How much do customs brokers make in 2026?
Customs brokers are counted in the BLS cargo and freight agents series: OEWS May 2025 gives the SOC 43-5011 national median as $52,260 a year ($25.13 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $38,340 and the top 10% at $79,810. This is one of the clearest cases on the site where the pooled series understates a role. SOC 43-5011 is dominated by freight forwarding, import and export coordination and freight agent work, whereas a licensed customs broker holds a federal licence issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, obtained by passing a notoriously difficult examination on tariff classification, valuation, entry procedures and trade regulation, followed by a background investigation. That licence carries personal liability for the accuracy of entries filed, and licensed brokers therefore earn well above this band — often at and beyond its top decile, with senior compliance and licensed management roles higher again. The work is tariff classification under the harmonized system, customs valuation, duty and fee calculation, entry filing, free trade agreement qualification, and increasingly trade remedy exposure such as antidumping and countervailing duties, plus forced labour and origin due diligence. Unlicensed entry writers and coordinators working under a broker's supervision sit within the pooled band. Employment is projected to grow 8.5% through 2034 with roughly 8,800 openings a year. → Full customs broker career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $52,260 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Customs Brokers earn a national median $52,260/yr ($25.13/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 43-5011); the P10 to P90 range is $38,340 to $79,810.
- The pooled BLS cargo and freight agents series ($38,340 to $79,810) is dominated by forwarding and coordination work and understates licensed customs brokers substantially.
- The federal customs broker licence — a difficult examination on classification, valuation and entry procedure plus a background investigation — is what separates the two, and it carries personal liability for entry accuracy.
- Licensed brokers commonly earn at and beyond the top of this band, with trade remedy, free trade agreement and origin compliance expertise commanding further premiums.
US Customs Broker Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do customs brokers earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 43-5011; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 43-5011, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a customs broker earn at each career stage?
Customs pay is defined by licensure and compliance depth rather than years in forwarding. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 43-5011, which understates licensed brokers.
By State
Which states pay customs brokers the most in 2026?
State figures are modeled estimates — the pooled BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers salary-calculator state wage index — not BLS state observations, and they carry the pooling caveat for licensed brokers. Real geography follows trade: port cities, border crossings, air cargo gateways and importer headquarters concentrate the work, and licensed brokers in major gateways earn well above the modeled figure.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($60,100), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay customs brokers the most?
Metro figures are modeled — pooled national median times state wage index times published metro index — not BLS MSA observations. Gateway metros genuinely pay more because entry volumes, customer complexity and enforcement activity concentrate there, though customs compliance work is increasingly performed remotely for national importers.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a customs broker’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does customs broker pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Customs Brokers sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify customs broker wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a customs broker actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Customs Broker Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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