET flags as emerging
- Observe packages moving along conveyors in order to identify packages, detect defective packaging and perform quality control.
O*NET 21.3 emerging tasks
What you take with you
Skills rated for how well they transfer into other occupations.
O*NET 30.3 transferable skills, importance scale
Knowledge the work draws on
Abilities it leans on
O*NET 30.3 abilities and knowledge, importance scale
How this job is advertised
The same work is posted under many titles — this is what to search for.
O*NET 30.3 job titles reported for this occupation
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What changed since 2015
Comparing O*NET release 20.1 (2015-10-01) with 30.3 (2026-05-01). Signs, not colour alone, carry the meaning.
Now listed 3
No longer listed 1
Diff across the O*NET releases held here in full since October 2015, following occupations through merges and retirements. O*NET re-surveys occupations on a rolling cycle, so “no change” can also mean “not re-surveyed”.
Related jobs
O*NET 30.3 related occupations
Also called
O*NET 30.3 alternative titles
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