Logistician Salary (2026): Data, Outlook & How to Become One

Logisticians earn a median of $82,320 per year ($39.58/hr) (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Employment is projected to grow 16.7% through 2034, with about 26,400 openings a year (BLS EP, 2024–2034). Typical entry-level education: Bachelor's degree.

SOC 13-1081Business and Financial OperationsLast updated August 15, 2026
Median pay
$82,320

BLS OEWS, May 2025

Projected growth
+16.7%

BLS EP, 2024–2034

Openings a year
26,400

BLS EP, 2024–2034

Typical education
Bachelor's

BLS EP, 2024–2034

Also advertised as: Client Services Administrator, Logistician, Production Planner, Supply Management Specialist.

How much do Logisticians make?

Annual wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025
10th percentile$50,890

Entry / lowest-paid tenth

25th percentile$64,440

Lower quartile

Median (50th)$82,320

Half earn more, half earn less

75th percentile$106,190

Upper quartile

90th percentile$133,160

Top-paid tenth

National wage and employment figures for Logisticians
Median annual wage$82,320
Median hourly wage$39.58/hr
Mean annual wage$89,730
People employed251,040

Versus all US occupations

At $82,320, Logisticians earn 61% above the $50,980 median across all US occupations, a difference of $31,340 a year.

Versus business and financial operations occupations

The median is typical for the Business and Financial Operations group, where the middle occupation pays $80,730.

Pay range

The top 10% earn $133,160 or more while the bottom 10% earn $50,890, a gap of 2.6×. That is a typical spread for a US occupation.

Rank in the bank

This median pays more than 69% of the 923 occupations in the NueCareer career bank.

Cost of living

Washington posts the highest raw median ($107,250), but once local prices are taken into account Alabama leads at $110,838 in national-average dollars.

Which states pay Logisticians the most?

State medians come from the same OEWS release as the national figures. The cost-of-living column divides each state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, restating pay in national-average dollars so a high-cost state and a low-cost one can be compared directly.

Top 10 states by median annual wage for Logisticians
StateMedianCOL-adjustedEmployed
Washington$107,250$100,2215,670
District of Columbia$104,770$95,3311,350
Maryland$102,700$97,8486,840
Massachusetts$100,360$94,8975,250
Hawaii$100,340$91,259570
Virginia$98,920$97,84010,540
Alabama$98,450$110,8385,190
New Mexico$98,430$106,743850
Colorado$96,090$93,2444,490
Delaware$96,090$96,275520
See all 54 states, sortable, with cost-of-living adjustments →

Is Logistician a growing career?

Projected employment change, 2024–2034. BLS Employment Projections
Logisticians16.7%
All US occupations3.1%

+16.7% projected growth vs 3.1% for all occupations.

Much faster than average

BLS projects employment of Logisticians to change 16.7% over 2024–2034, roughly 5.4× the 3.1% projected for all occupations. That is 40,300 more jobs.

Annual openings

About 26,400 openings are projected each year, 11.0% of the 241,000 jobs that existed in 2024. Most come from workers leaving the occupation, not from growth alone.

Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.

As the growth of e-commerce makes logistics more dynamic and complex, logisticians will be in demand to move products more efficiently, solve problems, and identify areas for improvement. The increased volume of inventory and need to manage multiple supply chains have made logisticians' work critical. In addition, as more goods are purchased online, timeliness of delivery remains a priority for companies, further increasing demand for these workers.

How to become a Logistician

Logisticians typically need a bachelor’s degree to enter the occupation. Employers often prefer to hire candidates who have experience in a related occupation. In some cases, work experience may substitute for education.

Entry requirements for Logisticians
Typical entry-level educationBachelor's degree
Preparation needed (O*NET job zone)Medium preparation
Work experience in a related occupationNone
Typical on-the-job trainingNone

What education people in the job have

O*NET incumbent survey: the highest level of education reported by people already working as logisticians.

  • Bachelor's Degree75.0%
  • High School Diploma8.3%
  • Post-Secondary Certificate8.3%
  • Some College Courses8.3%
Full BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook entry

What does a Logistician do?

Analyze and coordinate the ongoing logistical functions of a firm or organization. Responsible for the entire life cycle of a product, including acquisition, distribution, internal allocation, delivery, and final disposal of resources.

Logisticians analyze and coordinate an organization’s supply chain, the system that moves a product from supplier to consumer. They manage a product’s entire life cycle, from design to disposal.

Day-to-day tasks

  • Maintain and develop positive business relationships with a customer's key personnel involved in, or directly relevant to, a logistics activity.
  • Develop an understanding of customers' needs and take actions to ensure that such needs are met.
  • Review logistics performance with customers against targets, benchmarks, and service agreements.
  • Report project plans, progress, and results.
  • Stay informed of logistics technology advances and apply appropriate technology to improve logistics processes.
  • Provide project management services, including the provision and analysis of technical data.
  • Manage subcontractor activities, reviewing proposals, developing performance specifications, and serving as liaisons between subcontractors and organizations.
  • Develop proposals that include documentation for estimates.

O*NET core tasks, ordered by reported importance.

Where logisticians work

Largest employers of Logisticians
Manufacturing23%
Federal government16%
Professional, scientific, and technical services15%
Wholesale trade11%
Management of companies and enterprises10%

BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition.

Core skills

  • Critical Thinking4.0/5
  • Reading Comprehension3.9/5
  • Active Listening3.9/5
  • Speaking3.9/5
  • Monitoring3.9/5
  • Active Learning3.5/5
  • Writing3.4/5
  • Mathematics3.0/5

Transferable skills

  • Coordination3.9/5
  • Complex Problem Solving3.8/5
  • Social Perceptiveness3.6/5
  • Judgment and Decision Making3.6/5
  • Systems Analysis3.5/5
  • Time Management3.4/5
  • Persuasion3.3/5
  • Negotiation3.3/5

Tools and software

  • Accounting software · in demand
  • Computer aided design CAD software · in demand
  • Data base user interface and query software · in demand
  • Document management software · in demand
  • Electronic mail software · in demand
  • Enterprise resource planning ERP software · in demand
  • Office suite software · in demand
  • Presentation software · in demand
  • Process mapping and design software · in demand
  • Project management software · in demand
  • Spreadsheet software · in demand
  • Word processing software · in demand

“In demand” marks an O*NET Employer-Based Hot Technology, software named in real job postings for this occupation.

What personality type suits a Logistician?

Interest profile: O*NET Occupational Interests, scored 1–7

Realistic2.4
Investigativeprimary3.8
Artistic1.1
Social2.3
Enterprisingprimary5.0
Conventionalprimary5.4

Day to day this is work built around organising, following procedures and working precisely with data, combined with leading, persuading, selling and making decisions.

Closest MBTI types

NueCareer fit scores: cosine similarity between each MBTI type's interest vector and this occupation's O*NET interest profile. Not a BLS or O*NET figure; the method is documented on our methodology page.

Logistician: frequently asked questions

How much do Logisticians make?

Logisticians earn a median of $82,320 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). That is 61% above the $50,980 median for all US occupations. That works out at $39.58/hr. The middle half earn between $64,440 and $106,190. The top 10% earn $133,160 or more.

Do you need a degree to become a Logistician?

Yes. BLS reports a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for Logisticians, and O*NET rates the preparation needed as medium preparation. In O*NET's survey of people already doing the job, 75.0% hold bachelor's degree.

Is Logistician a growing career?

Yes, strongly. Employment is projected to grow 16.7% over 2024–2034, more than double the 3.1% projected for all occupations (BLS EP, 2024–2034). BLS still projects about 26,400 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.

What does a Logistician do?

Logisticians analyze and coordinate an organization’s supply chain, the system that moves a product from supplier to consumer. A core O*NET task: maintain and develop positive business relationships with a customer's key personnel involved in, or directly relevant to, a logistics activity. Employers most often ask for Accounting software, Computer aided design CAD software, Data base user interface and query software.

Which states pay Logisticians the most?

The highest state medians for Logisticians are Washington ($107,250), District of Columbia ($104,770), Maryland ($102,700) (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Adjusted for local prices using BEA Regional Price Parities, Alabama moves to the top at $110,838.

What personality type suits a Logistician?

O*NET scores Logisticians highest on the Conventional, Enterprising and Investigative interest areas, so the work mixes organising, following procedures and working precisely with data with leading, persuading, selling and making decisions. On NueCareer's MBTI-to-interest mapping that lines up most closely with ESTJ personalities. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 923 occupations in the bank.