SOC 43-5071.00

    Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks

    Verify and maintain records on incoming and outgoing shipments involving inventory.

    Median pay
    $45,260
    Growth
    -7.6%
    Decline
    Openings a year
    61,300
    Typical education
    High school diploma

    Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition

    Source: BLS 2025 wages · 2025–35 projections

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    Annual pay range

    Lowest 10% earn less than
    $34,650
    Median
    $45,260
    Highest 10% earn more than
    $62,190
    National wages for all workers in this occupation. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.

    816,870 people work in this occupation.

    What shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks do

    Job Zone 2: Some preparation

    Verify and maintain records on incoming and outgoing shipments involving inventory. Duties include verifying and recording incoming merchandise or material and arranging for the transportation of products. May prepare items for shipment.

    Usually a high school diploma; some on-the-job training or experience.

    Interest profile

    Realistic (R)
    50 / 100
    Investigative (I)
    4 / 100
    Artistic (A)
    0 / 100
    Social (S)
    6 / 100
    Enterprising (E)
    35 / 100
    Conventional (C) · strongest
    100 / 100
    How strongly each interest area describes the work, from O*NET (scores rescaled to 0–100). The interest code lists the strongest areas in order.

    Interest code CRE. Compare it with yours

    What you'd do

    Getting Information
    83
    Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
    81
    Documenting/Recording Information
    72
    Handling and Moving Objects
    72
    Performing General Physical Activities
    71
    Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work
    67
    Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
    65
    Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
    62
    Training and Teaching Others
    60
    Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others
    59
    Work activities rated by importance for this occupation, O*NET (0–100).

    Skills and strengths

    Skills

    • Speaking
    • Active Listening
    • Reading Comprehension
    • Critical Thinking
    • Monitoring
    • Time Management
    • Complex Problem Solving
    • Coordination
    • Judgment and Decision Making
    • Social Perceptiveness

    Knowledge

    • Administrative
    • Computers and Electronics
    • Production and Processing
    • Mathematics
    • English Language
    • Administration and Management
    • Customer and Personal Service
    • Education and Training
    • Transportation
    • Public Safety and Security

    Abilities

    • Near Vision
    • Information Ordering
    • Oral Expression
    • Problem Sensitivity
    • Arm-Hand Steadiness
    • Oral Comprehension
    • Category Flexibility
    • Deductive Reasoning
    • Inductive Reasoning
    • Manual Dexterity

    Work styles

    • Dependability
    • Attention to Detail
    • Integrity
    • Cautiousness
    • Cooperation
    • Stress Tolerance
    • Perseverance
    • Achievement Orientation
    • Self-Control
    • Adaptability

    Also called

    Backroom Associate · Booking Clerk · Break Out Man · Break Out Worker · Car Checker · Cloth Booker · Container Coordinator · Disposition Clerk · Distributing Clerk · Distribution Associate

    CareerOneStop

    Certifications, licenses and pay by state

    What shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks may need beyond a degree, where a license is required, and what the work pays in each state.

    Certifications

    Core certifications employers recognise for this work.

    Search all certifications on CareerOneStop

    Licenses by state

    1 state lists a license for this work. Open your state for the license and the agency that issues it.

    Check license requirements on CareerOneStop

    Data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development). Retrieved November 6, 2026.

    Your plan

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    Related careers

    Careers with similar work, interests or skills.

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    Sources and attribution

    Every figure on this page comes from these public datasets. Missing values are shown as not reported, never estimated.

    O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. CollegesRef has modified all or some of this information.

    Data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development). Retrieved November 6, 2026.

    Page data updated November 5, 2026.