Best programs to become an office clerk
You do not need a college degree to become an office clerk. BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education. The field of study that leads most directly to this job is General Office Occupations and Clerical Services (IPEDS completions).
1 college program at 114 schools trains office clerks, graduating 1,140 people a year (IPEDS completions). The job pays a median of $45,010 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About office clerks, general
Perform duties too varied and diverse to be classified in any specific office clerical occupation, requiring knowledge of office systems and procedures. Clerical duties may be assigned in accordance with the office procedures of individual establishments and may include a combination of answering telephones, bookkeeping, typing or word processing, office machine operation, and filing.
Best programs to study to become an office clerk
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 52.0408 | 1,140 | 100.0% | 114 | $25,993 | $9,500 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
What office clerks, general earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $48,460 | 311,490 | 1.08× | 29 | 483 |
| Texas | $39,000 | 218,470 | 0.98× | 14 | 220 |
| Wisconsin | $44,980 | 51,440 | 1.10× | 11 | 73 |
| Washington | $50,500 | 49,050 | 0.87× | 10 | 64 |
| Pennsylvanialimited | $44,950 | 107,500 | 1.12× | 1 | 45 |
| Coloradomoderate | $53,550 | 31,770 | 0.70× | 4 | 32 |
| Arizonalimited | $46,420 | 52,710 | 1.03× | 2 | 26 |
| Georgiamoderate | $40,590 | 75,390 | 0.97× | 3 | 26 |
| Illinois | $45,730 | 95,980 | 0.99× | 5 | 26 |
| South Carolinalimited | $36,840 | 42,250 | 1.16× | 2 | 23 |
| New Mexicomoderate | $37,130 | 11,880 | 0.86× | 3 | 18 |
| New Yorklimited | $45,890 | 134,280 | 0.87× | 1 | 18 |
| Oregon | $49,910 | 27,980 | 0.90× | 5 | 18 |
| Minnesotalimited | $47,840 | 55,530 | 1.19× | 2 | 9 |
| Michiganlimited | $44,820 | 88,030 | 1.26× | 2 | 8 |
| Idaholimited | $44,830 | 20,790 | 1.53× | 1 | 7 |
| Massachusettsmoderate | $49,940 | 47,940 | 0.83× | 3 | 7 |
| Montanamoderate | $46,480 | 10,390 | 1.28× | 3 | 7 |
| Kansaslimited | $32,370 | 2,130 | 0.09× | 1 | 5 |
| West Virginialimited | $35,020 | 9,430 | 0.85× | 2 | 5 |
| Missourilimited | $42,370 | 56,050 | 1.20× | 1 | 3 |
| Rhode Islandlimited | $47,830 | 7,700 | 0.97× | 1 | 3 |
| Arkansaslimited | $37,050 | 29,940 | 1.45× | 1 | 2 |
| Iowalimited | $44,310 | 23,120 | 0.94× | 1 | 2 |
| South Dakotalimited | $38,560 | 1,720 | 0.24× | 1 | 2 |
| Louisianalimited | $32,480 | 31,790 | 1.04× | 1 | 1 |
| Nevadalimited | $45,460 | 20,430 | 0.83× | 1 | 1 |
| Ohiolimited | $43,680 | 89,310 | 1.02× | 1 | 1 |
| Wyominglimited | $42,840 | 6,670 | 1.50× | 1 | 1 |
Skills and knowledge
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Operate office machines, such as photocopiers and scanners, facsimile machines, voice mail systems, and personal computers.
- Answer telephones, direct calls, and take messages.
- Communicate with customers, employees, and other individuals to answer questions, disseminate or explain information, take orders, and address complaints.
- Maintain and update filing, inventory, mailing, and database systems, either manually or using a computer.
- Compile, copy, sort, and file records of office activities, business transactions, and other activities.
- Review files, records, and other documents to obtain information to respond to requests.
- Open, sort, and route incoming mail, answer correspondence, and prepare outgoing mail.
- Compute, record, and proofread data and other information, such as records or reports.
Skills
- Reading Comprehension3.8
- Active Listening3.8
- Speaking3.6
- Writing3.1
- Critical Thinking3.0
- Monitoring2.9
- Active Learning2.8
- Mathematics2.1
Knowledge areas
- Administrative4.2
- English Language3.8
- Customer and Personal Service3.4
- Administration and Management3.0
- Computers and Electronics2.9
- Mathematics2.7
Abilities
- Oral Expression3.9
- Oral Comprehension3.8
- Written Comprehension3.8
- Written Expression3.6
- Near Vision3.4
- Speech Recognition3.4
Core activities
- Working with Computers4.3
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.0
- Getting Information3.9
- Performing Administrative Activities3.7
- Documenting/Recording Information3.5
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships3.5
How to get in
How to become an office clerk
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Office Clerks, General1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 52.0408General Office Occupations and Clerical Services
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become an office clerk?+
You do not need a college degree to become an office clerk. BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education. The field of study that leads most directly to this job is General Office Occupations and Clerical Services (IPEDS completions).
Which college majors lead to becoming an office clerk?+
The field of study that leads most directly to this job is General Office Occupations and Clerical Services (IPEDS completions). In all, the NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 program to this job, which graduates about 1,140 people a year.
How much do office clerks, general earn?+
The median is $45,010 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $30,310 at the 10th percentile to $64,680 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for office clerks, general growing?+
BLS projects a -6.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 282,400 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
114 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 program that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do office clerks, general work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Clerk, Office Clerk, Office Assistant, Office Services Specialist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 43-9061.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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