Office and Administrative Support Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages High openings flow SOC 43-4171

Receptionists and Information Clerks

About 128,500 projected annual openings shape how to read Receptionists and Information Clerks against Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants, Public Safety Telecommunicators, Financial Clerks, All Other, Postal Service Clerks.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Receptionists and Information Clerks: Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants ($77K) , Public Safety Telecommunicators ($53K) , Financial Clerks, All Other ($54K) , Postal Service Clerks ($62K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Receptionists and Information Clerks publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 43-4171 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Operate telephone switchboard to answer, screen, or forward calls, providing information, taking messages, or scheduling appointments
  2. 2. Greet persons entering establishment, determine nature and purpose of visit, and direct or escort them to specific destinations
  3. 3. Receive payment and record receipts for services
  4. 4. Schedule appointments and maintain and update appointment calendars
  5. 5. Analyze data to determine answers to questions from customers or members of the public
  6. 6. Calculate and quote rates for tours, stocks, insurance policies, or other products or services
  7. 7. Transmit information or documents to customers, using computer, mail, or facsimile machine
  8. 8. Hear and resolve complaints from customers or the public
  9. 9. File and maintain records
  10. 10. Provide information about establishment, such as location of departments or offices, employees within the organization, or services provided
  11. 11. Perform administrative support tasks, such as proofreading, transcribing handwritten information, or operating calculators or computers t…
  12. 12. Collect, sort, distribute, or prepare mail, messages, or courier deliveries

Receptionists and Information Clerks: O*NET ranks Speaking first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 43-4171 - lead skill Speaking at 3.9 ; lead knowledge Customer and Personal Service. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Speaking 3.9
  2. 2. Active Listening 3.8
  3. 3. Service Orientation 3.6
  4. 4. Reading Comprehension 3.1
  5. 5. Critical Thinking 3.1
  6. 6. Social Perceptiveness 3.1
  7. 7. Writing 3.0
  8. 8. Coordination 3.0

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Customer and Personal Service 4.2
  2. 2. Administrative 3.9
  3. 3. English Language 3.7
  4. 4. Computers and Electronics 3.4
  5. 5. Mathematics 2.7
  6. 6. Public Safety and Security 2.7
Projected annual openings
128,500
growth + transfers + exits
National median $38,010/yr
$38K
National median
910,180
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 Receptionists and Information Clerks

1. New York $43,080
2. District of Columbia $49,060
3. New Jersey $41,650
4. Alaska $44,720
5. Washington $44,710
6. Massachusetts $43,870
7. Colorado $42,010
8. California $44,100
9. Maine $42,440
10. Rhode Island $42,620

Other Office and Administrative Support Occupations titles

  1. 1. Financial Clerks, All Other $53,830
  2. 2. Public Safety Telecommunicators $53,040
  3. 3. Postal Service Clerks $62,130
  4. 4. Communications Equipment Operators, All Other $54,680
  5. 5. Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants $76,590
  6. 6. Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs $54,210

Roughly 128,500 projected annual openings (growth, transfers, exits) are the scale signal for Receptionists and Information Clerks. Median pay is $38,010 in Office and Administrative Support Occupations.

A separate current BLS Employment Projections row is not available for Receptionists and Information Clerks. 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 $43,080. 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.

Receptionists and Information Clerks pay-rank #51 in Office and Administrative Support Occupations

On the Office and Administrative Support Occupations median table (54 detailed occupations with OEWS medians), Receptionists and Information Clerks lands at #51, in the lower third. That rank is a table position, not a statement about individual workers.

Other lower-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.

SOC 43-4171 · national median $38,010 · lower third of Office and Administrative Support Occupations (#51/54). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Receptionists and Information Clerks salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 43-4171

New York · top state for Receptionists and Information Clerks

$43K published median

District of Columbia · #2 state pay

$49K · behind New York

Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants

Highest-pay peer vs Receptionists and Information Clerks · $77K

Public Safety Telecommunicators

Lower-pay peer beside Receptionists and Information Clerks · $53K

Compare Receptionists and Information Clerks

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Receptionists and Information Clerks with another occupation →

Openings and labor-flow next reads

Most Openings Rankings

Labor-flow scale across occupations

Compare openings side-by-side

Head-to-head with another role

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does Receptionists and Information Clerks land on the Office and Administrative Support Occupations median table? ▼
Receptionists and Information Clerks is pay-rank #51 of 54 in this major group, lower third of the median table. Closest lower-third titles: Gambling Cage Workers ($38K), Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service ($39K), Library Assistants, Clerical ($37K), Couriers and Messengers ($39K). That position is a table rank, not a worker percentile.
What do receptionists and information clerks do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Receptionists and Information Clerks. Leading ones include: Operate telephone switchboard to answer, screen, or forward calls, providing information, taking messages, or scheduling appointments; Greet persons entering establishment, determine nature and purpose of visit, and direct or escort them to specific destinations; Receive payment and record receipts for services; Schedule appointments and maintain and update appointment calendars. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for receptionists and information clerks? ▼
For SOC 43-4171, O*NET importance scores lead with Speaking (3.9), Active Listening (3.8), Service Orientation (3.6), Reading Comprehension (3.1). Knowledge areas emphasize Customer and Personal Service, Administrative, English Language. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Receptionists and Information Clerks? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $38,010 as the national median for Receptionists and Information Clerks. The published 10th-90th range is $28,760 to $49,950. Beside Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants ($76,590), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Receptionists and Information Clerks? ▼
New York ($43,080), District of Columbia ($49,060), New Jersey ($41,650) 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 Receptionists and Information Clerks card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 43-4171. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Receptionists and Information 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