Sort fruit into grades
Inspect the fruit and divide it into groups that meet the required standards for quality and size.
Career profile
Agricultural Product Grader
Graders and sorters group farm products by size, weight, color, and condition.
An apple's flaw can hide until you turn it over. People who enjoy spotting tiny differences can use that eye here in repeated, hands-on tasks.
A day in the life
Pull damaged fruit and debris
Pick out defective pieces and anything that isn't fruit, and show doubtful fruit to a supervisor.
Weigh, then pack by grade
Weigh the produce on a scale first, then pack what passes into containers by grade.
Label tags and shipping sheets
Mark grade numbers on the tags and also on the shipping sheets so each batch stays recognizable.
Quick facts
Learn on the job
United States · 2026
$17.18/hour
United States · 2025
Employment declining
United States · 2024–2034
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
Learn on the jobSchooling and experience requirements vary by employer.
Pay
$17.18/hourNational median: $35,730 annually.
Outlook
Employment decliningAbout 5,100 openings annually are projected for 2024–2034, including replacement needs.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You notice small differences in appearance.
- You like applying clear rules consistently.
- You prefer handling real objects to sitting at a desk.
Things to weigh
- Standing and repeated hand movements can fill much of a shift; equipment may set your pace.
- Some warehouse jobs include lifting containers and working weekends or holidays.
Where AI may help
In some apple packing lines, cameras and artificial intelligence classify visible defects, helping automate sorting.
What people still lead
Operators control the final sorting settings, including how severe a defect must be to change a fruit's grade.
What we can’t predict yet
How much hands-on inspection remains will depend on which products and defects machines can reliably recognize and which systems a workplace adopts.
Pay in context
Earnings
Compare the hourly rate with the hours and months you would actually work.
The national pay range
In 2025, the median was $17.18 an hour, or $35,730 annually. The bottom 10% earned $29,580 or less; the top 10% earned $44,490 or more. These are wage percentiles, not beginner and experienced-worker rates.
Workplace type can matter
In May 2023, graders and sorters averaged $15.52 an hour ($32,290 annually) in crop-production support and $17.32 ($36,030 annually) in animal slaughtering and processing. These historical industry averages are not current offers.
Check the length of the job
Annual wage estimates assume 2,080 hours of work. A seasonal contract may cover only part of the year, so ask about the end date and expected weekly hours before planning your income.
Getting started
Start with workplace training
- What the route involves
- Seek an entry sorting role and learn the employer's grading rules with an experienced worker.
- What it can lead to
- You build the preparation to handle routine sorting work.
- What to check
- Check each job's schooling and prior-experience requirements.
Bring experience with a particular crop
- What the route involves
- Build relevant experience handling, inspecting, and packing the crop an employer grades.
- What it can lead to
- That experience can meet requirements for more specialized sorting positions.
- What to check
- Some melon-warehouse roles require three months of relevant experience plus knowledge of customer grading specifications.
Entry requirements differ, so read the experience requirement before applying.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization.
Get consistent
Compare uncertain pieces with your supervisor until your sorting decisions reliably match the required grade.
Learn the equipment
Build beyond hand sorting by learning the selector machine used at your workplace.
Work toward leading a crew
Develop coaching and production-planning skills for a packing-line lead role. Leads coordinate workers and help correct quality problems; moving up requires more than sorting quickly.
Where you can work
Fresh-fruit packing house
You work alongside sizing-machine operators, packers, and quality checkers. The crew follows a packing plan, and some operations run evening shifts.
- Indoors
- Shift work
Imported-produce warehouse
Fruit may need another inspection after ocean shipping. In melon warehouses, you re-sort and repack arrivals to meet customer specifications.
- Indoors
- Physical demands
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
Use a few apples or potatoes already at home. Write a simple rule for sorting by size and visible blemishes, sort them, then repeat without looking at your first results. Notice which pieces are hard to classify and whether you enjoy making consistent decisions.
Stay safe: This tests observation, not whether food is safe to eat.
Sources
- O*NET OnLine / U.S. Department of Labor. Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- O*NET OnLine / U.S. Department of Labor; Bureau of Labor Statistics. Grader and Sorter Wages: National and California Tables. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. May 2023 Occupational Employment and Wages: Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Sortpack Inc. via U.S. Department of Labor SeasonalJobs. Agricultural Grader, Sorter, Packer (fruit), H-400-24185-175020. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Sortpack Inc. via U.S. Department of Labor SeasonalJobs. Agricultural Grader, Sorter, Packer (fruit), H-400-26184-076663. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- TOMRA Food. LUCAi for Apples. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- POM Wonderful. Manufacturing Lead – Fresh Department (Second shift). Accessed 2026-10-03.