Material Handler salary
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What a material handler does
Material handlers move goods between receiving, storage, production and shipping. The role sits between warehouse and production work and often involves equipment.
Day-to-day duties
- Move materials to production lines or staging areas
- Load and unload delivery vehicles
- Maintain accurate movement records
- Operate pallet jacks and forklifts
- Support inventory counts
Skills employers look for
- Reliability and timekeeping
- Equipment handling
- Record accuracy
- Working to a production schedule
Requirements Entry level
- No formal education required
- Regular lifting and manual handling
- Forklift certification helpful
- Steel-toe boots on most sites
How to get started
- 1 Enter through general warehouse or labouring work
- 2 Add forklift and pallet jack certification
- 3 Learn the site inventory system
- 4 Progress to inventory control or shift lead
Job outlook: Demand follows manufacturing and distribution activity, so openings concentrate in industrial areas and around large employers.
Common questions about material handlers
What does a material handler do?
Material handlers move goods between receiving, storage, production and shipping. The role sits between warehouse and production work and often involves equipment. Day to day, that means move materials to production lines or staging areas, load and unload delivery vehicles, maintain accurate movement records and operate pallet jacks and forklifts.
How do you become a material handler?
The usual route is: (1) enter through general warehouse or labouring work, (2) add forklift and pallet jack certification, (3) learn the site inventory system, (4) progress to inventory control or shift lead. Employers typically look for no formal education required, regular lifting and manual handling and forklift certification helpful.
Do you need a certification to work as a material handler?
Usually not. Most employers hire material handlers without a specific licence, though forklift certification helpful will widen your options and often your pay.
Are material handlers in demand?
Demand follows manufacturing and distribution activity, so openings concentrate in industrial areas and around large employers.
Where are material handlers most in demand?
See the metro and rural areas with the highest concentration of this work, ranked from Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
Similar roles
Pay figures are estimates for guidance only, not an offer or guarantee. Advertised ranges come from job postings on LocalWork; government figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Actual pay depends on experience, certifications, shift and employer.