Connecticut·Production Occupations·SOC 51-9061

Best Inspector programs in Connecticut, ranked by enrollment

Inspect, test, sort, sample, or weigh nonagricultural raw materials or processed, machined, fabricated, or assembled parts or products for defects, wear, and deviations from specifications.

3 schools in Connecticut run programs that feed this job, graduating 12 people a year. The job pays a median of $57,090 in Connecticut across about 7,460 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledInspectorQuality InspectorQuality TechnicianQuality Control Inspector (QC Inspector)SizerTimerCoilerCuller
Graduates / yr
12
in Connecticut
Median pay · Connecticut
$57,090
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
7,460
people employed
Schools
3
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
43%
across those schools
Median net price
$30,133
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Connecticut that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

1 programs in Connecticut that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Connecticut (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Connecticut page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
112
100.0%
3$63,479$25,000

Top 3 schools in Connecticut

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 0 of the 3 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Central Connecticut State University
New Britain, CT Public · 1 feeder programs
6Quality Control Technology/Technician48%73%
2Goodwin University
East Hartford, CT Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
4Quality Control Technology/Technician58%$30,133
3Connecticut State Community College
New Britain, CT Public · 1 feeder programs
2Quality Control Technology/Technician24%

All 3 schools in Connecticut

Every school in Connecticut with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Connecticut that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Central Connecticut State UniversityNew BritainPublic61
Goodwin UniversityEast HartfordPrivate not-for-profit41
Connecticut State Community CollegeNew BritainPublic21

What inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers earn in Connecticut

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Connecticut
$57,090
Mean annual
$61,380
Jobs in state
7,460
What the range looks like
10th pct$38,500Median$57,09090th pct$94,270
Versus the national median
+17.5%

U.S. median $48,570. Connecticut pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
1.15×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Connecticut

Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT
$55,540median
1,020 jobs
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
$60,040median
3,110 jobs
Waterbury-Shelton, CT
$48,560median
980 jobs
New Haven, CT
$50,060median
930 jobs
Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT
avg
860 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
0.0%
Little or no change
Openings per year
69,900
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
100
598,000 → 598,100
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Plus moderate-term on-the-job training

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers page.

How to become a Inspector

Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.

Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.

Top skills

Critical ThinkingWritingReading ComprehensionActive ListeningSpeakingMonitoring

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Connecticut

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 1 majors mapped to Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 15.0702Quality Control Technology/Technician

Common questions

Answers for people weighing inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers programs in Connecticut.

What degree do you need to become an Inspector?+

High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Quality Control Technology/Technician, which awarded 12 degrees in Connecticut in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming an Inspector?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 12 people a year in Connecticut.

How much do inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers earn in Connecticut?+

The median is $57,090 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 17.5% above the U.S. median of $48,570. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers growing?+

BLS projects a +0.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 69,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Connecticut?+

3 institutions in Connecticut reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Inspector, Quality Inspector, Quality Technician, Quality Control Inspector (QC Inspector) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 51-9061.

Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers in other statesTexasWisconsinGeorgiaUtahCaliforniaMichiganSouth CarolinaNebraska
Related careers in ConnecticutCalibration Technologists and Technicians

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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