Telephone Operators salary

SOC 43-2021 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$41,740

per year, nationally

Middle half

$36,920–$51,510

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

3,430

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-27.5%

300 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$31,510$62,950

10th: $31,510
25th: $36,920
Median: $41,740
75th: $51,510
90th: $62,950

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where telephone operators earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	California	$57,170	110.7	230	0.58×
2	New York	$50,220	107.9	—	—
3	District of Columbia	$49,330	109.9	50	3.19×
4	Massachusetts	$47,940	105.8	—	—
5	Wisconsin	$46,590	94.1	60	0.88×
6	Maryland	$42,460	105.0	110	1.75×
7	Virginia	$42,350	101.1	—	—
8	New Jersey	$41,960	108.8	190	2.06×
9	Texas	$41,250	97.1	280	0.90×
10	North Carolina	$40,360	94.3	40	0.33×
11	Michigan	$37,550	96.2	80	0.80×
12	Oklahoma	$37,320	87.8	40	0.94×
13	Florida	$37,180	103.4	70	0.33×
14	Ohio	$36,970	92.8	220	1.82×
15	Georgia	$36,920	96.3	160	1.44×
16	Louisiana	$31,400	88.2	50	1.06×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where telephone operators wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for telephone operators

The 14 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$58,900	113.6	110	0.80×
2	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$51,410	112.6	—	—
3	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$47,940	108.3	—	—
4	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$47,410	108.9	60	0.94×
5	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$45,000	102.6	140	2.18×
6	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$44,980	98.1	100	3.35×
7	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$42,460	104.5	80	2.53×
8	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$40,400	100.1	40	0.65×
9	Cleveland, OH	$39,570	93.9	70	3.06×
10	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$38,620	95.8	30	2.54×
11	Columbus, OH	$37,890	95.5	30	1.27×
12	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$37,600	95.4	50	2.02×
13	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$37,550	100.3	50	1.19×
14	Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX	$37,150	90.0	—	—

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where telephone operators wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.