Office and Administrative Support Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages O*NET task lead SOC 43-4151

Order Clerks

O*NET task statements lead this Order Clerks card before OEWS pay; neighboring titles include Brokerage Clerks, Proofreaders and Copy Markers, Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators, Communications Equipment Operators, All Other.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Order Clerks: Brokerage Clerks ($66K) , Proofreaders and Copy Markers ($51K) , Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators ($58K) , Communications Equipment Operators, All Other ($55K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Order Clerks publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 43-4151 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Review orders for completeness according to reporting procedures and forward incomplete orders for further processing
  2. 2. Obtain customers' names, addresses, and billing information, product numbers, and specifications of items to be purchased, and enter this…
  3. 3. Prepare invoices, shipping documents, and contracts
  4. 4. Recommend merchandise or services that will meet customers' needs
  5. 5. Inspect outgoing work for compliance with customers' specifications
  6. 6. Receive and respond to customer complaints
  7. 7. Check inventory records to determine availability of requested merchandise
  8. 8. Verify customer and order information for correctness, checking it against previously obtained information as necessary
  9. 9. Confer with production, sales, shipping, warehouse, or common carrier personnel to expedite or trace shipments
  10. 10. Direct specified departments or units to prepare and ship orders to designated locations
  11. 11. Adjust inventory records to reflect product movement
  12. 12. Collect payment for merchandise, record transactions, and send items, such as checks or money orders for further processing

Order Clerks: O*NET ranks Active Listening first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 43-4151 - lead skill Active Listening at 4.0 ; lead knowledge Customer and Personal Service. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Active Listening 4.0
  2. 2. Speaking 3.9
  3. 3. Reading Comprehension 3.5
  4. 4. Service Orientation 3.5
  5. 5. Writing 3.1
  6. 6. Critical Thinking 3.1
  7. 7. Monitoring 3.1
  8. 8. Judgment and Decision Making 3.1

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Customer and Personal Service 4.4
  2. 2. Production and Processing 4.2
  3. 3. Computers and Electronics 4.0
  4. 4. Education and Training 3.9
  5. 5. English Language 3.8
  6. 6. Administrative 3.7
National median after O*NET task lead
$46,170
/year · 12 published task lines above
Lead task: Review orders for completeness according to reporting procedures and forward incomplete orders for further processing
$46K
National median
↓ -17%
Growth 2024-2034
8,000
Annual openings
75,200
Estimated US jobs
Brokerage Clerks
Highest-pay peer · $66K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Some college, no degree

Top Paying States for Order Clerks

1. Colorado $49,530
2. District of Columbia $49,150
3. Rhode Island $49,410
4. Arizona $48,590
5. Minnesota $48,400
6. Vermont $49,950
7. New Hampshire $48,540
8. Oregon $50,260
9. Massachusetts $55,040
10. Alabama $48,840

Other Office and Administrative Support Occupations titles

  1. 1. Proofreaders and Copy Markers $51,120
  2. 2. Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators $58,470
  3. 3. Brokerage Clerks $65,750
  4. 4. Communications Equipment Operators, All Other $54,680
  5. 5. Postal Service Mail Carriers $60,550
  6. 6. Postal Service Clerks $62,130

O*NET publishes 12 leading task statements for Order Clerks (SOC 43-4151). The national OEWS median is $46,170 inside Office and Administrative Support Occupations. Same-group neighbors: Brokerage Clerks, Proofreaders and Copy Markers, Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators, Communications Equipment Operators, All Other. Lead published task: Review orders for completeness according to reporting procedures and forward incomplete orders for further processing.

Employment Projections expect -17% change between 2024 and 2034 (declining vs baseline 3.1%). About 8,000 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns Some college, no degree as typical education needed for entry. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Colorado at $49,530. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Brokerage Clerks at $65,750. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Order Clerks pay-rank #35 in Office and Administrative Support Occupations

Order Clerks sits at pay-rank #35 of 54 detailed Office and Administrative Support Occupations, the middle third of the major-group median table. ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.

Other mid-table titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

SOC 43-4151 · national median $46,170 · middle third of Office and Administrative Support Occupations (#35/54). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Order Clerks salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 43-4151

Colorado · top state for Order Clerks

$50K published median

District of Columbia · #2 state pay

$49K · behind Colorado

Brokerage Clerks

Highest-pay peer vs Order Clerks · $66K

Proofreaders and Copy Markers

Lower-pay peer beside Order Clerks · $51K

Compare Order Clerks

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Order Clerks with another occupation →

Role and task next reads

Order Clerks full salary map

State and metro OEWS after the task lead

Compare tasks and pay

Side-by-side with another occupation

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Order Clerks mid-table among Office and Administrative Support Occupations? ▼
Yes: pay-rank #35 of 54 detailed Office and Administrative Support Occupations, the middle third. Mid-table neighbors: Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, Recordkeeping ($46K), Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants ($46K), Correspondence Clerks ($47K), Bill and Account Collectors ($47K). ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.
What do order clerks do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Order Clerks. Leading ones include: Review orders for completeness according to reporting procedures and forward incomplete orders for further processing; Obtain customers' names, addresses, and billing information, product numbers, and specifications of items to be purchased, and enter this…; Prepare invoices, shipping documents, and contracts; Recommend merchandise or services that will meet customers' needs. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for order clerks? ▼
For SOC 43-4151, O*NET importance scores lead with Active Listening (4.0), Speaking (3.9), Reading Comprehension (3.5), Service Orientation (3.5). Knowledge areas emphasize Customer and Personal Service, Production and Processing, Computers and Electronics. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Order Clerks? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $46,170 as the national median for Order Clerks. The published 10th-90th range is $35,530 to $63,530. Beside Brokerage Clerks ($65,750), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
What employment change does BLS publish for Order Clerks? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Order Clerks is -17%. Projected annual openings: about 8,000. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: declining.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Order Clerks? ▼
BLS assigns Some college, no degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Order Clerks. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Order Clerks? ▼
Colorado ($49,530), District of Columbia ($49,150), Rhode Island ($49,410) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Order Clerks card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 43-4151. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Order Clerks. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics