Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand Salary - BLS OEWS Wage Benchmarks
SOC 53-7062 · National · May 2025 OEWS Data
Median Annual Salary
$40,248
$19.35/hr
Verified BLS OEWS data · Updated May 18, 2026
Source: BLS OEWS · Published May 15, 2026
Next refresh: May 2027
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The national median salary for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand is $40,248 per year ($19.35/hr) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. The middle 50% of earners make between $36,088 and $46,925 annually. Top earners at the 90th percentile reach $55,141 per year. There are approximately 2,950,280 laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand employed in the United States.
About This Role
BLS Standard Occupational Classification 2018
Manually move freight, stock, luggage, or other materials, or perform other general labor. Includes all manual laborers not elsewhere classified.
Career Outlook
BLS Employment Projections · 2024-2034
10-year growth
+1.5%
About as fast as average
Annual openings
384K
per year, on avg
Workforce today
3.0M
as of 2024
Why those openings exist
1% from new growth99% from people leaving the role
Most openings come from replacement, not growth. Retention matters more than recruiting here.
Typical entry requirements
Education
No formal educational credential
Experience
None
On-the-job training
Short-term on-the-job training
Industry Wage Breakdown
Top 5 industries by employment · median annual wage, sector-specific
Wage range across top 5 industries: $35,730 to $45,880 (28% spread)
Wage Percentiles
Hourly & annualized (2,080 hours)
Percentile
Hourly Rate
Annual Salary
P10
$15.03
$31,262
P25
$17.35
$36,088
P50MEDIAN
$19.35
$40,248
P75
$22.56
$46,925
P90
$26.51
$55,141
Market Context Signal
JOLTS · other sector
Active
Openings Rate
3.4%
Quits Rate
2.0%
The labor market rebounded in March: hires jumped to 5.6M (+655K) and separations rose to 5.4M (+356K), both more than offsetting February's drop. Job openings held at 6.9M. Quits ticked to 2.0%.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand salary?
The national median salary for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand is $40,248 per year ($19.35/hr) according to BLS OEWS May 2025 data. The middle 50% earn between $36,088 and $46,925 annually.
How much do top-earning laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand make?
The 90th percentile salary for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand is $55,141 per year ($26.51/hr). The 75th percentile is $46,925 per year.
What is the entry-level salary for laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand?
Entry-level Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand (10th percentile) earn approximately $31,262 per year ($15.03/hr). The 25th percentile is $36,088 per year.
Wage figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025 release. OEWS surveys roughly 1.1 million establishments annually. It is the most comprehensive employer-reported wage dataset in the United States.
P10 through P90 percentiles represent the wage distribution across all surveyed employers (not self-reported by workers). Geographic adjustments use BLS-derived cost multipliers calibrated from regional wage variation.
Wages are estimates. Individual compensation depends on experience, education, employer size, industry, and negotiation. Use this as benchmark context, not absolute ground truth.
CompSignal is a free labor market intelligence tool built for HR, compensation, and talent acquisition teams. We make BLS data, the same primary source Mercer and Radford cross-reference in their paid surveys, searchable and actionable without an enterprise subscription.
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