Cargo and Freight Agents salary

SOC 43-5011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$52,260

per year, nationally

Middle half

$45,710–$63,390

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

97,670

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+8.5%

8,800 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$38,340$79,810

10th: $38,340
25th: $45,710
Median: $52,260
75th: $63,390
90th: $79,810

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where cargo and freight agents earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	District of Columbia	$76,250	109.9	60	0.13×
2	New Hampshire	$67,660	104.2	80	0.20×
3	South Dakota	$64,340	88.6	200	0.68×
4	Nebraska	$62,500	90.1	390	0.60×
5	Washington	$60,760	107.0	2,410	1.08×
6	Rhode Island	$60,310	102.3	140	0.43×
7	New Jersey	$60,210	108.8	4,280	1.59×
8	New York	$60,040	107.9	5,760	0.95×
9	Illinois	$59,750	100.0	6,110	1.60×
10	Montana	$59,240	94.6	370	1.16×
11	Massachusetts	$58,680	105.8	820	0.36×
12	Minnesota	$58,650	98.6	1,380	0.74×
13	California	$57,690	110.7	17,060	1.49×
14	Wisconsin	$57,290	94.1	1,280	0.69×
15	South Carolina	$57,000	93.7	1,540	1.06×
16	Alabama	$54,890	88.8	1,020	0.77×
17	North Dakota	$54,230	89.0	380	1.40×
18	Utah	$52,770	98.9	590	0.54×
19	Alaska	$52,070	102.4	580	2.84×
20	Tennessee	$51,800	91.9	3,390	1.64×
21	Colorado	$51,390	103.1	850	0.47×
22	Georgia	$51,380	96.3	3,630	1.18×
23	Missouri	$50,840	90.8	1,410	0.76×
24	Arkansas	$50,500	86.9	—	—
25	Maine	$50,340	97.0	190	0.48×
26	Indiana	$50,020	93.3	1,200	0.60×
27	Oklahoma	$49,940	87.8	300	0.28×
28	Mississippi	$49,920	87.0	260	0.36×
29	Arizona	$49,880	100.7	1,840	0.90×
30	Virginia	$49,680	101.1	1,280	0.50×
31	Pennsylvania	$49,590	97.6	2,810	0.74×
32	Ohio	$49,530	92.8	2,840	0.82×
33	Oregon	$49,420	103.4	1,290	1.04×
34	West Virginia	$49,100	89.5	130	0.29×
35	Louisiana	$48,940	88.2	840	0.69×
36	New Mexico	$48,910	92.2	110	0.20×
37	Maryland	$48,730	105.0	740	0.43×
38	Florida	$48,520	103.4	8,110	1.30×
39	Texas	$48,470	97.1	7,610	0.86×
40	Iowa	$48,370	87.8	660	0.67×
41	North Carolina	$48,000	94.3	2,520	0.81×
42	Michigan	$47,940	96.2	2,150	0.78×
43	Vermont	$47,560	98.0	80	0.43×
44	Nevada	$47,000	100.0	490	0.51×
45	Kentucky	$46,230	90.2	2,570	2.04×
46	Idaho	$45,710	95.5	300	0.57×
47	Kansas	$42,500	90.1	890	0.99×
48	Hawaii	$42,400	110.0	1,760	4.45×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where cargo and freight agents wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for cargo and freight agents

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Lake Charles, LA	$68,080	85.9	30	0.49×
2	Tulsa, OK	$67,140	89.2	130	0.45×
3	Rapid City, SD	$65,440	89.2	30	0.67×
4	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$65,320	103.2	40	0.29×
5	Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL	$64,580	89.1	60	0.52×
6	New Haven, CT	$63,380	104.6	80	0.45×
7	Albuquerque, NM	$63,010	95.5	60	0.23×
8	Missoula, MT	$63,010	96.4	60	1.50×
9	Sioux Falls, SD-MN	$62,950	90.6	100	0.90×
10	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$62,830	102.7	220	0.59×
11	Omaha, NE-IA	$62,240	91.9	290	0.92×
12	Syracuse, NY	$62,100	95.7	120	0.61×
13	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$61,860	111.1	1,940	1.48×
14	Vallejo, CA	$61,560	108.5	50	0.53×
15	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$60,980	115.6	1,960	1.31×
16	Great Falls, MT	$60,810	96.8	50	2.00×
17	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$60,590	112.6	7,820	1.31×
18	Corpus Christi, TX	$60,500	92.7	40	0.31×
19	Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX	$60,330	90.0	50	0.45×
20	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$60,260	101.8	180	0.40×
21	Lincoln, NE	$60,120	91.6	50	0.47×
22	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$59,980	92.7	40	0.19×
23	Portland-South Portland, ME	$59,970	101.9	50	0.29×
24	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$59,890	99.6	140	0.50×
25	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$59,850	103.6	5,630	1.99×
26	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA	$59,750	98.7	100	0.45×
27	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$59,660	96.9	380	0.73×
28	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$59,650	109.4	60	0.33×
29	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$59,610	110.4	210	0.29×
30	Fargo, ND-MN	$59,580	90.9	210	2.26×
31	Cedar Rapids, IA	$59,570	89.0	60	0.72×
32	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$59,560	104.8	1,130	0.92×
33	Madison, WI	$59,460	97.3	100	0.38×
34	Reading, PA	$59,450	97.1	50	0.43×
35	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$59,330	108.3	700	0.41×
36	Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC	$59,320	93.3	150	0.55×
37	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$59,310	100.9	30	0.14×
38	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$59,010	113.6	10,490	2.66×
39	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$58,750	100.1	2,680	1.47×
40	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$58,690	105.1	270	1.48×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where cargo and freight agents wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks$45,260
Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks$59,650
Postal Service Mail Carriers$60,550
Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance$50,340
Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators$58,470
Public Safety Telecommunicators$53,040
Postal Service Clerks$62,130
Couriers and Messengers$39,200