- MHM 2007 Salary Survey (Introduction): A Fair Day's Pay for a Fair Day's Work
- MHM 2007 Salary Survey (Verbatim Respondent Comments): Penny for Your Thoughts
- MHM 2007 Salary Survey: Pay Comparisons By Job Title, Industry, Age, Experience, Etc. (Tables)
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 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
