The owner asks how the field team compares, and you need a number by Friday. Most field sales statistics online come from a software company’s own survey, or from a page that copied one. You can’t tell which.
This page collects field sales statistics you can check. Each public number links to the page it came from, with the date we last checked it. Some come from public sources like the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Some come from anonymized Voze platform data, and we say so next to each one. We update the page as new numbers come in.
Last updated: Oct. 28, 2026
The field sales workforce
- 1,571,400 people worked as wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives in the U.S. in 2025. (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, checked Oct. 27, 2026)
- $76,460 was their median yearly pay in May 2025. (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, checked Oct. 27, 2026)
- About 123,400 openings a year are projected for the job from 2025 to 2035, even though total jobs are projected to stay about flat. Most openings come from people who change jobs or retire. (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, checked Oct. 27, 2026)
Flat jobs and steady openings mean steady turnover. Every rep who leaves takes what they know about their accounts with them, unless it’s written down where the next rep can find it.
Buyers and the field visit
- 61% of B2B buyers prefer a buying experience without a sales rep overall. (Gartner survey of 632 B2B buyers, published June 25, 2025, checked Oct. 27, 2026)
- The same survey found buyers still want a seller’s input when they’re deciding whether a product fits their company. (Gartner, checked Oct. 27, 2026)
- 73% of B2B buyers actively avoid suppliers who send irrelevant outreach. (Gartner, checked Oct. 27, 2026)
Buyers will look things up on their own. The visit has to bring what they can’t look up: what this rep knows about their shop. That comes from good notes on the last visit.
Visit notes and follow-up
- Six is the median number of notes a rep logs on a day they log any. (Voze platform data)
- 16% of field notes create a follow-up task. (Voze platform data)
- 2.93 times faster: that’s how speech compared with typing on an iPhone keyboard for English text in a 2016 study, at 153 words a minute against 52. (Ruan et al., 2016, checked Oct. 27, 2026)
Six notes in a day is a lot to remember on the drive home. A note written at the stop keeps details that a note written at 7 p.m. has lost. If you want to see your own team’s numbers, our one-week tally works for notes too.
Sales managers
- $148,270 was the median yearly pay for sales managers in May 2025. (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, checked Oct. 27, 2026)
- 4% job growth is projected for sales managers from 2025 to 2035, about as fast as the average for all jobs. (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, checked Oct. 27, 2026)
A manager can’t ride along with every rep. The notes reps write are how a manager sees the week. For what to watch in them, see field sales metrics: what to track and what to leave alone.
Sales tools and CRM use
- 50% of B2B sellers said they felt overwhelmed by the amount of technology their jobs need. (Gartner survey of 1,026 B2B sellers, published Sept. 16, 2024, checked Oct. 27, 2026)
- 45% less likely to reach quota: that’s how sellers who felt overwhelmed by their technology compared with those who didn’t. (Gartner, checked Oct. 27, 2026)
- 3.7x: sellers who partner well with AI tools were 3.7 times more likely to meet quota. (Gartner, checked Oct. 27, 2026)
We looked for an independent study of CRM adoption among field reps and didn’t find one. The figures that get passed around come from surveys run by companies that sell field sales software. If you need an adoption number, the one you can defend is your own team’s. Count how many visits last week have a note on the record.
Truck dealers
- 416,467 medium- and heavy-duty trucks were sold by franchised truck dealers in 2025. (ATD Data 2025, NADA, checked Oct. 27, 2026)
- More than $48 billion in service and parts sales, from more than 11 million repair orders, went through truck dealerships in 2025. (ATD Data 2025, NADA, checked Oct. 27, 2026)
- Nearly 148,000 people worked at truck dealerships. (ATD Data 2025, NADA, checked Oct. 27, 2026)
Parts and service is where a lot of a dealer’s business comes from, and outside parts reps are how much of it starts. Here’s how heavy-duty dealers keep track of outside parts rep visits, and how Voze works with heavy-duty truck dealers.
How to use these numbers
- Click through before you quote. Open the source, find the figure, and check the year and who was asked.
- Say whose number it is. “BLS, 2025” holds up in a meeting. “I read somewhere” doesn’t.
- Put your own number next to it. A public number sets the scene. Your team’s number is the one you can act on.
About the Voze numbers
Voze numbers come from anonymized, combined Voze platform data across customer teams. We never show a single company, rep, or account. The data counts notes of every kind, so we say notes, not visits.
FAQ
How many outside sales reps are there in the U.S.?
The BLS doesn’t count outside reps on their own. Its closest group, wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives, had 1,571,400 jobs in 2025.
How many notes does a field rep log in a day?
In anonymized Voze platform data, the median is six notes on a day a rep logs any.
Can I use these statistics?
Yes. Please link to this page or to the original source next to each number.
Want the next update when it’s out? Follow the Voze blog, or see how a rep captures a visit at the stop.