Office Clerks, General Salary - BLS OEWS Wage Benchmarks
SOC 43-9061 · National · May 2025 OEWS Data
Median Annual Salary
$45,011
$21.64/hr
Verified BLS OEWS data · Updated May 18, 2026
Source: BLS OEWS · Published May 15, 2026
Next refresh: May 2027
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The national median salary for Office Clerks, General is $45,011 per year ($21.64/hr) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. The middle 50% of earners make between $36,358 and $54,309 annually. Top earners at the 90th percentile reach $64,688 per year. There are approximately 2,464,940 office clerks, general employed in the United States.
About This Role
BLS Standard Occupational Classification 2018
Perform duties too varied and diverse to be classified in any specific office clerical occupation, requiring knowledge of office systems and procedures. Clerical duties may be assigned in accordance with the office procedures of individual establishments and may include a combination of answering telephones, bookkeeping, typing or word processing, office machine operation, and filing.
Career Outlook
BLS Employment Projections · 2024-2034
10-year growth
-6.7%
Much slower than average
Annual openings
282K
per year, on avg
Workforce today
2.6M
as of 2024
Why those openings exist
0% from new growth100% from people leaving the role
Most openings come from replacement, not growth. Retention matters more than recruiting here.
Typical entry requirements
Education
High school diploma or equivalent
Experience
None
On-the-job training
Short-term on-the-job training
Industry Wage Breakdown
Top 5 industries by employment · median annual wage, sector-specific
Industry
Workforce
Median Pay
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools
NAICS 611300
143K
$39,880
Local Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)
NAICS 999300
140K
$47,830
Elementary and Secondary Schools
NAICS 611100
127K
$43,010
Building Equipment Contractors
NAICS 238200
89K
$47,300
Real Estate
NAICS 531000
86K
$43,970
Wage range across top 5 industries: $39,880 to $47,830 (20% spread)
Wage Percentiles
Hourly & annualized (2,080 hours)
Percentile
Hourly Rate
Annual Salary
P10
$14.57
$30,306
P25
$17.48
$36,358
P50MEDIAN
$21.64
$45,011
P75
$26.11
$54,309
P90
$31.10
$64,688
Market Context Signal
JOLTS · other sector
Active
Openings Rate
3.4%
Quits Rate
2.0%
The labor market rebounded in March: hires jumped to 5.6M (+655K) and separations rose to 5.4M (+356K), both more than offsetting February's drop. Job openings held at 6.9M. Quits ticked to 2.0%.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average office clerks, general salary?
The national median salary for Office Clerks, General is $45,011 per year ($21.64/hr) according to BLS OEWS May 2025 data. The middle 50% earn between $36,358 and $54,309 annually.
How much do top-earning office clerks, general make?
The 90th percentile salary for Office Clerks, General is $64,688 per year ($31.10/hr). The 75th percentile is $54,309 per year.
What is the entry-level salary for office clerks, general?
Entry-level Office Clerks, General (10th percentile) earn approximately $30,306 per year ($14.57/hr). The 25th percentile is $36,358 per year.
Wage figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025 release. OEWS surveys roughly 1.1 million establishments annually. It is the most comprehensive employer-reported wage dataset in the United States.
P10 through P90 percentiles represent the wage distribution across all surveyed employers (not self-reported by workers). Geographic adjustments use BLS-derived cost multipliers calibrated from regional wage variation.
Wages are estimates. Individual compensation depends on experience, education, employer size, industry, and negotiation. Use this as benchmark context, not absolute ground truth.
CompSignal is a free labor market intelligence tool built for HR, compensation, and talent acquisition teams. We make BLS data, the same primary source Mercer and Radford cross-reference in their paid surveys, searchable and actionable without an enterprise subscription.
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