Food Inspection Technician, Agriculture pay range
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania · class code 55520
- Class code
- 55520
- Pay scale group
- ST 05
- Pay unit
- Year
- Bargaining unit
- G1
- State
- Pennsylvania
- The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania published pay range for Food Inspection Technician, Agriculture is $46,827 to $70,592 per year.
- Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of Administration keys this classification as class code 55520.
- This is the range the plan authorises, not the salary of any individual employee.
Class specification
The Commonwealth job specification for this class is published by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of Administration. The passages below are quoted from it as published, not paraphrased, and cut to their opening sentences; the full specification is the authority on duties and qualifications. It was last revised 11/12/2020.
What the state says the job is
This is technical work in a food inspection and enforcement program within the Department of Agriculture. An employee in this job performs a variety of food inspection duties in an assigned area of the state. Work involves inspecting and sampling food products to determine and enforce compliance with state and federal regulations pertaining to standards of purity, quality, and sanitation; determining the proper grade of fresh fruits and vegetables; and preparing reports of inspection findings and recommendations for review and approval prior to issuance. An employee in this job has authority to remove commodities from sale or to close establishments subject to approval by a department supervisor. Work includes frequent public contact to engender cooperation and support, explain programs, and resolve complaints or minor violations.
Examples of the work
• Inspects and samples foods at manufacturing, processing, retail, and distribution establishments such as bakeries, soft drink plants, ice cream factories, cold storage lockers, dairy and produce farms, and grocery stores to ensure that products, methods of processing, and labeling comply with state regulations. • Inspects fruits and vegetables to determine proper grade in terms of quality and purity. • Prepares written reports of inspections and recommends action concerning violations for review and approval by a supervisor. • Gathers evidence and makes recommendations for citations and prosecutions. • Collects and submits samples of food products for laboratory testing.
Minimum qualifications
• A bachelor's degree in food science, food technology, chemistry, microbiology, or a closely related field; or • An equivalent combination of experience and training.
Quoted from the Commonwealth job specification, read 2026-10-21.
Where this comes from
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of Administration publishes this figure in Classification and Pay Plan (online, current annual salary ranges). Every number on this page is read from that document; nothing is estimated, modelled or averaged.
The Commonwealth also links this class code to its own job title and specification. That page is the official description of the classification; this page publishes its pay range.
The listed pay scale is available in the Commonwealth's current ST schedule.