Bill and Account Collectors salary

SOC 43-3011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$47,030

per year, nationally

Middle half

$39,010–$56,740

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

158,830

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-10.5%

13,700 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.

$34,400$65,580

10th: $34,400
25th: $39,010
Median: $47,030
75th: $56,740
90th: $65,580

Getting in

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

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

Where bill and account collectors 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	District of Columbia	$62,230	109.9	240	0.34×
2	Alaska	$60,810	102.4	310	0.93×
3	Massachusetts	$59,800	105.8	2,510	0.68×
4	Connecticut	$57,930	103.6	900	0.52×
5	California	$57,930	110.7	13,880	0.75×
6	Vermont	$57,630	98.0	80	0.27×
7	Hawaii	$53,570	110.0	180	0.29×
8	New Jersey	$52,510	108.8	3,310	0.76×
9	Rhode Island	$52,000	102.3	370	0.73×
10	Oregon	$50,880	103.4	830	0.42×
11	Colorado	$50,090	103.1	1,670	0.57×
12	Maryland	$50,010	105.0	2,090	0.74×
13	Minnesota	$49,580	98.6	2,860	0.95×
14	Wisconsin	$49,090	94.1	2,570	0.85×
15	Maine	$48,890	97.0	410	0.63×
16	Nevada	$48,750	100.0	2,350	1.49×
17	Washington	$48,460	107.0	2,260	0.62×
18	Kentucky	$48,330	90.2	1,740	0.85×
19	Illinois	$48,140	100.0	5,080	0.82×
20	Arizona	$47,740	100.7	6,300	1.90×
21	New York	$47,170	107.9	8,800	0.89×
22	Michigan	$47,130	96.2	2,990	0.66×
23	Delaware	$46,680	99.8	990	1.99×
24	Pennsylvania	$46,660	97.6	6,680	1.08×
25	North Dakota	$46,660	89.0	270	0.61×
26	South Dakota	$46,620	88.6	1,120	2.39×
27	New Mexico	$46,560	92.2	440	0.49×
28	Florida	$46,410	103.4	13,180	1.30×
29	Georgia	$46,300	96.3	5,280	1.06×
30	Ohio	$46,230	92.8	6,620	1.17×
31	Iowa	$46,000	87.8	830	0.52×
32	Kansas	$45,760	90.1	1,350	0.92×
33	Texas	$45,710	97.1	21,720	1.51×
34	Montana	$45,420	94.6	640	1.22×
35	Utah	$45,240	98.9	2,430	1.37×
36	Indiana	$45,240	93.3	2,690	0.82×
37	Oklahoma	$44,820	87.8	1,740	1.00×
38	New Hampshire	$44,450	104.2	1,120	1.60×
39	West Virginia	$43,960	89.5	670	0.93×
40	Virginia	$43,770	101.1	4,590	1.09×
41	Nebraska	$43,210	90.1	730	0.69×
42	South Carolina	$43,140	93.7	4,430	1.88×
43	North Carolina	$42,910	94.3	5,460	1.08×
44	Wyoming	$42,110	92.7	180	0.61×
45	Idaho	$41,880	95.5	510	0.58×
46	Missouri	$41,760	90.8	3,770	1.26×
47	Tennessee	$40,920	91.9	3,890	1.16×
48	Alabama	$40,330	88.8	2,090	0.97×
49	Louisiana	$39,130	88.2	1,690	0.85×
50	Arkansas	$39,110	86.9	850	0.64×
51	Mississippi	$37,680	87.0	1,150	0.97×

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 bill and account collectors wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for bill and account collectors

The 40 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	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$77,360	110.4	660	0.57×
2	Napa, CA	$77,160	112.6	80	1.01×
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$72,430	115.6	1,450	0.60×
4	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$64,970	108.6	80	0.62×
5	Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI	$62,460	96.0	60	0.73×
6	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$61,640	108.8	110	0.52×
7	Kenosha, WI	$60,690	101.1	80	1.00×
8	Anchorage, AK	$60,430	105.4	200	1.09×
9	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$60,390	109.9	50	0.47×
10	New Haven, CT	$60,330	104.6	160	0.56×
11	Visalia, CA	$60,310	99.8	150	0.84×
12	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$59,800	108.3	2,260	0.82×
13	Vallejo, CA	$59,740	108.5	80	0.54×
14	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$59,690	100.9	30	0.26×
15	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$59,330	102.7	350	0.56×
16	Rochester, MN	$58,370	90.8	70	0.59×
17	Fresno, CA	$58,330	102.2	230	0.48×
18	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$58,110	108.9	1,960	0.61×
19	Modesto, CA	$57,700	104.1	110	0.56×
20	Worcester, MA	$57,570	102.5	170	0.49×
21	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$57,440	113.6	6,650	1.04×
22	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$57,120	107.8	110	0.50×
23	Salinas, CA	$56,800	109.0	50	0.26×
24	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$55,820	106.9	220	0.54×
25	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	$55,550	100.4	30	0.23×
26	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$55,290	106.7	540	0.49×
27	Urban Honolulu, HI	$55,210	111.0	160	0.36×
28	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$54,370	112.6	6,210	0.64×
29	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$53,790	105.8	1,040	0.63×
30	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$53,620	105.4	550	0.44×
31	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$52,970	98.9	40	0.21×
32	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$52,940	110.5	210	0.63×
33	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$52,910	103.7	100	0.77×
34	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$52,890	101.8	450	0.62×
35	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$52,510	103.2	160	0.66×
36	Springfield, MA	$52,350	96.1	100	0.48×
37	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$52,140	106.4	920	0.53×
38	Portland-South Portland, ME	$52,000	101.9	160	0.53×
39	Midland, TX	$51,930	95.8	120	0.95×
40	Syracuse, NY	$51,780	95.7	170	0.55×

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 bill and account collectors wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks$50,670
Billing and Posting Clerks$48,500
Tellers$43,030
Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks$58,260
Procurement Clerks$50,580
Financial Clerks, All Other$53,830
Gambling Cage Workers$37,580