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Logistician

$82,320
median / year
$50,890 – $133,160
what most earn per year (10th–90th percentile)

What the job actually is

Manage the supply chain, coordinating how products are bought, stored, and moved from source to customer.

You may also see this posted as: Client Services Administrator, Production Planner, Supply Management Specialist.

Where you work

Offices, warehouses, and plants; at a desk and on the floor.

The hours

Full-time; some long hours to keep shipments moving.

The day to day

What you'd actually spend time doing

  • 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.
  • Manage subcontractor activities, reviewing proposals, developing performance specifications, and serving as liaisons between subcontractors and organizations.
  • Develop proposals that include documentation for estimates.
  • Review logistics performance with customers against targets, benchmarks, and service agreements.

Good fit if you like…

Conventional

organizing information, following systems, and getting details right

Enterprising

leading, persuading, selling, or turning an idea into action

Investigative

solving problems, analyzing evidence, and figuring out how things work

O*NET job zone 4 of 5

High preparation—usually a four-year degree plus experience—is common.

Work styles that matter most

DependabilityAttention to DetailCooperationIntegrity

Software that shows up in the work

Examples employers report—not a checklist you must already know.

Microsoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft PowerPointSAP softwareAutodesk AutoCAD

By the numbers

May 2025 BLS wage & employment data · 2024–34 BLS employment projections.

Median pay
$82,320
per year
Hourly median
$39.58
per hour
What most earn
$50,890–$133,160
yearly, 10th to 90th percentile
Openings a year
~26,400
projected, 2024–34
Outlook to 2034
+16.7%
Much faster than average
Working in the U.S.
251,040
people, nationwide

Openings a year counts new jobs plus the ones that open when people retire or move on — a truer picture of your odds than growth alone.

“Median” means half earn more and half earn less. Your city, employer, and years on the job move it a lot — that is what the 10th-to-90th range shows.

BLS estimates 0.3% of workers in this occupation are self-employed.

What it pays in your state

Statewide medians are a better starting point than the national number. Your city and experience still matter.

BLS state wage tables

How you get in

Typical starting education

Bachelor's degree

Training path: Degree; military experience counts double.

Related work experience: None.

On-the-job training: None.

License or certification

No license required; certification can help advancement.

Check the path where you live

Licensing rules and available programs change by state. These federal tools take you to the current official listings.

What it takes

OrganizationProblem solvingCommunicationAttention to detail

The honest take

Supply chains never sleep — 17% growth this decade.

Standard Occupational Classification 13-1081. Pay and employment from the BLS May 2025 OEWS survey; outlook and openings from the 2024–34 employment projections; job context from the Occupational Outlook Handbook; tasks, interests, work styles, software examples, and job zone from O*NET 30.3. See something off? Tell us.