The "typical" material handling professional is male, is 47 years old, has 20 years experience and earned $69,250 last year, plus a $7,000 bonus (for the 63% of managers who received a bonus).
Why Focus on Medians
When it comes to knowing what fair levels of compensation are, medians are a better indication of central tendency than the arithmetic mean, or average. With an abnormal distribution-the pay data of material handling and inventory managers that we collected has a long tail at the upper end of the scale-the mean will be skewed in one direction. Because of this upwardly skewed distribution, the median pay level-the
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central data point-is a better representation of typical pay levels in the industry or region than the mean.
Use the range between the upper and lower quartiles in the tables in this article for a better understanding of the standard pay range by age, job title, experience and company size. If you think that you're a top performer-and can back up your claims with hard examples of recent achievements-the 90th percentile might be a good target the next time that salary negotiations roll around.
Current job title/function
|
|
Total Respondents, %
|
|
Corporate Management (CEO/COO/Pres/CFO)
|
5.1
|
|
Senior/Exec VP
|
6.0
|
|
Operations Manager
|
12.9
|
|
Plant/Manufacturing Manager
|
6.0
|
|
DC/Warehouse/Facility Manager
|
17.5
|
|
Transportation/Fleet/Traffic Manager
|
7.7
|
|
Supply Chain Manager
|
4.1
|
|
Procurement/Purchasing Manager
|
5.5
|
|
Inventory/Materials Manager
|
7.4
|
|
Information Technology Manager
|
1.1
|
|
Consultant
|
2.2
|
|
Other
|
24.6
|
*North American responses only; total=1,386
Industry
|
|
Total Respondents, %
|
|
Aerospace
|
1.4
|
|
Apparel
|
1.9
|
|
Automotive
|
4.4
|
|
Chemicals/Petroleum
|
3.0
|
|
Computer Equipment & Peripherals
|
1.2
|
|
Consumer Goods
|
4.7
|
|
Construction/Building Materials
|
3.8
|
|
Electronics/High-Tech/Telecom Equipment
|
4.3
|
|
Food & Beverage
|
8.0
|
|
Furniture
|
0.7
|
|
Government
|
1.3
|
|
Industrial Products/Machinery/Metals/Plastics
|
18.0
|
|
Pharamaceuticals/Healthcare
|
4.9
|
|
Paper/Printing/Publishing
|
4.9
|
|
Retail
|
4.8
|
|
Third-Party Logistics Provider
|
3.8
|
|
Transportation Services
|
3.6
|
|
Utilities/Energy
|
0.7
|
|
Wholesale Distribution
|
10.5
|
|
Other
|
14.1
|
*North American responses only; total=1,386
Sex
|
|
Total Respondents, %
|
|
Male
|
89.7
|
|
Female
|
10.3
|
*North American responses only; total=1,386
Age
|
|
Years
|
|
Minimum
|
23
|
|
Maximum
|
77
|
|
Mean
|
47
|
|
25th Percentile
|
41
|
|
Median
|
47
|
|
75th Percentile
|
54
|
|
90th Percentile
|
59
|
*North American responses only; total=1,328.
Age
|
|
Total Respondents, %
|
|
20-30 years
|
3.4
|
|
31-40 years
|
20.3
|
|
41-50 years
|
39.0
|
|
51-60 years
|
30.8
|
|
61 years or more
|
6.5
|
*North American responses only; total=1,313.
Experience
|
|
Years
|
|
Minimum
|
1
|
|
Maximum
|
50
|
|
Mean
|
19
|
|
25th Percentile
|
10
|
|
Median
|
20
|
|
75th Percentile
|
26
|
|
90th Percentile
|
33
|
*North American responses only; total=1,377
Experience
|
|
Total Respondents, %
|
|
0-5 years
|
8.4
|
|
6-10 years
|
16.6
|
|
11-15 years
|
15.9
|
|
16-20 years
|
18.2
|
|
21-25 years
|
14.4
|
|
26 or more years
|
26.5
|
*North American responses only; total=1,377
Seniority
|
|
Years
|
|
Minimum
|
0
|
|
Maximum
|
50
|
|
Mean
|
13
|
|
25th Percentile
|
6
|
|
Median
|
11
|
|
75th Percentile
|
20
|
|
90th Percentile
|
29
|
*North American responses only; total=1,377
Seniority
|
|
Total Respondents, %
|
|
0-5 years
|
22.9
|
|
6-10 years
|
26.8
|
|
11-15 years
|
16.6
|
|
16-20 years
|
12.0
|
|
21-25 years
|
7.8
|
|
26 or more years
|
14.0
|
*North American responses only; total=1,377
Highest level of education
|
|
Total Respondents, %
|
|
High school
|
14.3
|
|
Some college
|
36.8
|
|
4-year undergraduate degree
|
30.1
|
|
Some graduate study
|
7.3
|
|
Graduate degree
|
11.5
|
*North American responses only; total=1,375
Most recent promotion
|
|
Total Respondents, %
|
|
Within the past 12 months
|
17.3
|
|
Within the past 1-2 years
|
18.5
|
|
Within the past 3-5 years
|
26.0
|
|
More than 5 years ago
|
38.3
|
*North American responses only; total=1,362
Geographic region
|
|
Total Respondents, %
|
|
New England
|
6.2
|
|
Middle Atlantic
|
11.9
|
|
South Atlantic
|
15.6
|
|
North Central
|
33.8
|
|
South Central
|
14.2
|
|
Mountain
|
3.8
|
|
Pacific
|
11.0
|
|
Canada
|
3.2
|
|
Mexico
|
0.3
|
*North American responses only; total=1,386
Annual direct compensation
|
Minimum
|
$20,000
|
|
Maximum
|
$550,000
|
|
Mean
|
$77,996
|
|
25th Percentile
|
$51,000
|
|
Median
|
$69,250
|
|
75th Percentile
|
$91,499
|
|
90th Percentile
|
$120,000
|
*North American responses only; total=1,386
Annual direct compensation
|
|
Total Respondents, %
|
|
$40,000 or less
|
9.3
|
|
$40,001-$60,000
|
29.9
|
|
$60,001-$80,000
|
26.5
|
|
$80,001-$100,000
|
16.9
|
|
$100,001-$120,000
|
7.9
|
|
More than $120,000
|
9.6
|
*North American responses only; total=1,386
Receive a bonus?
|
|
Total Respondents, %
|
|
Yes
|
63.3
|
|
No
|
36.7
|
*North American responses only; total=1,386
Most recent bonus (for those who received a bonus)
|
Minimum
|
$100
|
|
Maximum
|
$850,000
|
|
Mean
|
$17,157
|
|
25th Percentile
|
$2,500
|
|
Median
|
$7,000
|
|
75th Percentile
|
$15,000
|
|
90th Percentile
|
$34,500
|
*North American responses only; total=864
Most recent bonus (for those who received a bonus)
|
|
Total Respondents, %
|
|
$1,000 or less
|
11.1
|
|
$1,001 to $5,000
|
30.9
|
|
$5,001 to $10,000
|
23.5
|
|
$10,001 to $25,000
|
21.0
|
|
More than $25,000
|
13.4
|
*North American responses only; total=863.
Most recent bonus
|
|
% of direct compensation
|
|
Minimum
|
0%
|
|
Maximum
|
500%
|
|
Mean
|
17%
|
|
25th Percentile
|
4%
|
|
Median
|
9%
|
|
75th Percentile
|
18%
|
|
90th Percentile
|
33%
|
*North American responses only; total=863.
Raise last year
|
|
Total Respondents, %
|
|
No Raise
|
20.9
|
|
0-3% Increase
|
45.8
|
|
4-6% Increase
|
25.4
|
|
7-10% Increase
|
5.2
|
|
Greater than 10% Increase
|
2.8
|
*North American responses only; total=1,378
Corporate annual revenue
|
|
Total Respondents, %
|
|
Less than $50 million
|
35.9
|
|
$50 million-$100 million
|
17.4
|
|
$101 million-$500 million
|
18.5
|
|
$501 million-$1 billion
|
7.9
|
|
$1 billion or more
|
20.3
|
*North American responses only; total=1,359
Full-time people managed directly
|
|
Total Respondents, %
|
|
0
|
13.9
|
|
1 to 5
|
27.7
|
|
6 to 10
|
19.3
|
|
11 to 25
|
18.2
|
|
More than 25
|
20.9
|
*North American responses only; total=1,370
Career priorities
|
|
%
|
|
Base salary
|
77.5%
|
|
Medical benefits
|
62.6%
|
|
Job stability
|
60.0%
|
|
Retirement benefits
|
51.7%
|
|
Individual recognition
|
39.5%
|
|
Advancement opportunities
|
36.4%
|
|
Vacation time
|
33.7%
|
|
Relationships with co-workers
|
27.3%
|
|
Flexible schedule
|
23.7%
|
|
Company recognition of the importance of material handling and inventory mgmt.
|
15.5%
|
|
Continuing education/training
|
13.1%
|
*North American responses only; percentages add up to more than 100% because respondents could identify up to five key priorities; total=1,386
Career satisfaction
|
|
Total Respondents, %
|
|
Very satisfied
|
21.7%
|
|
Satisfied
|
47.2%
|
|
Neither satisfied nor unsatisfied
|
23.4%
|
|
Unsatisfied
|
6.3%
|
|
Very unsatisfied
|
1.3%
|
*North American responses only; total=1,342
|
