Occupations · Transportation and Material Moving
Packers and Packagers, Hand
Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials.
O*NET 30.3 Database (USDOL/ETA) · occupation code 53-7064.00
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
These are national figures, identical for every reader. The report recuts them for your metro area and ranks it among all of them.
Get yours →Pay over time
Median up 110% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | $42,290 | 55,160 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $36,370 | 26,530 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | $42,450 | 24,430 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | $36,680 | 20,750 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $32,500 | 20,510 |
BLS OEWS May 2024, metropolitan estimates · the 5 areas with the most people in this occupation
Your metro area, and where it ranks
LockedAll metropolitan areas BLS publishes for this occupation, with your own city's median and its rank among them.
Open in your report →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.
- Examine and inspect containers, materials, or products to ensure that product quality and packing specifications are met.
- Measure, weigh, and count products and materials.
- Remove completed or defective products or materials, placing them on moving equipment, such as conveyors, or in specified areas, such as loading docks.
- Record product, packaging, and order information on specified forms and records.
- Seal containers or materials, using glues, fasteners, nails, and hand tools.
- Assemble, line, and pad cartons, crates, and containers, using hand tools.
- Obtain, move, and sort products, materials, containers, and orders, using hand tools.
- Place or pour products or materials into containers, using hand tools and equipment, or fill containers from spouts or chutes.
- Mark and label containers, container tags, or products, using marking tools.
- Load materials and products into package processing equipment.
- Transport packages to customers' vehicles.
- Clean containers, materials, supplies, or work areas, using cleaning solutions and hand tools.
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 your tools are worth
Occupation-based, not posting-based: how much employment, pay and projected growth sit behind each tool. It is not a count of job ads.
| Tool | Value | Spread across occupations |
|---|---|---|
| SAP software | 68 | 119 → 283 occupations since 2015 |
| Microsoft Word | 67 | 646 → 784 occupations since 2015 |
| Autodesk AutoCAD | 66 | 122 → 171 occupations since 2015 |
What your tools are worth
LockedThe same score for every tool in this occupation, plus the ones you ticked and the ones you did not.
Open in your report →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 2020-08
How people actually get in
Share of workers by the education they hold.
O*NET 30.2 education, training and experience · observed 2020-08
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
- Examine and inspect containers, materials, or products to ensure that product quality and packing specifications are met.
O*NET 24.3 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 1
No longer listed 2
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
The same work in Europe
| ESCO occupation | ISCO | Match |
|---|---|---|
| hand packer | 9321.2 | exact |
| clothing finisher | 9321.1 | close |
Official ESCO ↔ O*NET crosswalk (ESCO Secretariat with USDOL/ETA)
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