Supply chain career guides
Thirteen jobs a supply chain degree leads to, each with what the work involves, the degree path into it and what it pays. BLS reports pay by occupation rather than job title, so these thirteen careers are counted in nine federal occupations, the same nine the salaries hub covers; a card whose pay comes from a shared or broader occupation says so. The pay on each card is that occupation’s national median (May 2025), and the growth figure is BLS’s projection for 2025-35. Each guide links to its salary page and to the degree rankings that lead into the job.
Pay from transportation, storage and distribution managers
Runs the flow of goods from suppliers to customers: purchasing, inventory, warehousing and transportation under one set of targets.
Plans how products, parts and people move and where they are stored, and holds carriers and subcontractors to the plan.
Pay from logisticians
Works the data behind the supply chain: tracking product flow, monitoring carriers and turning logistics records into decisions.
Leads procurement: sets purchasing policy, chooses and negotiates with suppliers, and manages the buyers who place the orders.
Pay from buyers and purchasing agents
Buys the goods and services an organization runs on: soliciting bids, writing specifications and placing purchase orders.
Builds the mathematical models behind routing, scheduling and inventory decisions, then explains the answer to the people who act on it.
Runs a manufacturing plant or production line: schedules, staffing, quality standards and the problems that stop the line.
Pay from transportation, storage and distribution managers
Runs a warehouse or distribution center: inbound and outbound shipments, inventory, staff, safety and the building itself.
Pay from transportation, storage and distribution managers
Runs an organization’s transportation: the drivers, the fleet, the routes and the safety rules they operate under.
Pay from cargo and freight agents
Matches shippers with carriers: finds the truck, negotiates the rate, arranges the load and tracks it to delivery.
Pay from cargo and freight agents
Moves international shipments: books ocean and air space, prepares export and customs documents, and arranges duties.
Pay from compliance officers
Clears imports through U.S. customs for clients: classifies goods, calculates and pays duties, and files the entry documents.
Pay from production, planning, and expediting clerks
Keeps production on schedule: plans work orders, lines up materials and chases the parts that would otherwise stop the line.
Each guide says which BLS occupation its pay figure comes from. Nine of the thirteen careers here have no wage series of their own, or share one with another career: supply chain managers (counted in transportation, storage and distribution managers), supply chain analysts (counted in logisticians), procurement specialists (counted in buyers and purchasing agents), warehouse managers (counted in transportation, storage and distribution managers), transportation managers (counted in transportation, storage and distribution managers), freight brokers (counted in cargo and freight agents), freight forwarders (counted in cargo and freight agents), customs brokers (counted in compliance officers) and production planners (counted in production, planning, and expediting clerks). Those pages print the broader occupation's figure and say so, rather than presenting it as the pay of the job title, and the pages that share an occupation each lead with an industry figure of their own.
For pay alone, by state and by industry, see supply chain salaries.