Importers and brokers are the working counterparts across every entry — customs collectors at federal or state ports collect the duties, taxes, and fees that customs entries owe, processing payments and reconciling against entry documentation.
Importers, customs brokers, and the duty-collection systems become the daily working partners — entries clearing, duties calculated, payments processed against ACE or comparable systems, the occasional dispute or protest. You're often between the import documentation and the U.S. Treasury revenue ledger. Duties collected accurately and revenue reconciled anchor the visible measures.
The harder part is often the volume of entries combined with the regulatory precision required — each entry has unique duty calculations, FTA claims, and program implications. Variance across employers is real: at CBP collection runs within structured federal procedures; at state revenue or port authorities the role tilts toward state-specific tax-and-fee collection.
It fits people who are detail-precise, regulatorily fluent, and steady through high-volume processing. The trade-off is the documentation rigor required for every entry. Customs and trade credentials anchor advancement.
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Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
Roles with similar work and overlapping career paths
View all Business Operations roles →Importers and brokers are the working counterparts across every entry — customs collectors at federal or state ports collect the duties, taxes, and fees that customs entries owe, processing payments and reconciling against entry documentation.
Median pay for a Customs Collector is about $60K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $40K to $110K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Speaking, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, and Monitoring.
Most people in this role hold a bachelor's degree.
Employment in this field is projected to decline about 1.8% through 2034, with roughly 53,530 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include District Customs Director, Deputy District Customs Director, and Data Collector.
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