The best source of information on the population status of Pectoral Sandpiper is migration monitoring by the Program for Regional and International Shorebird Monitoring (PRISM), which provides highly precise long-term trend estimates, but is limited by sampling only a small portion of the population. PRISM data indicate a large, gradual, long-term decrease in abundance since the early 1980s. The population is currently 63% lower than in the early 1980s. Future assessments of status will be improved when more results from the Arctic Program for Regional and International Shorebird Monitoring become available, which focuses on the breeding season.

The goal for Pectoral Sandpiper is to increase the population to the level it was at in the early 1980s, based on migration monitoring by the Program for Regional and International Shorebird Monitoring. Trend data show that Pectoral Sandpiper is currently below its goal range and continuing to decline. Analysis considering the historical population loss and recent trend suggests that it is unlikely that the goal can be met by 2050, so the interim target is to reach 50% of the goal by 2050. Achieving this target, and ultimately reaching the national goal for this species, will require deliberate conservation action.