Customs Broker: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.
The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.
BLS does not publish pay for customs brokers separately. Every pay figure on this page is for the BLS occupation “Compliance Officers” (SOC 13-1041), which includes customs brokers and other jobs; it is not a figure for customs brokers alone.
10% of workers in the BLS occupation “Compliance Officers” earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $48,220
- Hourly
- $23.18
- Source
- BLS May 2025
25% of workers in the BLS occupation “Compliance Officers” earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $61,280
- Hourly
- $29.46
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Half of workers in the BLS occupation “Compliance Officers” earn more than this and half earn less.
- Annual
- $80,730
- Hourly
- $38.81
- Source
- BLS May 2025
75% of workers in the BLS occupation “Compliance Officers” earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $109,010
- Hourly
- $52.41
- Source
- BLS May 2025
90% of workers in the BLS occupation “Compliance Officers” earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $133,720
- Hourly
- $64.29
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Customs Brokers prepare customs documentation and ensure that shipments meet all applicable laws to facilitate the import and export of goods. The median pay is $80,730 a year ($38.81 an hour) (BLS, May 2025).
- Median pay
- $80,730
- BLS May 2025
- Employed in the U.S.
- 417,070
- BLS May 2025
- Preparation
- Job Zone 3 of 5
- medium preparation
Customs Brokers at a glance
Workers in the BLS occupation “Compliance Officers” (which includes customs brokers) in the United States earned a median annual wage of $80,730 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for customs brokers in the United States.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS projects employment of customs brokers in the United States to grow 3.8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 32,700 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS estimates that 64.4% of compliance officers in the United States had the ability to telework in 2025, a preliminary estimate of whether the job allows it, not a count of remote jobs.
Source: BLS Occupational Requirements Survey, 2025 preliminary
Every page for Customs Brokers
What customs brokers do day to day
Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).
- Pay, or arrange for payment of, taxes and duties on shipments.
- Classify goods according to tariff coding system.
- Clear goods through customs and to their destinations for clients.
- Prepare and process import and export documentation according to customs regulations, laws, or procedures.
- Stay abreast of changes in import or export laws or regulations by reading current literature, attending meetings or conferences, or conferring with colleagues.
- Calculate duty and tariff payments owed on shipments.
- Confer with officials in various agencies to facilitate clearance of goods through customs and quarantine.
- Obtain line releases for frequent shippers of low-risk commodities, high-volume entries, or multiple-container loads.
What the job requires
Data BLS figures for compliance officers (SOC 13-1041), 2025 preliminary BLS Occupational Requirements Survey. This TryHired page covers a specialty within that occupation; the figures describe the whole occupation.
- Telework available
- 64.4%
- of workers had the ability to telework
- Workday sitting
- 85.0%
- mean share of the day required to sit
- Most common strength level
- Sedentary
- 84.0% of workers
- Can pause work
- 97.8%
- of workers could take short, unscheduled breaks
- Self-paced workload
- 57.5%
- of workers set their own workload
- Employer-changed schedules
- 10.4%
- of workers had schedules changed by the employer week to week
On TryHired lists: Remote careers · Desk jobs.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey. Estimates are preliminary; ranges are shown as published.
Industries that employ it
Data Share of all customs broker jobs in each industry, 2025 (BLS Employment Matrix). Figures cover all compliance officers (SOC 13-1041), the broader occupation.
- Government, excluding state and local education and hospitals35.1% of all jobs in this occupation · -1.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $86,850
- Professional, scientific, and technical services9.5% of all jobs in this occupation · +12.5% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $100,520
- Insurance carriers and related activities5.6% of all jobs in this occupation · +6.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $83,630
- Management of companies and enterprises5.0% of all jobs in this occupation · +4.6% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $96,620
- Administrative and support services4.7% of all jobs in this occupation · +3.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $72,690
- Credit intermediation and related activities4.6% of all jobs in this occupation · +6.7% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $94,090
Sources: BLS 2025–35 National Employment Matrix (share of the occupation's jobs, projected change) and BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates (mean wage). Different industry estimates are not a pay forecast for any person.
Ranked by importance to the job
Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.
Knowledge areas: Law and Government, Administrative, Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Transportation, Administration and Management.
Software customs brokers use
Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.
- Automated system for customs data ASYCUDACompliance software
- Materials requirement planning MRP softwareMaterials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software
- Optical character reader OCR softwareOptical character reader OCR or scanning software
- Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareIn demand
- Microsoft Office softwareOffice suite softwareIn demand
- Microsoft OutlookElectronic mail softwareIn demand
- Microsoft PowerPointPresentation softwareIn demand
- Microsoft WordWord processing softwareIn demand
- Microsoft AccessData base user interface and query softwareHot technology
- SAP softwareEnterprise resource planning ERP softwareHot technology
- Automated commercial environment software ACEData base user interface and query software
- Customs records databasesData base user interface and query software
Also called: Custom Broker, Broker, CCS (Certified Customs Specialist), Corporate Licensed Broker, LCB (Licensed Custom Broker), LCB (Licensed Customs Broker).
How this page is built
Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- How a specific employer defines the job.
- Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
- Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.