---
title: "Packer and Packager, Hand"
description: "Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/packer-and-packager-hand"
last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z"
---

# Packer and Packager, Hand

**Category:** Transportation and Material Moving · **SOC code:** 53-7064 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 53-7064.00

Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials.

Also advertised as: Bagger; Crater; Mini Shifter; Pack Out Operator; Packager; Packaging Specialist; Packer; Picker and Packer.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $36,280 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $17.44/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $27,890 to $47,100, with the middle half between $32,220 and $43,060
- **Total US employment:** 559,820
- **Typical entry education:** No formal credential
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -5.4% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034)
- **Annual job openings:** 74,000 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 56/100 — 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 559,820 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $27,890 |
| 25th | $32,220 |
| 50th (median) | $36,280 |
| 75th | $43,060 |
| 90th | $47,100 |
| Mean (average) | $37,540 |

### 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| KS | $44,460 | $49,363 | 9,900 |
| NJ | $43,840 | $40,292 | 71,260 |
| AK | $41,670 | $40,710 | 560 |
| DC | $40,910 | $37,224 | 170 |
| CO | $40,730 | $39,524 | 4,120 |
| MN | $40,310 | $40,874 | 5,460 |
| VT | $39,440 | $40,262 | 810 |
| WA | $39,220 | $36,650 | 11,940 |
| NE | $38,880 | $43,151 | 3,010 |
| MO | $37,670 | $41,479 | 5,910 |
| IA | $37,470 | $42,695 | 4,090 |
| IN | $37,420 | $40,095 | 9,690 |
| NV | $37,400 | $37,408 | 3,750 |
| DE | $37,290 | $37,362 | 2,030 |
| CA | $37,260 | $33,652 | 79,730 |

39 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 54 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/packer-and-packager-hand/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/packer-and-packager-hand.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 591,800 in the 2024–2034 base year to 559,700 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 32,200 jobs, or -5.4%. Declining: -5.4% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 74,000 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** No formal educational credential (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:** Short-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 | 53.8% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 32.5% |
| Some College Courses | 13.7% |

## What the work involves

- Examine and inspect containers, materials, or products to ensure that product quality and packing specifications are met.
- Mark and label containers, container tags, or products, using marking tools.
- Measure, weigh, and count products and materials.
- Record product, packaging, and order information on specified forms and records.
- Assemble, line, and pad cartons, crates, and containers, using hand tools.
- Clean containers, materials, supplies, or work areas, using cleaning solutions and hand tools.
- Obtain, move, and sort products, materials, containers, and orders, using hand tools.
- Seal containers or materials, using glues, fasteners, nails, and hand tools.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Monitoring — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.0 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 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 2.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Production and Processing — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administrative — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 2.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Near Vision — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Trunk Strength — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Manual Dexterity — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Multilimb Coordination — importance 3.0 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 Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 5.59 |
| C — Conventional | 5.41 |
| E — Enterprising | 2.27 |
| A — Artistic | 1.50 |
| S — Social | 1.39 |
| I — Investigative | 1.34 |

### 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 | 89.0 |
| ESTJ | 80.4 |
| ISFJ | 79.2 |
| ISTP | 66.9 |
| ESFJ | 63.7 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

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

- [Packaging and Filling Machine Operator and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/packaging-and-filling-machine-operator-and-tender) — median $43,220
- [Machine Feeder and Offbearer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/machine-feeder-and-offbearer) — median $41,220
- [Grader and Sorter, Agricultural Products](https://nuecareer.com/careers/grader-and-sorter-agricultural-products) — median $35,730
- [Adhesive Bonding Machine Operator and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/adhesive-bonding-machine-operator-and-tender) — median $46,460
- [Cutting and Slicing Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cutting-and-slicing-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $46,570
- [Laborer and Freight, Stock, and Material Mover, Hand](https://nuecareer.com/careers/laborer-and-freight-stock-and-material-mover-hand) — median $40,240
- [Paper Goods Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/paper-goods-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $50,270
- [Cutter and Trimmer, Hand](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cutter-and-trimmer-hand) — median $38,020
- [Weigher, Measurer, Checker, and Sampler, Recordkeeping](https://nuecareer.com/careers/weigher-measurer-checker-and-sampler-recordkeeping) — median $46,380
- [Helpers--Production Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/helpers-production-worker) — median $39,070

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 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, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 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 30.3 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/packer-and-packager-hand