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Boston Career Explorer

Transportation and Material Moving

Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand

Manually move freight, stock, luggage, or other materials, or perform other general labor. Includes all manual laborers not elsewhere classified.

Also called: Laborer, Loader, Material Handler, Merchandise Pick Up Associate, Merchandise Receiving Associate, Receiver

Compare with my current job (Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners)
Median pay in Greater Boston
$45,600
$21.92/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
24,030
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+7.3%
4,970 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
No formal educational credential
plus Short-term on-the-job training

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$37,180$39,780$45,600$49,840$58,820

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Maintain equipment storage areas to ensure that inventory is protected.
  • Read work orders or receive oral instructions to determine work assignments or material or equipment needs.
  • Move freight, stock, or other materials to and from storage or production areas, loading docks, delivery vehicles, ships, or containers, by hand or using trucks, tractors, or other equipment.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Lower exposure6 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 3
  • Language-model AIOE 3
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 11

Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure for this job is low, and AI tools are not much used in it today. Software may help with reading work orders and tracking what materials are needed. Lifting, carrying, loading, and moving freight by hand or with equipment are physical tasks that AI tools do not do.

Likely to change

  • Reading and sorting work orders
  • Tracking inventory and material needs

Still relies on people

  • Moving freight and stock by hand
  • Loading and unloading trucks and containers

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

Related jobs that build on what you already do.

  • Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators

    You already move materials between docks and storage. This job does the same work with forklifts and similar equipment, with higher pay and strong growth.

    Pay difference
    +$2,200 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +21.7%
    To get started
    No formal educational credential

  • Construction Laborers

    Hands-on labor and following work instructions carry over. This role adds tending equipment and tools and pays a higher Boston median.

    Pay difference
    +$17,820 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +9.5%
    To get started
    No formal educational credential

  • Painters, Construction and Maintenance

    Reading work orders and following instructions carry over. Painting offers a skilled trade with higher pay and moderate on-the-job training.

    Pay difference
    +$12,220 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +5.5%
    To get started
    No formal educational credential

Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

No college programs near Boston map to this job. Many people enter through on-the-job training or apprenticeship.

Talk to a career coach at the Office of Workforce Development about apprenticeships and City partner programs.

Related occupations

Talk to a career coach

A coach at the Office of Workforce Development can help you plan your next step, and connect you with training, apprenticeships and City partner programs that are not listed here.

Talk to a career coach