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So you want to start a career as a sorter. You've come to the right place. You've probably already gathered from the career title alone that the majority of what a sorter does is, well, sort things. The great thing about this job is the opportunities that follow.

There are factories all over the U.S. that are in need of sorters. Someone has to be able to sort items during the production process. But even more than that, you'll need to move those items to trucks that will deliver them to the right place.

So, as you can tell, this sorter job is serious business. Without you, how else would kids get the bike of their dreams for Christmas? Or how would paper towels make it into the homes of messy eaters? The short answer is that they wouldn't. And what a sad world it would be without you, a sorter.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a sorter. For example, did you know that they make an average of $15.34 an hour? That's $31,897 a year!

Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 156,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

What Does a Sorter Do

There are certain skills that many sorters have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed hand-eye coordination, listening skills and physical stamina.

Learn more about what a Sorter does

How To Become a Sorter

If you're interested in becoming a sorter, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 13.5% of sorters have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 0.9% of sorters have master's degrees. Even though some sorters have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a sorter. When we researched the most common majors for a sorter, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on sorter resumes include bachelor's degree degrees or diploma degrees.

You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a sorter. In fact, many sorter jobs require experience in a role such as cashier. Meanwhile, many sorters also have previous career experience in roles such as sales associate or customer service representative.

Sorter Career Paths

Average Salary for a Sorter

Sorters in America make an average salary of $31,897 per year or $15 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $42,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $24,000 per year.
Average Sorter Salary
$31,897 Yearly
$15.34 hourly
$24,000
10 %
$31,000
Median
$42,000
90 %

What Am I Worth?

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Sorter Education

Sorter Majors

22.5 %

Sorter Degrees

High School Diploma

51.5 %

Associate

15.0 %

Bachelors

13.5 %

Top Skills For a Sorter

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 36.7% of sorters listed warehouse environment on their resume, but soft skills such as hand-eye coordination and listening skills are important as well.

  • Warehouse Environment, 36.7%
  • Sort Items, 12.7%
  • Small Packages, 11.0%
  • Customer Orders, 6.1%
  • Recyclable Materials, 5.5%
  • Other Skills, 28.0%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Sorter Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Sorter templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Sorter resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Sorter Demographics

Sorter Gender Distribution

Male
Male
61%
Female
Female
40%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among sorters, 39.5% of them are women, while 60.5% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among sorters is Hispanic or Latino, which makes up 42.5% of all sorters.

  • The most common foreign language among sorters is Spanish at 77.7%.

Online Courses For Sorter That You May Like

Advertising Disclosure  The courses listed below are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the course, we may receive a commission.
Customer Service
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How to Approach New Customers and Maintain Existing Ones...

Customer Service Mastery: Delight Every Customer
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Fundamentals of Logistics, Supply Chain & Customer Service
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Learn Logistics, Supply Chain and Customer Service. 3 Courses in 1...

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Best States For a Sorter

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a sorter. The best states for people in this position are Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, and Nevada. Sorters make the most in Vermont with an average salary of $39,792. Whereas in Maine and New Hampshire, they would average $38,614 and $38,040, respectively. While sorters would only make an average of $37,750 in Nevada, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Maine

Total Sorter Jobs:
53
Highest 10% Earn:
$46,000
Location Quotient:
2.2 Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here

2. Indiana

Total Sorter Jobs:
118
Highest 10% Earn:
$51,000
Location Quotient:
0.99 Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here

3. New Hampshire

Total Sorter Jobs:
27
Highest 10% Earn:
$47,000
Location Quotient:
0.85 Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here
Full List Of Best States For Sorters

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Top Sorter Employers

Most Common Employers For Sorter

Rank  Company  Average Salary  Hourly Rate  Job Openings  
1ABX Air$35,727$17.18269
2ManpowerGroup$35,572$17.10195
3United Service Technologies$34,609$16.64153
4Fort Gordon$33,582$16.15786
5Amazon$33,426$16.071,738
6Kohl's$33,178$15.95129
7FedEx$32,516$15.6311,982
8UPS$32,430$15.597,299
9OnTrac$32,099$15.43344
10Capstone Logistics$32,061$15.41122

Sorter Videos

Becoming a Sorter FAQs

How long does it take to become a Sorter?

It takes 2 years of professional experience to become a sorter. That is the time it takes to learn specific sorter skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education.

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