At ports of entry, you collect the duties, taxes, and fees owed on customs entries — processing payments, reconciling with entry documentation, and supporting the federal revenue collection that customs entries generate.
In the port-collection office, the day runs through entry payments, broker accounts, and ACH-debit reconciliations — duties calculated against entries, payments received and posted, broker periodic statements reconciled, the revenue records tied to specific entries. You're often between the customs broker, the importer, and the U.S. Treasury revenue ledger. Collections processed 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 and program implications. Variance across employers is wholly federal: port collectors work within CBP structured collection procedures.
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. CBP credentials and trade-industry training 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 →At ports of entry, you collect the duties, taxes, and fees owed on customs entries — processing payments, reconciling with entry documentation, and supporting the federal revenue collection that customs entries generate.
Median pay for a Port 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 Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning.
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 Data Collector, Field Collector, and Medical Collector.
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