$Who Earns What

How much does a mover make in Japan?

Other Material Handling Workers, NEC

Answer: The average mover in Japan makes $27,101 (¥4.07M) a year (monthly pay × 12 plus bonus, 2025, Japan's Basic Survey on Wage Structure).

Average yearly pay of people doing this job in Japan
$27,101 (¥4.07M)

Monthly pay $1,977 × 12 + bonus $3,381. Average age 46.3; about 605,000 people work in this job. About the same as the Japan-wide average ($33,720).

Mover pay in Japan (2025, averages by company size and sex)

Mover pay in Japan (2025, averages by company size and sex) — Data: MHLW Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025
Company sizeEveryoneMenWomenAge
Any size$27,101$28,883$20,58546.3
Big company$29,647$31,749$21,16545.3
Mid-size$25,041$26,635$20,26246.2
Small company$24,723$25,872$19,93048.7

Why does pay differ?

In Japan, pay can differ with experience, equipment skills or licenses, and the employer’s size or type—from a small warehouse to a port or cold store. Region, employment type, and night shifts, overtime, or busy seasons can also affect pay.

What if you were…

In Japan, age and company size matter most

Pick a company size, sex or age to see that group's average here.

How it changes with age

Tap an age to update the number above (Any company size, men and women combined)

How it changes with company size

Any size$27,101
Big company$29,647
Mid-size$25,041
Small company$24,723
Men$28,883
Women$20,585

What does a mover do?

What's a typical day like?

In a warehouse role, a shift may start with scanning arriving goods and checking them against the order. Workers then pick, sort, and count items, move them to the shipping area, update stock records, and tidy up; some use carts or forklifts.

How to get this job

In Japan, many warehouse, moving, and delivery jobs do not require a particular degree or entry certificate; new hires often learn on the job after leaving school. A forklift qualification can widen the tasks you can do, and workers must receive safety training for their duties.

Did you know?

In Japan's land-freight industry, about 65% of worker injuries happen while handling cargo, and about 70% of those happen at a shipper's workplace.

What about the US?

Nearly the same job
Mover (average)
$27,101
US
Warehouse laborer (typical)
$40,240

Japan's figure is the average and the US figure is the median. Prices and exchange rates matter too, so it's a rough comparison.

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Sources and data

Source: MHLW Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025 (regular workers, by occupation) (e-Stat). Yearly pay = monthly contractual cash earnings × 12 + annual bonus. Averages for regular workers at firms with 10+ employees. Public employees (teachers, police, firefighters) and company executives are not in this survey. e-stat.go.jp

Pages used for the text

Data: MHLW Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025 · 1 USD = 150 JPY