Office and Administrative Support Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Peer-group outlier SOC 43-2021

Telephone Operators

Median pay sits 28% below the mid peer in Office and Administrative Support Occupations (neighbors include Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants, Cargo and Freight Agents, Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks, Postal Service Mail Carriers).

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Telephone Operators: Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants ($77K) , Cargo and Freight Agents ($52K) , Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks ($58K) , Postal Service Mail Carriers ($61K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Telephone Operators publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 43-2021 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Observe signal lights on switchboards, and dial or press buttons to make connections
  2. 2. Operate paging systems or other systems of bells or buzzers to notify recipients of incoming calls
  3. 3. Operate telephone switchboards and systems to advance and complete connections, including those for local, long distance, pay telephone…
  4. 4. Listen to customer requests, referring to alphabetical or geographical directories to answer questions and provide telephone information
  5. 5. Monitor automated systems for placing collect calls and intervene for a callers needing assistance
  6. 6. Update directory information
  7. 7. Suggest and check alternate spellings, locations, or listing formats to customers lacking details or complete information
  8. 8. Perform clerical duties such as typing, proofreading, and sorting mail
  9. 9. Offer special assistance to persons such as those who are unable to dial or who are in emergency situations
  10. 10. Interrupt busy lines if an emergency warrants
  11. 11. Provide assistance for customers with special billing requests
  12. 12. Provide relay service for users who are deaf or hard of hearing

Telephone Operators: O*NET ranks Active Listening first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 43-2021 - 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 4.0
  3. 3. Service Orientation 3.5
  4. 4. Social Perceptiveness 3.1
  5. 5. Reading Comprehension 3.0
  6. 6. Critical Thinking 3.0
  7. 7. Monitoring 2.8
  8. 8. Complex Problem Solving 2.6

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Customer and Personal Service 4.2
  2. 2. Telecommunications 3.8
  3. 3. Administrative 3.6
  4. 4. English Language 3.2
  5. 5. Computers and Electronics 3.1
  6. 6. Administration and Management 2.6
Pay vs Office and Administrative Support Occupations peers
-28%
vs mid peer median $58,260
This role $41,740/yr
$42K
National median
↓ -28%
Growth 2024-2034
300
Annual openings
3,430
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 Telephone Operators

1. New York $50,220
2. California $57,170
3. Virginia $42,350
4. North Carolina $40,360
5. Wisconsin $46,590
6. New Jersey $41,960
7. Massachusetts $47,940
8. Texas $41,250
9. District of Columbia $49,330
10. Maryland $42,460

Other Office and Administrative Support Occupations titles

  1. 1. Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants $76,590
  2. 2. Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks $58,260
  3. 3. Postal Service Mail Carriers $60,550
  4. 4. Cargo and Freight Agents $52,260
  5. 5. Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks $59,650
  6. 6. Brokerage Clerks $65,750

Among Office and Administrative Support Occupations peers on this card, Telephone Operators sits 28% below the mid peer median ($58,260). Its own median is $41,740.

Employment Projections expect -28% change between 2024 and 2034 (declining vs baseline 3.1%). About 300 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 $50,220. 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.

Telephone Operators pay-rank #45 in Office and Administrative Support Occupations

On the Office and Administrative Support Occupations median table (54 detailed occupations with OEWS medians), Telephone Operators lands at #45, 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 43-2021 · national median $41,740 · lower third of Office and Administrative Support Occupations (#45/54). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Telephone Operators salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 43-2021

New York · top state for Telephone Operators

$50K published median

California · #2 state pay

$57K · behind New York

Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants

Highest-pay peer vs Telephone Operators · $77K

Cargo and Freight Agents

Lower-pay peer beside Telephone Operators · $52K

Compare Telephone Operators

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Telephone Operators with another occupation →

Peer-comparison next reads

Compare Telephone Operators

Against another occupation

Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants card

Top peer in this major group

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does Telephone Operators land on the Office and Administrative Support Occupations median table? ▼
Telephone Operators is pay-rank #45 of 54 in this major group, lower third of the median table. Closest lower-third titles: Data Entry Keyers ($41K), Office Machine Operators, Except Computer ($41K), Tellers ($43K), File Clerks ($44K). That position is a table rank, not a worker percentile.
What do telephone operators do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Telephone Operators. Leading ones include: Observe signal lights on switchboards, and dial or press buttons to make connections; Operate paging systems or other systems of bells or buzzers to notify recipients of incoming calls; Operate telephone switchboards and systems to advance and complete connections, including those for local, long distance, pay telephone…; Listen to customer requests, referring to alphabetical or geographical directories to answer questions and provide telephone information. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for telephone operators? ▼
For SOC 43-2021, O*NET importance scores lead with Active Listening (4.0), Speaking (4.0), Service Orientation (3.5), Social Perceptiveness (3.1). Knowledge areas emphasize Customer and Personal Service, Telecommunications, Administrative. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Telephone Operators? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $41,740 as the national median for Telephone Operators. The published 10th-90th range is $31,510 to $62,950. 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 Telephone Operators? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Telephone Operators is -28%. Projected annual openings: about 300. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: declining.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Telephone Operators? ▼
BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Telephone Operators. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Telephone Operators? ▼
New York ($50,220), California ($57,170), Virginia ($42,350) 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 Telephone Operators card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 43-2021. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Telephone Operators. 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