Best degree programs for Order Clerks, ranked by enrollment
3 college programs and 156 schools train Order Clerks. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $46,170 median wage, 75,200 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
3 college programs at 156 schools train order clerks, graduating 3,701 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Customer Service Support/Call Center/Teleservice Operation. The job pays a median of $46,170 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About order clerks
Receive and process incoming orders for materials, merchandise, classified ads, or services such as repairs, installations, or rental of facilities. Generally receives orders via mail, phone, fax, or other electronic means. Duties include informing customers of receipt, prices, shipping dates, and delays; preparing contracts; and handling complaints.
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.
3 degree programs that lead to this job
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 52.0411 | 2,464 | 66.6% | 37 | $25,993 | $9,500 |
| 2 | CIP 52.0408 | 1,140 | 30.8% | 114 | $25,993 | $9,500 |
| 3 | CIP 52.0406 | 97 | 2.6% | 15 | $25,993 | $9,500 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What order clerks 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohiomoderate | $46,120 | 3,810 | 1.42× | 4 | 1,165 |
| Arizonamoderate | $48,590 | 760 | 0.49× | 3 | 803 |
| California | $47,290 | 12,390 | 1.41× | 33 | 545 |
| Texas | $44,280 | 5,180 | 0.76× | 16 | 235 |
| Georgia | $41,720 | 1,750 | 0.74× | 9 | 190 |
| Wisconsin | $47,750 | 1,540 | 1.08× | 15 | 172 |
| Louisiana | $37,520 | 660 | 0.71× | 6 | 170 |
| Washington | $47,990 | 4,300 | 2.51× | 14 | 104 |
| South Carolinamoderate | $41,740 | 740 | 0.66× | 4 | 65 |
| Pennsylvanialimited | $46,840 | 2,570 | 0.88× | 1 | 45 |
| Coloradomoderate | $49,530 | 1,970 | 1.42× | 4 | 32 |
| Illinois | $47,670 | 3,540 | 1.20× | 6 | 27 |
| New Mexicomoderate | $41,020 | 310 | 0.74× | 3 | 23 |
| New Yorklimited | $48,320 | 3,530 | 0.75× | 1 | 18 |
| Oregon | $50,260 | 790 | 0.83× | 5 | 18 |
| Minnesotamoderate | $48,400 | 1,150 | 0.81× | 4 | 16 |
| Michiganlimited | $44,240 | 2,290 | 1.08× | 2 | 8 |
| Montanamoderate | $42,000 | 60 | 0.26× | 4 | 8 |
| Floridalimited | $44,380 | 3,270 | 0.68× | 2 | 7 |
| Idaholimited | $40,110 | 90 | 0.23× | 1 | 7 |
| Massachusettsmoderate | $55,040 | 1,350 | 0.77× | 3 | 7 |
| West Virginiamoderate | $45,320 | 100 | 0.30× | 3 | 6 |
| Kansaslimited | $45,200 | 310 | 0.44× | 1 | 5 |
| Alabamalimited | $48,840 | 80 | 0.08× | 1 | 3 |
| Missourilimited | — | 840 | 0.59× | 1 | 3 |
| Nebraskalimited | $44,060 | 440 | 0.89× | 2 | 3 |
| Rhode Islandlimited | $49,410 | 170 | 0.70× | 1 | 3 |
| Arkansaslimited | $41,760 | 290 | 0.46× | 1 | 2 |
| Iowalimited | $44,980 | 680 | 0.91× | 1 | 2 |
| South Dakotalimited | $48,010 | 330 | 1.49× | 1 | 2 |
| Nevadalimited | $40,560 | 740 | 0.98× | 1 | 1 |
| Tennesseelimited | $39,160 | 2,260 | 1.43× | 1 | 1 |
Skills and tools
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
- Review orders for completeness according to reporting procedures and forward incomplete orders for further processing.
- Obtain customers' names, addresses, and billing information, product numbers, and specifications of items to be purchased, and enter this information on order forms.
- Recommend merchandise or services that will meet customers' needs.
- Inspect outgoing work for compliance with customers' specifications.
- Receive and respond to customer complaints.
- Check inventory records to determine availability of requested merchandise.
- Verify customer and order information for correctness, checking it against previously obtained information as necessary.
- Compute total charges for merchandise or services and shipping charges.
Skills
- Active Listening4.0
- Speaking3.9
- Reading Comprehension3.5
- Writing3.1
- Critical Thinking3.1
- Monitoring3.1
- Mathematics3.0
- Active Learning3.0
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.4
- Production and Processing4.2
- Computers and Electronics4.0
- Education and Training3.9
- English Language3.8
- Administrative3.7
Abilities
- Oral Expression4.0
- Speech Recognition4.0
- Near Vision4.0
- Oral Comprehension4.0
- Speech Clarity3.9
- Written Comprehension3.8
Core activities
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.8
- Getting Information4.8
- Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings4.7
- Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work4.7
- Processing Information4.5
- Performing Administrative Activities4.4
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Order Clerk
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- Some college, no degree
- 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 3 majors mapped to Order Clerks3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 52.0406Receptionist
- 52.0408General Office Occupations and Clerical Services
- 52.0411Customer Service Support/Call Center/Teleservice Operation
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 Order Clerk?+
Some college, no degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Customer Service Support/Call Center/Teleservice Operation, which awarded 2,464 degrees in 2024-25, 66.6% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Order Clerk?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Business Operations Support and Assistant Services. Together they graduate about 3,701 people a year.
How much do order clerks earn?+
The median is $46,170 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $35,530 at the 10th percentile to $63,530 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 order clerks growing?+
BLS projects a -17.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 8,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
156 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 3 programs 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 order clerks work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Order Clerk, Warehouse Clerk, Warehouse Person, Materials Specialist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 43-4151.
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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