Cutters and Trimmers, Hand vs Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand: $38K vs $43K Median Pay

Cutters and Trimmers, Hand vs Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand: what changes?

Consider Cutters and Trimmers, Hand if you want to use hand tools or hand-held power tools to cut and trim a variety of manufactured items, such as carpet, fabric, stone, glass, or rubber. Consider Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand if you would rather grind, sand, or polish, using hand tools or hand-held power tools, a variety of metal, wood, stone, clay, plastic, or glass objects. Both list no formal educational credential; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Cutters and Trimmers, Hand and Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Cutters and Trimmers, Hand

National median pay (2025): $38,020
Route into the job: No formal educational credential; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Mark or discard items with defects such as spots, stains, scars, snags, chips, scratches, or unacceptable shapes or finishes.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 500

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 18.9% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Cutters and Trimmers, Hand brief

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand

National median pay (2025): $42,660
Route into the job: No formal educational credential; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Verify quality of finished workpieces by inspecting them, comparing them to templates, measuring their dimensions, or testing them in working machinery.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 700

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 19.2% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand brief

How the national numbers differ

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand has the edge on median pay

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand is at $42,660, compared with $38,020 for Cutters and Trimmers, Hand.

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand has the edge on annual openings

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand is at 700 annual openings, compared with 500 annual openings for Cutters and Trimmers, Hand.

Cutters and Trimmers, Hand has the edge on projected growth

Cutters and Trimmers, Hand is at -18.9% projected growth, compared with -19.2% projected growth for Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand.

17.5/ 100

Cutters and Trimmers, Hand

20.4/ 100

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Cutters and Trimmers, Hand vs Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand

Dimension	Cutters and Trimmers, Hand	Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand
Median pay (2025)	$38,020	$42,660
Pay percentile	8.3 percentile	14.6 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	-18.9%	-19.2%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	500	700
2025 employment	5,900	10,800
How you qualify	No formal educational credential; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing	No formal educational credential; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 2	Job Zone 2
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.	More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Cutters and Trimmers, Hand brief Read Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand brief

Cutters and Trimmers, Hand vs Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Cutters and Trimmers, Hand

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand

How the national numbers differ

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand has the edge on median pay

Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand has the edge on annual openings

Cutters and Trimmers, Hand has the edge on projected growth

Cutters and Trimmers, Hand vs Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand

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