Log Graders and Scalers
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.
- Median annual earnings
- $44,629
- Projected change
- −1%
- Typical education
- High school diploma or less
- Employment
- 3.78K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
75.4% of the workforce
Growing to 3.74K by 2035
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Build the skills
ASU learning related to this career
These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
The work
What log graders and scalers do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- 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.
- Paint identification marks of specified colors on logs to identify grades or species, using spray cans, or call out grades to log markers.
- 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.
- Identify logs of substandard or special grade so that they can be returned to shippers, regraded, recut, or transferred for other processing.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $31,089
- 25th percentile
- $35,139
- 50th percentile
- $44,629
- 75th percentile
- $57,355
- 90th percentile
- $74,404
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $44,629 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
36 fewer positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- High school diploma or less
- 75.4%
- Some college
- 11.6%
- Certificate
- 11%
- Associate degree
- 2%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Lumber Graders76 postings
- 02Log Analysts19 postings
- 03Lumber Traders6 postings
- 04Head Millers4 postings
- 05Log Truck Drivers3 postings
- 06Industry Managers1 postings
- 07Kiln Operators1 postings
- 08Lumber Handlers1 postings
- 09Manager Trainees1 postings
- 10Quality Control Analysts1 postings
- 11Sawmill Supervisors1 postings
Top employers
- 01Spherion Staffing12 postings
- 02Sierra Pacific Industries10 postings
- 03American Hardwood Industries6 postings
- 04Wellborn Cabinet5 postings
- 05Northwest Hardwoods4 postings
- 06Idaho Forest Group3 postings
- 07Meherrin River Forest Products3 postings
- 08Pacific Rim Log Scaling Bureau3 postings
- 09Roseburg Forest Products3 postings
- 10The Baillie Group3 postings
- 11Blue Triangle2 postings
- 12C&B Lumber2 postings
- 13Graf Brothers Flooring2 postings
- 14Interfor2 postings
- 15Jim C Hamer2 postings
- 16Kennebec Lumber Company2 postings
- 17Lewis Lumber Products2 postings
- 18N.W.H2 postings
- 19Northwest Log Scalers2 postings
- 20The Westervelt Company2 postings
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