---
title: "Log Grader and Scaler"
description: "Grade logs or estimate the marketable content or value of logs or pulpwood in sorting yards, millpond, log deck, or similar locations. Inspect logs for…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/log-grader-and-scaler"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Log Grader and Scaler

**Category:** Farming, Fishing, and Forestry · **SOC code:** 45-4023 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 45-4023.00

Grade logs or estimate the marketable content or value of logs or pulpwood in sorting yards, millpond, log deck, or similar locations. Inspect logs for defects or measure logs to determine volume.

Also advertised as: Log Buyer; Log Check Scaler; Log Grader; Log Scaler; Lumber Grader; Scaler; Timber Buyer.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $46,330 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $22.27/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $34,950 to $62,400, with the middle half between $37,780 and $56,250
- **Total US employment:** 3,070
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -2.2% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 600 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 49/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 3,070 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $34,950 |
| 25th | $37,780 |
| 50th (median) | $46,330 |
| 75th | $56,250 |
| 90th | $62,400 |
| Mean (average) | $47,770 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| WA | $61,580 | $57,544 | 200 |
| OR | $60,250 | $58,291 | 50 |
| ID | $57,620 | $60,339 | 140 |
| CA | $56,670 | $51,183 | 320 |
| MI | $51,810 | $53,847 | 50 |
| ME | $50,180 | $51,705 | 120 |
| OH | $49,710 | $53,582 | 30 |
| MS | $48,010 | $55,214 | 130 |
| LA | $47,510 | $53,862 | 90 |
| NH | $46,530 | $44,670 | 30 |
| IN | $46,160 | $49,459 | 60 |
| WI | $46,150 | $49,046 | 180 |
| KY | $45,330 | $50,278 | 80 |
| AL | $44,950 | $50,606 | 100 |
| PA | $44,550 | $45,659 | 330 |

10 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 25 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/log-grader-and-scaler/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/log-grader-and-scaler.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 4,400 in the 2025–2035 base year to 4,300 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 100 jobs, or -2.2%. Declining: -2.2% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 600 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Moderate-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 64.2% |
| Some College Courses | 11.6% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 11.2% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 11.0% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 2.0% |

## What the work involves

- Evaluate log characteristics and determine grades, using established criteria.
- Record data about individual trees or load volumes into tally books or hand-held collection terminals.
- Measure felled logs or loads of pulpwood to calculate volume, weight, dimensions, and marketable value, using measuring devices and conversion tables.
- Identify logs of substandard or special grade so that they can be returned to shippers, regraded, recut, or transferred for other processing.
- Jab logs with metal ends of scale sticks, and inspect logs to ascertain characteristics or defects such as water damage, splits, knots, broken ends, rotten areas, twists, and curves.
- Paint identification marks of specified colors on logs to identify grades or species, using spray cans, or call out grades to log markers.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Coordination — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Production and Processing — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mechanical — importance 2.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 2.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Near Vision — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Inductive Reasoning — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Conventional (C), Realistic (R).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| C — Conventional | 6.31 |
| R — Realistic | 4.98 |
| I — Investigative | 2.37 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.76 |
| S — Social | 1.10 |
| A — Artistic | 1.00 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 93.6 |
| ISFJ | 80.9 |
| ESTJ | 80.6 |
| ISTP | 69.6 |
| INTJ | 65.9 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Weigher, Measurer, Checker, and Sampler, Recordkeeping](https://nuecareer.com/careers/weigher-measurer-checker-and-sampler-recordkeeping) — median $46,380
- [Inspector, Tester, Sorter, Sampler, and Weigher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/inspector-tester-sorter-sampler-and-weigher) — median $48,570
- [Grader and Sorter, Agricultural Products](https://nuecareer.com/careers/grader-and-sorter-agricultural-products) — median $35,730
- [Logging Equipment Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/logging-equipment-operator) — median $49,740
- [Laborer and Freight, Stock, and Material Mover, Hand](https://nuecareer.com/careers/laborer-and-freight-stock-and-material-mover-hand) — median $40,240
- [Milling and Planing Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/milling-and-planing-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic) — median $52,800
- [Machine Feeder and Offbearer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/machine-feeder-and-offbearer) — median $41,220
- [Woodworking Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Except Sawing](https://nuecareer.com/careers/woodworking-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $43,380
- [Cutting and Slicing Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cutting-and-slicing-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $46,570
- [Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerk](https://nuecareer.com/careers/production-planning-and-expediting-clerk) — median $59,650

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/log-grader-and-scaler