What Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks earn in Montgomery County, MD
According to the latest federal wage data for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area, the median pay for Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks in Montgomery County, MD is $47,620 a year, or $22.89 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $38,462 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Montgomery County, MD.
The mean wage is $51,340, which is 7.8% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 9,810 people working in this occupation across the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Montgomery County, MD has roughly 1,065,949 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $36,390 a year ($17.50 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $73,920 or more ($35.54 an hour). That is a gap of $37,530 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $40,190 at the 25th percentile and $59,220 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.0 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $22.89 an hour or $47,620 a year at the median for Montgomery County, MD. Before any deductions, that is $3,968 a month, $1,832 every two weeks and $916 each week. After taxes the same job pays $18.49 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks this way: "Verify and maintain records on incoming and outgoing shipments involving inventory. Duties include verifying and recording incoming merchandise or material and arranging for the transportation of products. May prepare items for shipment."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Prepare documents, such as work orders, bills of lading, or shipping orders, to route materials"; "Record shipment data, such as weight, charges, space availability, damages, or discrepancies, for reporting, accounting, or recordkeeping purposes"; "Contact carrier representatives to make arrangements or to issue instructions for shipping and delivery of materials"; "Confer or correspond with establishment representatives to rectify problems, such as damages, shortages, or nonconformance to specifications".
Job outlook for Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to shrink from 827,700 jobs in 2025 to 765,000 in 2035, a change of -7.6%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 61,300 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 7.4% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $45,260 for this occupation; the Montgomery County, MD median of $47,620 is 5.2% above it.
How pay in Montgomery County, MD compares
Compared with the Maryland average
A worker in this occupation in Montgomery County, MD earns $878 more than the Maryland average of $46,742, a premium of 1.9%. Over a year that premium is worth $878 before tax and roughly $709 after tax. Within Maryland, Montgomery County, MD already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks is $44,960 across the contiguous United States. At $47,620, Montgomery County, MD pays $2,660 more, which is 5.9% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Montgomery County, MD
Among the 618 occupations with published wages in Montgomery County, MD, Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks ranks number 491 by median pay, ahead of about 21% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $195,190 a year, which is $147,570 more than the median for Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks earning the Montgomery County, MD median of $47,620, they add up to $9,158. The result is $38,462 of take-home pay a year ($3,205 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $19 goes to taxes and $81 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 19.2%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $31,870. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $3,586, an effective 7.5% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,952 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $690. FICA totals $3,643, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Maryland
Maryland income tax on this salary is $1,929 a year, or 4.1% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 54% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $161 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Montgomery County, MD
IRS Statistics of Income data for Montgomery County, MD show an average adjusted gross income of $141,640 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 17.9% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.6%, compared with the 7.5% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Montgomery County, MD
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Montgomery County, MD: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $38,462 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Montgomery County, MD, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $2,204 a month ($26,448 a year), and at $2,438 for two bedrooms. For Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks, a one-bedroom absorbs 68.8% of take-home pay and 55.5% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 7.2% of gross pay for Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks in Montgomery County, MD. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Maryland residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,887 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $634, for $2,521 in total. Gasoline in Maryland averages $3.33 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,539.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $33,944 a year in Montgomery County, MD. Subtract that from $38,462 of take-home pay and $4,518 remains, which is $377 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 9.5% of gross pay, a thin cushion that one unexpected expense could erase.
Local housing and commute data for Montgomery County, MD
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Montgomery County, MD: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Montgomery County, MD, set beside the Maryland and national medians.
Property taxes in Montgomery County, MD
Homeowners in Montgomery County, MD pay a median of $5,539 a year in real estate taxes, 35% above the Maryland median of $4,093 and 78% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $640,300, the median tax bill is 0.87% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks median of $47,620, a tax bill of that size would equal 11.6% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Montgomery County, MD
Renters in Montgomery County, MD pay a median gross rent of $2,068 a month in the Census survey, 21% above the Maryland median of $1,705. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $2,204 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $640,300, 52% above the Maryland median of $419,900. Median household income is $132,450, 28% above the Maryland median of $103,678, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 20.0% of that income.
Commuting in Montgomery County, MD
Workers in Montgomery County, MD who travel to a workplace spend an average of 31.9 minutes each way, 3% above the Maryland average of 31.1. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.3 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 28.3% of workers in Montgomery County, MD work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks afford to live in Montgomery County, MD?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $47,620 that ceiling is $1,191 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,204 is $1,014 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $42.38 an hour; the median for Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks is $22.89, which is 46% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $18.49 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 27.5 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,438 a month means $1,219 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $11,820 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $16,338.
How fast you can save
At $377 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 27 months (2.3 years). Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 54 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks pay in Montgomery County, MD
How much do Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks make per hour in Montgomery County, MD?
The median is $22.89 per hour, based on $47,620 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $17.50 at the 10th percentile to $35.54 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks take home after taxes in Montgomery County, MD?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $47,620 becomes $38,462 a year. That is $3,205 a month, $1,479 every two weeks or $740 a week.
How much tax do Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks pay in Montgomery County, MD?
Total taxes are $9,158 a year, an effective rate of 19.2%: $3,586 federal income tax, $3,643 FICA and $1,929 Maryland income tax.
Do Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks earn more in Montgomery County, MD than elsewhere in Maryland?
Yes. The local median of $47,620 is +1.9% versus the Maryland average of $46,742, a difference of $878 a year.
Can Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks afford a one-bedroom apartment in Montgomery County, MD?
A one-bedroom costs $2,204 a month against take-home pay of $3,205, which is 68.8% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,191 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks in Montgomery County, MD?
About $377 a month ($4,518 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $33,944 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Montgomery County, MD at the 30% guideline?
$42.38 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $26,448 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks is $22.89.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Maryland rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.