DC Velocity - May 2009

level respondents was $144,000— 5 percent higher than the median salary of those next in line, corporate officers. Presidents and directors came next, with median salaries of $120,000 and $104,000, respectively.

From there, it’s a big jump down to the lower levels. Managers made $28,000 less than directors, and supervisors earned $19,000 less than managers. Exhibit 1 shows the median salary and average salary for each title (we’ve used the median numbers, rather than the averages, as the basis for comparison because they are less likely to be skewed by statistical extremes).

Region

West

Middle Atlantic

Southeast

South

New England

Midwest

Median

$87,500

$85,700

$85,000

$83,500

$82,000

$80,000

Average

$108,170

$99,514

$103,616

$95,616

$109,515

$92,724

Canada

Mexico

Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands

$80,000

$73,000

$82,375

$80,125

Experience and education count

Job title may carry the most weight, but many other factors influence how much an individual logistics or supply chain professional makes. The region where you work, your level of education, and how long you’ve been in the business will typically play a big role in determining your salary.

Let’s start with geographic region. As Exhibit 2 shows, this year, the highest median salary was found in the Western states, where the median pay was $87,500. The Middle Atlantic region paid second best, with a median salary of $85,700. Managers working in the Lower 48 did considerably better than their counterparts in Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, where the median salary was just $63,000.

Did your parents push you to get an advanced degree so you would make more money? Well, they knew what they were doing. Exhibit 3 illustrates the strong correlation between earnings and education. The median salary for respondents with only a high-school diploma was $67,000. With a median salary of $145,000, those who have earned a doctorate take home more than twice as much.

Experience in the field also influences earnings (see Exhibit 4). The median salary of newcomers to the profession (those with five or fewer years of experience in logistics) was $66,650. Those at the other end of the scale (respondents with more than 25 years’ experience) command a hefty premium for their expertise. With a median salary of $100,000, the veterans out-earned the newcomers by about 50 percent.