Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products
Also called: Apple Sorter, Grader, Potato Grader, SorterGrade, sort, or classify unprocessed food and other agricultural products by size, weight, color, or condition.
On a phone, press and hold a picture to save it to Photos.
opens your phone's share sheet, where you can save both to Photos
What the data says: AI could halve the time on 1 of its 5 tasks, and jobs are projected to shrink 3.4% by 2035. How to think about this →
About this projection
BLS builds AI into its projections where the research supports it: “BLS generally applies adjustments based on this research conservatively, where there is convincing evidence for a change.”
It also notes a limit: “BLS projection methods are not designed to capture extremely rapid technological change.”
On its AI exposure groups, BLS says exposure “does not imply job loss.”
Recent conditions
- In 2024, 9.7% of people in this work were unemployed, against 3.8% across all occupations Census ACS 2024
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 8.4 hires for every 10 job openings in nondurable goods manufacturing, which employs about 46% of people in this work, against 7.3 across all industries BLS JOLTS
One box per opening, filled for each hire; hires beyond the openings are added in a lighter shade. Higher can mean openings get filled, or that people leave often; lower, that jobs go unfilled, or hiring is slow.8.4 this industry7.3 all industries
Median pay by state BLS OEWS May 2025, state estimates
Tap a state for its figures.
Median pay in every state
| State | Median | Middle half earn | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $35,390 | $32,720 to $35,950 | 840 |
| Arizona | $31,700 | $30,770 to $38,560 | 170 |
| Arkansas | $35,310 | $33,640 to $36,780 | 1,650 |
| California | $36,330 | $34,870 to $37,790 | 5,750 |
| Colorado | $48,740 | $34,300 to $52,790 | 230 |
| Florida | $27,470 | $27,040 to $29,640 | 880 |
| Georgia | $35,450 | $32,970 to $37,540 | 1,700 |
| Idaho | $27,680 | $25,150 to $39,830 | 600 |
| Illinois | $41,670 | $37,390 to $45,780 | 220 |
| Iowa | $42,450 | $41,460 to $49,200 | 170 |
| Kansas | $38,170 | $24,860 to $48,820 | 160 |
| Kentucky | $37,300 | $30,840 to $37,330 | 160 |
| Louisiana | $36,090 | $28,300 to $36,870 | 280 |
| Maine | $45,810 | $40,420 to $45,860 | 40 |
| Maryland | $41,740 | $35,000 to $60,460 | 430 |
| Massachusetts | $41,770 | $34,110 to $41,960 | 40 |
| Michigan | $39,180 | $34,910 to $47,210 | 100 |
| Minnesota | $47,540 | $47,440 to $48,260 | 30 |
| Mississippi | $30,140 | $15,950 to $31,550 | 1,140 |
| Missouri | $35,800 | $33,990 to $38,690 | 530 |
| Nebraska | $45,560 | $43,430 to $54,960 | 330 |
| New Jersey | $37,880 | $33,330 to $38,910 | not published |
| New Mexico | $30,480 | $27,320 to $31,880 | 90 |
| North Carolina | $34,720 | $33,960 to $35,840 | 450 |
| North Dakota | $45,590 | $38,710 to $47,840 | 260 |
| Ohio | $38,500 | $28,490 to $40,730 | 100 |
| Oklahoma | $34,700 | $34,700 to $37,320 | 260 |
| Oregon | $34,660 | $30,020 to $37,170 | 730 |
| Pennsylvania | $38,430 | $35,760 to $39,450 | 970 |
| South Carolina | $34,510 | $32,640 to $36,820 | 230 |
| South Dakota | $39,900 | $37,490 to $47,860 | 380 |
| Tennessee | $36,880 | $36,090 to $40,340 | 640 |
| Texas | $36,090 | $34,460 to $38,260 | 1,950 |
| Utah | $42,710 | $42,710 to $44,030 | 100 |
| Virginia | $34,860 | $34,600 to $37,650 | 230 |
| Washington | $34,950 | $34,650 to $35,770 | 2,830 |
| Wisconsin | $33,250 | $23,780 to $43,270 | 110 |
Nationally: $35,730. Shades run from the lowest state median to the highest; a territory below that range takes the lightest. How to read this
How AI touches the work
What AI could speed up, task by task, and where people already use it.
AI could halve the time on 1 of its 5 tasks
| AI rating | Its main tasks | Share of Claude conversations May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Not much | Discard inferior or defective products or foreign matter, and place acceptable products in containers for further processing. | Not published |
| Not much | Weigh products or estimate their weight, visually or by feel. | Not published |
| Not much | Grade and sort products according to factors such as color, species, length, width, appearance, feel, smell, and quality to ensure correct processing and usage. | Not published |
| Not much | Place products in containers according to grade and mark grades on containers. | Not published |
| AI + software | Record grade or identification numbers on tags or on shipping, receiving, or sales sheets. | Not published |
Ordered by how important O*NET's respondents rate each task (1 to 5) times the share who say it is part of their job. The ordering is ours. 0 of the 5 have a published share of Claude conversations; “not published” means too few conversations for Anthropic to publish a figure.
Where people already use AI
The tasks above say what AI could speed up. This shows what people are using it for. Its 5 tasks fall under 5 work activities that many occupations share, and Microsoft counted how often each one came up in 200,000 conversations with its Copilot assistant in 2024.
| Work activity | This occupation's tasks under it | People asked AI for help in 10,000 conversations |
AI did it for them in 10,000 conversations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Package objects | |||
| Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment | |||
| Sort materials or products | |||
| Mark materials or objects for identification | |||
| Maintain operational records |
How to read this
Work activities come from O*NET, which links every task to the broader activities it involves. Microsoft's figures are for the activity across everyone who used Copilot, not for graders and sorters, agricultural products specifically. Copilot is a general chat assistant; dedicated coding tools are not included, so programming help is under-counted here. Activities are listed by how many of this occupation's tasks fall under them.
The task ratings say whether AI could halve the time a task takes: on its own (“AI alone”), or with software built on it (“AI + software”). They were made by people in 2023 (Eloundou et al.). Claude's share is the task's share of all Claude.ai conversations in May 2026; Anthropic doesn't publish a task with too few conversations. None of these add up to the BLS exposure group, which combines five research measures.
More in the Guide: task ratings · task order · work activities · Copilot figures · Claude
High exposure doesn't mean fewer jobs
BLS projects most occupations in its two most exposed groups to grow: 141 of 206 rated Very high and 165 of 206 rated High. Each dot is one of the 831 occupations BLS rates.
Career moves into and out of this occupation
From moves between occupations found in online resumes, 2002–2016. Career changes only: a first job after school isn't a move.
Where people moved next
of 2,061 moves out
- 1 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 8%
- 2 First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers High +1.8% 4%
- 3 Marketing Managers Very high +6.9% 4%
- 4 Occupational Health and Safety Specialists High +18.5% 4%
- 5 Food Service Managers Moderate +5.8% 3%
Where people moved in from
of 1,978 moves in
- 1 Food Service Managers Moderate +5.8% 8%
- 2 Cooks, Restaurant Moderate +12.1% 5%
- 3 Retail Salespersons Very high -0.3% 3%
- 4 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 3%
- 5 Bartenders Moderate +5.0% 3%
Resumes over-represent younger, white-collar job-seekers and moves into management. Schubert, Stansbury and Taska (resume data).
Education and training for the occupation
O*NET survey of workers in this occupation
- 64% less than high school
- 27% high school
- 5% postsecondary certificate
- 5% associate's
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers in this occupation · 17 people answered.
Census survey (American Community Survey)
- 48% less than high school
- 32% high school
- 9% some college
- 4% associate's
- 6% bachelor's
- 1% professional degree
Census ACS 2024, all workers in this occupation · 472 people surveyed.
Why the two can differ
O*NET asks about 20 people in each occupation, which makes its shares uncertain, but it reports the exact occupation and counts certificates. The Census survey reaches thousands, but it groups some occupations together and counts degrees only. More in the Guide
Median pay by highest degree full-time, year-round · Census ACS 2024, all workers in this occupation
Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023
BLS publishes no credential figures for this occupation.
Look up certifications, training and licenses U.S. Department of Labor
- Certification Finder ↗ certifications CareerOneStop lists for this occupation
- Training Finder ↗ schools and programs, nationwide; narrow the place there
- License Finder ↗ licenses by state
- Apprenticeships: DOL's list of apprenticeable occupations doesn't include this one.
These open in a new tab and send only the occupation's public code. More in the Guide
BLS AI exposure categories (Aug 2026) · BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 · O*NET 31.0 · Task ratings: Eloundou et al., Science (2024) · Microsoft "Working with AI" v1.1 · Anthropic Economic Index (2026-06-26) · Schubert, Stansbury and Taska · NCES CIP–SOC · Census ACS 2024 · BLS JOLTS
See it online, and explore any career: https://www.pathmosaic.com/card/45-2041.00