Office and Administrative Support Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages O*NET task lead SOC 43-5031

Public Safety Telecommunicators

O*NET task statements lead this Public Safety Telecommunicators card before OEWS pay; neighboring titles include Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants, Financial Clerks, All Other, Brokerage Clerks, Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Public Safety Telecommunicators: Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants ($77K) , Financial Clerks, All Other ($54K) , Brokerage Clerks ($66K) , Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks ($60K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Public Safety Telecommunicators publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 43-5031 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Provide emergency medical instructions to callers
  2. 2. Question callers to determine their locations and the nature of their problems to determine type of response needed
  3. 3. Determine response requirements and relative priorities of situations, and dispatch units in accordance with established procedures
  4. 4. Receive incoming telephone or alarm system calls regarding emergency and non-emergency police and fire service, emergency ambulance servi…
  5. 5. Relay information and messages to and from emergency sites, to law enforcement agencies, and to all other individuals or groups requiring…
  6. 6. Record details of calls, dispatches, and messages
  7. 7. Monitor various radio frequencies, such as those used by public works departments, school security, and civil defense, to stay apprised o…
  8. 8. Read and effectively interpret small-scale maps and information from a computer screen to determine locations and provide directions
  9. 9. Maintain access to, and security of, highly sensitive materials
  10. 10. Operate and maintain mobile dispatch vehicles and equipment
  11. 11. Enter, update, and retrieve information from teletype networks and computerized data systems regarding such things as wanted persons, sto…
  12. 12. Scan status charts and computer screens, and contact emergency response field units to determine emergency units available for dispatch

Public Safety Telecommunicators: O*NET ranks Active Listening first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 43-5031 - lead skill Active Listening at 4.4 ; lead knowledge Public Safety and Security. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Active Listening 4.4
  2. 2. Speaking 4.1
  3. 3. Social Perceptiveness 3.9
  4. 4. Critical Thinking 3.8
  5. 5. Coordination 3.8
  6. 6. Service Orientation 3.8
  7. 7. Reading Comprehension 3.6
  8. 8. Judgment and Decision Making 3.4

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Public Safety and Security 4.9
  2. 2. Law and Government 4.5
  3. 3. English Language 4.5
  4. 4. Telecommunications 4.5
  5. 5. Customer and Personal Service 4.4
  6. 6. Geography 4.3
National median after O*NET task lead
$53,040
/year · 12 published task lines above
Lead task: Provide emergency medical instructions to callers
$53K
National median
↑ +4%
Growth 2024-2034
10,700
Annual openings
102,500
Estimated US jobs
Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants
Highest-pay peer · $77K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education High school diploma or equivalent

Top Paying States for Public Safety Telecommunicators

1. New York $61,450
2. Connecticut $62,410
3. Oregon $71,980
4. Colorado $63,520
5. Minnesota $66,550
6. Alaska $66,660
7. Washington $78,850
8. Massachusetts $61,720
9. Illinois $61,260
10. California $80,120

Other Office and Administrative Support Occupations titles

  1. 1. Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants $76,590
  2. 2. Brokerage Clerks $65,750
  3. 3. Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks $59,650
  4. 4. Postal Service Mail Carriers $60,550
  5. 5. Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks $58,260
  6. 6. Financial Clerks, All Other $53,830

O*NET publishes 12 leading task statements for Public Safety Telecommunicators (SOC 43-5031). The national OEWS median is $53,040 inside Office and Administrative Support Occupations. Same-group neighbors: Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants, Financial Clerks, All Other, Brokerage Clerks, Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks. Lead published task: Provide emergency medical instructions to callers.

Employment Projections expect +4% change between 2024 and 2034 (about as fast as average vs baseline 3.1%). About 10,700 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent 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: New York at $61,450. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants at $76,590. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Public Safety Telecommunicators pay-rank #14 in Office and Administrative Support Occupations

Among 54 detailed Office and Administrative Support Occupations with a published OEWS median, Public Safety Telecommunicators is pay-rank #14, the upper third of that major group. The order is ROW_NUMBER on national median (title as tiebreak), not a worker-level percentile.

Other upper-third 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 43-5031 · national median $53,040 · upper third of Office and Administrative Support Occupations (#14/54). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Public Safety Telecommunicators salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 43-5031

New York · top state for Public Safety Telecommunicators

$61K published median

Connecticut · #2 state pay

$62K · behind New York

Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants

Highest-pay peer vs Public Safety Telecommunicators · $77K

Financial Clerks, All Other

Lower-pay peer beside Public Safety Telecommunicators · $54K

Compare Public Safety Telecommunicators

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
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Role and task next reads

Public Safety Telecommunicators full salary map

State and metro OEWS after the task lead

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which Office and Administrative Support Occupations titles sit near Public Safety Telecommunicators at the top of the pay table? ▼
Public Safety Telecommunicators is pay-rank #14 of 54 detailed Office and Administrative Support Occupations with an OEWS median, upper third. Nearest upper-third titles: Cargo and Freight Agents ($52K), Financial Clerks, All Other ($54K), Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs ($54K), Communications Equipment Operators, All Other ($55K). Rank is ROW_NUMBER on national median.
What do public safety telecommunicators do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Public Safety Telecommunicators. Leading ones include: Provide emergency medical instructions to callers; Question callers to determine their locations and the nature of their problems to determine type of response needed; Determine response requirements and relative priorities of situations, and dispatch units in accordance with established procedures; Receive incoming telephone or alarm system calls regarding emergency and non-emergency police and fire service, emergency ambulance servi…. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for public safety telecommunicators? ▼
For SOC 43-5031, O*NET importance scores lead with Active Listening (4.4), Speaking (4.1), Social Perceptiveness (3.9), Critical Thinking (3.8). Knowledge areas emphasize Public Safety and Security, Law and Government, English Language. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Public Safety Telecommunicators? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $53,040 as the national median for Public Safety Telecommunicators. The published 10th-90th range is $37,320 to $79,830. Beside Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants ($76,590), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
What employment change does BLS publish for Public Safety Telecommunicators? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Public Safety Telecommunicators is +4%. Projected annual openings: about 10,700. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: about as fast as average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Public Safety Telecommunicators? ▼
BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Public Safety Telecommunicators. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Public Safety Telecommunicators? ▼
New York ($61,450), Connecticut ($62,410), Oregon ($71,980) 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 Public Safety Telecommunicators card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 43-5031. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Public Safety Telecommunicators. 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