Sales and Related Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages High openings flow SOC 41-2031

Retail Salespersons

About 555,800 projected annual openings shape how to read Retail Salespersons against Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products, Counter and Rental Clerks, Insurance Sales Agents, Advertising Sales Agents.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Retail Salespersons: Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products ($105K) , Counter and Rental Clerks ($41K) , Insurance Sales Agents ($62K) , Advertising Sales Agents ($65K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Retail Salespersons publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 41-2031 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs
  2. 2. Recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires
  3. 3. Maintain records related to sales
  4. 4. Compute sales prices, total purchases, and receive and process cash or credit payment
  5. 5. Prepare merchandise for purchase or rental
  6. 6. Answer questions regarding the store and its merchandise
  7. 7. Maintain knowledge of current sales and promotions, policies regarding payment and exchanges, and security practices
  8. 8. Open and close cash registers, performing tasks such as counting money, separating charge slips, coupons, and vouchers, balancing cash dr…
  9. 9. Prepare sales slips or sales contracts
  10. 10. Demonstrate use or operation of merchandise
  11. 11. Describe merchandise and explain use, operation, and care of merchandise to customers
  12. 12. Ticket, arrange, and display merchandise to promote sales

Retail Salespersons: O*NET ranks Persuasion first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 41-2031 - lead skill Persuasion at 3.9 ; lead knowledge Sales and Marketing. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Persuasion 3.9
  2. 2. Active Listening 3.8
  3. 3. Speaking 3.8
  4. 4. Service Orientation 3.8
  5. 5. Social Perceptiveness 3.5
  6. 6. Negotiation 3.5
  7. 7. Critical Thinking 3.1
  8. 8. Reading Comprehension 3.0

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Sales and Marketing 4.5
  2. 2. Customer and Personal Service 4.3
  3. 3. English Language 3.7
  4. 4. Administration and Management 3.0
  5. 5. Mathematics 3.0
  6. 6. Administrative 3.0
Projected annual openings
555,800
growth + transfers + exits
National median $35,410/yr
$35K
National median
↓ -1%
Growth 2024-2034
3,897,860
Estimated US jobs
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products
Highest-pay peer · $105K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education No formal educational credential

Top Paying States for Retail Salespersons

1. Colorado $37,950
2. California $38,440
3. New York $37,720
4. Washington $39,560
5. Alaska $37,290
6. Oregon $36,770
7. Vermont $37,400
8. Hawaii $37,790
9. Maine $36,640
10. District of Columbia $38,500

Other Sales and Related Occupations titles

  1. 1. Insurance Sales Agents $62,280
  2. 2. Advertising Sales Agents $64,820
  3. 3. Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel $69,990
  4. 4. Counter and Rental Clerks $41,300
  5. 5. Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents $78,660
  6. 6. Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products $104,920

Roughly 555,800 projected annual openings (growth, transfers, exits) are the scale signal for Retail Salespersons. Median pay is $35,410 in Sales and Related Occupations.

Employment Projections expect -1% change between 2024 and 2034 (declining vs baseline 3.1%). BLS assigns No formal educational credential 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 $37,950. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products at $104,920. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Retail Salespersons pay-rank #21 in Sales and Related Occupations

On the Sales and Related Occupations median table (22 detailed occupations with OEWS medians), Retail Salespersons lands at #21, 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. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

SOC 41-2031 · national median $35,410 · lower third of Sales and Related Occupations (#21/22). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Retail Salespersons salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 41-2031

Colorado · top state for Retail Salespersons

$38K published median

California · #2 state pay

$38K · behind Colorado

Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products

Highest-pay peer vs Retail Salespersons · $105K

Counter and Rental Clerks

Lower-pay peer beside Retail Salespersons · $41K

Compare Retail Salespersons

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Retail Salespersons 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 Retail Salespersons land on the Sales and Related Occupations median table? ▼
Retail Salespersons is pay-rank #21 of 22 in this major group, lower third of the median table. Closest lower-third titles: Telemarketers ($35K), Gambling Change Persons and Booth Cashiers ($36K), Cashiers ($33K), Parts Salespersons ($39K). That position is a table rank, not a worker percentile.
What do retail salespersons do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Retail Salespersons. Leading ones include: Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs; Recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires; Maintain records related to sales; Compute sales prices, total purchases, and receive and process cash or credit payment. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for retail salespersons? ▼
For SOC 41-2031, O*NET importance scores lead with Persuasion (3.9), Active Listening (3.8), Speaking (3.8), Service Orientation (3.8). Knowledge areas emphasize Sales and Marketing, Customer and Personal Service, English Language. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Retail Salespersons? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $35,410 as the national median for Retail Salespersons. The published 10th-90th range is $27,210 to $47,890. Beside Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products ($104,920), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
What employment change does BLS publish for Retail Salespersons? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Retail Salespersons is -1%. Projected annual openings: about 555,800. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: declining.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Retail Salespersons? ▼
Colorado ($37,950), California ($38,440), New York ($37,720) 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 Retail Salespersons card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 41-2031. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Retail Salespersons. 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