Movers typically work in the construction or mining business, where they operate the equipment that moves earth and other materials. Depending on the setting, they may also operate conveyor systems, cranes, hoist machines, or industrial tractors, all of which can transport machines around a worksite. They may also operate earth-moving machines like dredge equipment and underground mining loading machines. In addition to running the controls on these machines, movers also clean them, perform routine maintenance and inform supervisors when significant repairs are needed.
Applicants do not necessarilly need to complete a formal academic program to work as a mover or operator. One might simply be required to complete an apprenticeship program or on-the-job training program. However, some community colleges and technical schools do offer associate's degree and certificate programs in heavy equipment operation.
Also worth considering, specialized movers earn more than others. For example, paving, surface, and tamping equipment operators earn an average salary of $44,360 per year, while pile-driver operators earn an average yearly salary of $64,360.
What is a Mover?
What Does a Mover Do
There are certain skills that many movers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed customer-service skills, listening skills and hand-eye coordination.
How To Become a Mover
If you're interested in becoming a mover, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 13.7% of movers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 0.7% of movers have master's degrees. Even though some movers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Mover Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a mover can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as driver, progress to a title such as foreman and then eventually end up with the title co-owner.
Average Salary for a Mover
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Mover
The role of a mover includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general mover responsibilities:
- Ability to follow directions as given by supervisor or advanced level hhg movers. Informed about residence / property protection; able to use properly to prevent damage to job site. Including but not limited to doors, floors, steps
- Perform maintenance service or repairs in one or more skill areas, including minor plumbing, carpentry, painting
- Select cables, ropes, pulleys, winches, blocks,
There are several types of mover, including:
Material Handler
Role:
Material handlers, well, they handle materials. But you probably already knew that. Generally, the handling portion extends to moving, shelving, loading and unloading said materials. The materials can vary depending on what industry you're working in.
Materials aren't just shipped on a 9-5 schedule. The materials will arrive at any time of the day or night. So you may need to be prepared to work some overnight shifts. As a material handler, the only requirement to the job is being able to physically perform your job duties. So as long as you can do that, you won't have any problems handling material.
- Average Salary: $33,215
- Degree: High School Diploma
Package Handler
Role:
As sure as the sun comes up every morning, packages need to be delivered. If the packages don't make it to the truck on time then how are people supposed to get the unnecessary things they order from Amazon? With online shopping at our fingertips, this position is more important than ever.
Millions of people are depending on you to get their package to them in a timely fashion. Your job is to make sure packages are placed in the right places so that they go out on time. There is a bit of training on the job, but for the most part there is no formal education requirement. If being depended on by lots of people doesn't stress you out, then you should look into becoming a package handler.
- Average Salary: $32,785
- Degree: High School Diploma
Dock Worker
Role:
Dockworkers are skilled employees who work in various facilities that demand freight services, such as meat and poultry processing facilities, retailers, companies in the industrial and construction fields, and other fast-paced, physically strenuous work environments. Their primary duties include comparing invoices for shipments to the actual products received, testing the contents of freight shipments, and weighing outgoing shipments.
They are also in charge of performing recordkeeping for damages or other inventory discrepancies, contacting other parties, such as freight companies or wholesalers to dictate instructions for outgoing and incoming parcels, and using a sorting, organization, or inventory system to process goods.
Dockworkers work a variety of shifts and schedules. Some facilities may require work during regular business hours, but other places may have evening, overnight, and weekend requirements for their workers. Skills necessary to excel in dock worker positions include using the appropriate in-house inventory program, if applicable. One must also have the physical strength and endurance to lift, move, and sort shipments. Applicants may also need forklift certification and experience with freight trailers and pallets. Previous related experience may be required or preferred, with which you can earn up to $15 per hour initially.
- Average Salary: $36,027
- Degree: High School Diploma
States With The Most Mover Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active mover jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where movers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Mover Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio | 88 | $32,356 |
| 2 | Texas | 74 | $31,002 |
| 3 | Illinois | 57 | $32,013 |
| 4 | Washington | 52 | $41,139 |
| 5 | Florida | 51 | $27,552 |
| 6 | New York | 46 | $35,485 |
| 7 | Michigan | 36 | $31,355 |
| 8 | North Carolina | 34 | $28,487 |
| 9 | Indiana | 29 | $28,929 |
| 10 | Colorado | 24 | $38,017 |
| 11 | Missouri | 24 | $31,896 |
| 12 | Wisconsin | 23 | $36,784 |
| 13 | New Jersey | 23 | $32,456 |
| 14 | Virginia | 21 | $30,425 |
| 15 | Minnesota | 20 | $37,069 |
| 16 | California | 20 | $39,224 |
| 17 | South Carolina | 18 | $25,486 |
| 18 | Pennsylvania | 16 | $32,710 |
| 19 | Maryland | 16 | $32,156 |
| 20 | Georgia | 16 | $27,714 |
| 21 | Arizona | 14 | $35,787 |
| 22 | Tennessee | 13 | $32,754 |
| 23 | Oregon | 12 | $38,113 |
| 24 | Kentucky | 12 | $31,999 |
| 25 | Massachusetts | 11 | $37,718 |
| 26 | Alabama | 11 | $27,037 |
| 27 | Nebraska | 9 | $33,811 |
| 28 | Connecticut | 8 | $34,268 |
| 29 | Kansas | 7 | $32,210 |
| 30 | Louisiana | 6 | $24,743 |
| 31 | Idaho | 5 | $33,424 |
| 32 | Utah | 4 | $35,539 |
| 33 | Iowa | 4 | $34,249 |
| 34 | Oklahoma | 4 | $33,415 |
| 35 | Montana | 3 | $39,639 |
| 36 | Nevada | 3 | $37,909 |
| 37 | Delaware | 3 | $31,185 |
| 38 | Mississippi | 3 | $28,462 |
| 39 | Vermont | 2 | $35,154 |
| 40 | Arkansas | 2 | $33,515 |
| 41 | Maine | 2 | $32,756 |
| 42 | North Dakota | 1 | $38,555 |
| 43 | South Dakota | 1 | $34,088 |
| 44 | New Hampshire | 1 | $34,095 |
| 45 | Rhode Island | 1 | $33,519 |
| 46 | Wyoming | 1 | $32,194 |
| 47 | New Mexico | 1 | $32,100 |
| 48 | Alaska | 0 | $41,483 |
| 49 | Hawaii | 0 | $37,602 |
| 50 | West Virginia | 0 | $29,288 |
Top Skills For a Mover
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 39.8% of movers listed office furniture on their resume, but soft skills such as customer-service skills and listening skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Mover Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Mover templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Mover resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Mover diversity
Mover Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among movers, 5.7% of them are women, while 94.3% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among movers is White, which makes up 55.6% of all movers.
- The most common foreign language among movers is Spanish at 78.5%.
Online Courses For Mover That You May Like
1. Household Surveys for Program Evaluation in LMICs
This course provides an introduction to household surveys for program evaluation in low-and middle-income countries. The course will equip you with skills to: 1. Explain what coverage is, why it’s important in evaluations, and how it is measured 2. Describe what household surveys can and cannot measure 3. Plan, implement, and analyze household survey, including: 4. Calculate an appropriate household survey sample size 5. Explain the resources required for a household survey 6. Identify an...
2. Customer Centric Innovation
Successful innovation starts with understanding customer needs and ends with a delighted customer. This course is created to develop a holistic understanding of customers’ role in developing successful innovations and how to capture and utilize customer information to create successful innovations...
3. Fundamentals of Logistics, Supply Chain & Customer Service
Learn Logistics, Supply Chain and Customer Service. 3 Courses in 1...
Best States For a Mover
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a mover. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, Washington, Montana, and California. Movers make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $41,483. Whereas in Washington and Montana, they would average $41,139 and $39,639, respectively. While movers would only make an average of $39,224 in California, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Washington
$41,139
Avg. Salary
2. Montana
$39,639
Avg. Salary
3. Wisconsin
$36,784
Avg. Salary
How Do Movers Rate Their Jobs?
Top Mover Employers
Most Common Employers For Mover
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gentle Giant Moving | $35,613 | $17.12 | 51 |
| 2 | Big League Dreams | $35,508 | $17.07 | 42 |
| 3 | Little Guys Movers | $34,635 | $16.65 | 68 |
| 4 | Bellhop | $34,525 | $16.60 | 251 |
| 5 | Corrigan Moving Systems | $34,475 | $16.57 | 46 |
| 6 | Daniel's Moving & Storage | $34,395 | $16.54 | 47 |
| 7 | Starving Students Movers | $34,380 | $16.53 | 66 |
| 8 | Iron Mountain | $34,316 | $16.50 | 73 |
| 9 | United Van Lines | $34,165 | $16.43 | 200 |
| 10 | New World Van Lines | $34,136 | $16.41 | 42 |
Mover Videos
