Loan Officers vs Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products: Similar Pay, 1.1% vs 6% Growth

Loan Officers vs Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products: what changes?

Consider Loan Officers if you want to evaluate, authorize, or recommend approval of commercial, real estate, or credit loans. Consider Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products if you would rather purchase machinery, equipment, tools, parts, supplies, or services necessary for the operation of an establishment. Entry credentials differ: Loan Officers, bachelor's degree; Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products, specialty requirements need verification. Prior experience in a related occupation is typically needed for Loan Officers (less than 5 years).

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Loan Officers and Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

The labor-market benchmark for Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products covers the broader BLS group Buyers and purchasing agents (13-1020). It does not isolate this specialty.

Compare the practical differences

Loan Officers

National median pay (2025): $76,690
Route into the job: Bachelor's degree; Prior related experience: less than 5 years; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: Prior related experience: less than 5 years.
Training and licensing: More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Meet with applicants to obtain information for loan applications and to answer questions about the process.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 17,100

Know before you choose

BLS lists less than 5 years of related experience. This is normally reached through feeder roles, not directly from school.

See the full Loan Officers brief

Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products

National median pay (2025): $77,710
Route into the job: specialty-specific preparation that needs verification with programs and employers; the broader BLS occupation's education category is not a verified route for this specialty
Prior related experience: Prior experience requirements need verification for this occupation.
Training and licensing: Verify the specialty's training, licensing, and full preparation time with an accredited program or employer.
Work to investigate: Monitor and follow applicable laws and regulations.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 47,200

Know before you choose

Review the full career brief for day-to-day working conditions.

See the full Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products brief

How the national numbers differ

Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products has the edge on projected growth

Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products is at 6% projected growth, compared with 1.1% projected growth for Loan Officers.

Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products has the edge on annual openings

Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products is at 47,200 annual openings, compared with 17,100 annual openings for Loan Officers.

National pay benchmarks are very similar.

Compare actual offers, expected paid hours, schedule, and benefits before treating either career as the higher-paying option.

55.2/ 100

Loan Officers

70.6/ 100

Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence