Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks
Material recording clerks track product information in order to keep businesses and supply chains on schedule.
Is shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks a good career?
It scores 19/100 and ranks #343 of 825 occupations on pay, growth, employment and openings. Here's what the federal data says, with no editorializing.
Advantages
- High volume of openings — about 69,300 a year
- No college degree typically required to enter
Possible tradeoffs
- Pays below the U.S. median wage ($45,260 vs $61,390)
- Employment is projected to decline (-7.7% through 2034)
What shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks earn
Wages: BLS OEWS May 2025Pay is a range, not a number. Half of U.S. shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks earn between $38,200 and $51,570 a year.
Best-paying states
Best-paying metros
Strongest employment concentration
Live shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks jobs
No live shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks openings yet
When the jobs.best ATS feed launches, verified shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks openings will appear here — each shown against the $45,260 national median. Nothing here is placeholder.
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- Typical education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
- Outlook
- Employment is projected to grow decline through 2034.
Education
Material recording clerks typically need a high school diploma or equivalent.
Some employers prefer to hire production, planning, and expediting clerks who have a college degree.
Training
Material recording clerks usually learn on the job. Training for most material recording clerks lasts up to 1 month. Production, planning, and expediting clerks may train for up to 6 months.
Material recording clerks first may learn to count stock and mark inventory and then move on to more difficult tasks, such as recordkeeping. Production clerks first typically learn how their company operates before they write production and work schedules.
Workers learn safety rules as part of their training. Many of these rules are standardized through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Advancement
With additional training or education, material recording clerks may advance to other positions, such as purchasing agent, within their company.
Important qualities
Communication skills. Material recording clerks are frequently in contact with suppliers, vendors, or managers and need to convey their company’s needs effectively.
Customer-service skills. Material recording clerks may interact with customers in order to respond to problems or complaints.
Detail oriented. Material and product inspecting clerks must pay attention to detail when checking items for defects, some of which are small and difficult to spot.
Math skills. Material recording clerks may need to calculate shipping costs or take measurements.
Related occupations
How much do shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks make?
The national median wage is $45,260 a year, with the middle half earning between $38,200 and $51,570 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Is shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks a good career?
On the Jobs.best index it scores 19 of 100 and ranks #343 of 825 occupations, weighing pay, growth, employment and openings. Employment is projected to change -7.7% through 2034.
What education do you need to become a shipping, receiving, and inventory clerk?
The typical entry-level education is high school diploma or equivalent.
Where do shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks earn the most?
Among states, Washington pays the highest median ($51,590). Local pay for every state and metro is below.