Warehouse operatives: average salary and pay in the UK
Full-time warehouse operatives in the UK earned a median £27,832 in the year to 5 April 2025, according to the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE): 29% less than the £39,039 median for all full-time jobs.
What the figures show
It is in the lowest-paid third of the 382 occupations (57th from the bottom).
One in ten full-time jobs paid under £20,995; one in ten paid over £39,583.
Median full-time pay: women £26,696 a year, men £28,211 a year.
Paid hours are long: a full-time median of 40 a week including overtime, against 37.5 across all jobs.
About 77% of the roughly 538,000 employee jobs are full-time.
From £22,262 in 2021, the median is up 25.0%, close to the 25.0% for all jobs.
The Annual Population Survey counts 383,400 people in this line of work, 17% of them in East Midlands.
Pay distribution, 2025 provisional
| Gross pay | Full-time, annual | Full-time, weekly | Full-time, hourly | All, annual | All, weekly | All, hourly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | £20,995 | £465.30 | £12.23 | £12,645 | £268.00 | £12.21 |
| 20th percentile | £23,786 | £490.00 | £12.57 | £19,491 | £401.80 | £12.47 |
| 25th percentile | £24,447 | £502.30 | £12.72 | £21,841 | £447.20 | £12.60 |
| 30th percentile | £25,159 | £513.10 | £12.95 | £23,270 | £472.20 | £12.77 |
| 40th percentile | £26,527 | £537.80 | £13.41 | £25,013 | £500.20 | £13.25 |
| Median (50th percentile) | £27,832 | £559.80 | £13.80 | £26,574 | £529.60 | £13.70 |
| 60th percentile | £29,482 | £593.60 | £14.50 | £28,228 | £558.00 | £14.29 |
| 70th percentile | £31,926 | £638.00 | £15.36 | £30,358 | £602.90 | £15.13 |
| 75th percentile | £33,151 | £668.40 | £15.87 | £31,876 | £629.60 | £15.66 |
| 80th percentile | £34,851 | £702.90 | £16.58 | £33,394 | £664.80 | £16.31 |
| 90th percentile | £39,583 | £812.80 | £18.45 | £38,321 | £772.40 | £18.17 |
| Mean | £28,646 | £608.80 | £14.82 | £26,197 | £536.50 | £14.73 |
Pay since 2021
| ASHE year | Full-time, annual median | Full-time, weekly median | Full-time, hourly median | All, annual median | All, weekly median | Jobs (thousands, indicative) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 revised | £22,262 | £437.50 | £10.60 | £21,550 | £417.10 | 468 |
| 2022 revised | £23,513 | £462.50 | £11.35 | £22,590 | £435.20 | 523 |
| 2023 revised | £24,889 | £501.10 | £12.37 | £23,653 | £475.40 | 533 |
| 2024 revised | £26,375 | £527.50 | £13.00 | £25,090 | £502.30 | 478 |
| 2025 provisional | £27,832 | £559.80 | £13.80 | £26,574 | £529.60 | 538 |
Warehouse operatives by region
UK: 383,400 (± 24,000), April 2025 to March 2026. 2 of the 12 regions and nations have samples too small to publish.
| Region or nation | People in employment | 95% confidence interval |
|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 64,800 | ± 10,700 |
| West Midlands | 51,800 | ± 9,400 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 49,100 | ± 8,200 |
| North West | 42,000 | ± 7,800 |
| East of England | 39,000* | ± 8,500 |
| South East | 35,800* | ± 7,500 |
| Scotland | 30,600* | ± 6,300 |
| South West | 22,600* | ± 5,400 |
| Wales | 16,200* | ± 3,600 |
| North East | 13,000* | ± 3,600 |
Annual Population Survey (Nomis)
What warehouse operatives do
Warehouse operatives load, unload and convey a variety of goods, equipment or other items in warehouses and depots, prepare requisitions or despatch documents of stocks held, and perform other elementary goods handling and storage related tasks. (ONS SOC 2020, 9252)
Also covers: order picker, storeman, team member (warehousing), warehouse operative, warehouseman, amazon associate, baggage master, bobbin counter, bond worker, cask handler, counterman (chemicals), counterman (drugs), depot worker, despatch assistant, despatch hand, despatch man, despatch operative and despatch worker (155 titles in the ONS coding index).
- Undertakes the loading and unloading of goods and conveys goods about storage area
- Packs furniture and household goods into crates and cartons for storage
- Retrieves stored items as listed on order sheets, makes up orders against requisitions and prepares goods for despatch
- Checks goods for damage or missing stock and maintains an inventory of stock
- Cleans and maintains warehouse
There are no formal academic entry requirements. Training is typically provided Off or on-the-job. NVQs/ in Warehousing and Storage are available at levels 1, 2 and 3.
Related
Elementary storage occupations (median £28,132) · Elementary storage supervisors · Delivery operatives · salary percentile · Average weekly hours worked in the UK · Median
ASHE Table 14: 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 · coding index · notes · 15 October 2026