Materials Handler
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Materials Handler occupation series (code 6907), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
With 5,317 employees (0.3% of the federal civilian workforce), Materials Handler ranks as a smaller, specialized federal occupation within the Warehousing and Stock Handling Family family, and headcount declined from the prior period. Its average salary of $67,371 pays below the federal average.
- Headcount change
- -8.9%
- Pay change
- +0.1%
- Avg tenure
- 12.1 yrs
- Rank in family
- #1 of 9
FedScope read on Materials Handler (dense series)
Headcount moved down versus the prior period, a useful gauge for job seekers on USAJOBS trying to assess whether this role is expanding government-wide or contracting under hiring freezes and attrition. Pay moved up between the two reporting periods, a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change. On length of service, this series shows a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.
Materials Handler sits inside the Warehousing and Stock Handling Family family (code 69), which contains 9 related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Materials Handler postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Warehousing and Stock Handling Family family. Materials Handler makes up 52.2% of the Warehousing and Stock Handling Family family's 10,194 combined employees. Its average salary ranks in the top half (63rd percentile) of pay among Warehousing and Stock Handling Family occupations.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Materials Handler pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$67,371
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-42.6%
Where Materials Handler ranks on lean federal pay
Materials Handler earns more on average than 22% of federal occupation series (121 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Materials Handler sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Materials Handler.
Related Occupations in Warehousing and Stock Handling Family
8 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Store Working | 1,980 | $51,622 | 9.7 yrs |
| Tools and Parts Attending | 888 | $64,659 | 9.7 yrs |
| Materials Expediting | 821 | $62,168 | 10.4 yrs |
| Materials Examining and Identifying | 560 | $61,924 | 10.5 yrs |
| Hazardous Waste Disposing | 212 | $58,478 | 11.5 yrs |
| Aircraft Freight Loading | 165 | n/a | 13.5 yrs |
| Misc Warehousing and Stock Handling | 131 | $73,379 | 11.9 yrs |
| Bulk Money Handling | 120 | $69,330 | 16 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Materials Handler outside the Warehousing and Stock Handling Family family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar dense headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (5,317 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($67,371 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Materials Handler pay in context with the pay-rank chart above, then compare it with another occupation.
- Turn an average salary into a grade: the GS pay grade tables show how grades and steps map to pay.
- Browse the Warehousing and Stock Handling Family family occupations in the table above, or search current Materials Handler postings on USAJOBS.
OPM FedScope and Federal Workforce Data figures are federal civilian headcounts, average salaries, and length-of-service statistics - not job-quality scores, hiring advice, or a live vacancy listing. A larger or higher-paid agency is not a better employer.