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Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products

US occupation · SOC 13-1023

Job titles people report: Buyer, Contract Administrator (Contract Admin), Procurement and Contracting Administrator (Procurement and Contracting Admin), Procurement and Contracting Buyer, Procurement Official, Procurement Specialist, Purchasing Administrator (Purchasing Admin), Purchasing Agent, Purchasing and Contracts Coordinator

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025
$77,710
Half earn more, half earn less
Middle half earn
$60,800 – $100,820
25th to 75th percentile
People employed, May 2025
491,430
Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
Projected change, 2025–35
+6%
At or above the all-jobs rate (3.5% to under 7%)
Openings a year (projected)
47,200
New jobs plus replacing people who leave
Typical education to enter
Bachelor's degree
BLS

BLS publishes one wage and employment figure for buyers and purchasing agents combined (code 13-1020). The pay and employment figures above are for that whole group, not for purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products alone. So is the projection.

  • All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
  • Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
  • Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Purchase machinery, equipment, tools, parts, supplies, or services necessary for the operation of an establishment. Purchase raw or semifinished materials for manufacturing. May negotiate contracts.

Main tasks

  • Monitor and follow applicable laws and regulations.
  • Purchase the highest quality merchandise at the lowest possible price and in correct amounts.
  • Formulate policies and procedures for bid proposals and procurement of goods and services.
  • Prepare purchase orders, solicit bid proposals, and review requisitions for goods and services.
  • Write and review product specifications, maintaining a working technical knowledge of the goods or services to be purchased.
  • Analyze price proposals, financial reports, and other data and information to determine reasonable prices.
  • Hire, train, or supervise purchasing clerks, buyers, and expediters.
  • Research and evaluate suppliers, based on price, quality, selection, service, support, availability, reliability, production and distribution capabilities, and the supplier's reputation and history.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)
Bachelor's degree
Training once hired: moderate-term on-the-job training
O*NET Job Zone 4
Considerable preparation
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

Interests it suits

The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.

  • Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
  • Enterprising: leading, persuading and making business decisions
  • Realistic: hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 3 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Business

  • Purchasing, Procurement/Acquisitions and Contracts Management
  • Sales, Distribution, and Marketing Operations, General
  • General Merchandising, Sales, and Related Marketing Operations, Other

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Business at the Major step.

Where many students take business

Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

← All careers

Sources

This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0

Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.

Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk