Salary Range

• Cargo agents had an average salary of $18.76 per hour as of May 2010, or $39,020 per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle 50 percent of cargo agents earned $13.53 to $22.94 per hour, or $28,130 to $47,710 per year. The bottom 10 percent had wages of $10.63 per hour and less, and the top 10 percent were making $28.08 per hour and higher, or $58,400 per year and more.
  
  

Common Types of Employment

• The largest numbers of cargo agents work in a category of employment the bureau defines as "freight transportation arrangement." The main business of these companies is arranging the transport of freight between shippers and carriers, and they offer services with a variety of carriers and types of transportation. The average salary for cargo agents in this industry was $19.40 per hour in 2010, or $40,360 per year. Cargo agents working in scheduled air transportation were making $18.02 per hour on average, for couriers and express delivery services $18.15, and for general freight trucking $19.28.
  
  

Highest-Paying Employment Types

• The highest-paying businesses for cargo agents employ smaller numbers of these workers. Cargo agents working in support activities for water transportation, such as in marine cargo handling and in port and harbor operations, were making $27.24 per hour on average in 2010, or $56,660 per year. In deep sea, coastal and Great Lakes water transportation, their average pay was $24.18 per hour, in rail transportation $23.10, and with the federal government $25.13.
  
  

Regions

• Connecticut was the top-paying state for cargo agents in 2010, where these workers had an average salary of $26.30 per hour, or $54,700 per year. The top-paying metropolitan region in the country for cargo agents was the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk area of Connecticut, where cargo agents earned $36.51 per hour on average, or $75,930 per year. Other high-paying states for cargo workers were Wyoming at $23.89 per hour on average, Washington at $23.63, Massachusetts at $22.29, and Nebraska at $21.40.