Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks salary

SOC 43-3051 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$58,260

per year, nationally

Middle half

$47,990–$69,600

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

153,140

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-16.7%

13,000 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.

$39,500$81,350

10th: $39,500
25th: $47,990
Median: $58,260
75th: $69,600
90th: $81,350

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 payroll and timekeeping clerks 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	$74,670	109.9	270	0.39×
2	California	$65,340	110.7	20,590	1.15×
3	Washington	$64,560	107.0	3,560	1.02×
4	Colorado	$64,140	103.1	2,580	0.91×
5	Massachusetts	$63,670	105.8	3,280	0.91×
6	New Hampshire	$63,090	104.2	800	1.18×
7	Alaska	$62,210	102.4	360	1.12×
8	Connecticut	$62,200	103.6	1,540	0.92×
9	Hawaii	$62,070	110.0	700	1.13×
10	Illinois	$61,390	100.0	5,580	0.93×
11	Minnesota	$61,320	98.6	2,790	0.96×
12	New York	$61,040	107.9	8,400	0.88×
13	Oregon	$60,980	103.4	2,890	1.49×
14	New Jersey	$60,750	108.8	4,290	1.02×
15	North Dakota	$60,600	89.0	300	0.71×
16	Georgia	$59,990	96.3	6,720	1.40×
17	Maryland	$59,760	105.0	1,870	0.69×
18	Rhode Island	$59,370	102.3	410	0.84×
19	Wisconsin	$59,310	94.1	2,590	0.90×
20	Virginia	$58,250	101.1	3,400	0.84×
21	Nevada	$58,220	100.0	1,390	0.91×
22	Maine	$57,360	97.0	590	0.93×
23	Ohio	$57,270	92.8	5,820	1.07×
24	Kansas	$56,590	90.1	1,400	0.99×
25	Delaware	$56,430	99.8	320	0.67×
26	Utah	$56,430	98.9	1,590	0.93×
27	Michigan	$56,160	96.2	4,050	0.93×
28	Pennsylvania	$55,690	97.6	5,170	0.87×
29	Vermont	$55,340	98.0	270	0.90×
30	Montana	$55,040	94.6	530	1.05×
31	Nebraska	$54,900	90.1	910	0.91×
32	Texas	$54,090	97.1	13,220	0.95×
33	Missouri	$54,080	90.8	3,460	1.20×
34	Iowa	$54,080	87.8	1,230	0.80×
35	Indiana	$53,770	93.3	4,020	1.28×
36	North Carolina	$53,550	94.3	3,630	0.75×
37	New Mexico	$53,230	92.2	820	0.96×
38	Kentucky	$52,890	90.2	1,670	0.85×
39	South Carolina	$52,240	93.7	1,550	0.68×
40	Wyoming	$51,940	92.7	160	0.59×
41	Florida	$51,910	103.4	10,910	1.12×
42	Idaho	$51,790	95.5	800	0.95×
43	Tennessee	$51,780	91.9	3,680	1.14×
44	Louisiana	$50,800	88.2	2,160	1.13×
45	Arizona	$50,210	100.7	3,540	1.11×
46	Oklahoma	$49,920	87.8	2,470	1.47×
47	South Dakota	$47,680	88.6	370	0.82×
48	West Virginia	$47,460	89.5	580	0.85×
49	Alabama	$46,170	88.8	1,360	0.65×
50	Arkansas	$46,110	86.9	1,220	0.95×
51	Mississippi	$45,170	87.0	1,330	1.16×

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 payroll and timekeeping clerks wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for payroll and timekeeping clerks

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 Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$80,510	115.6	2,260	0.97×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$77,950	110.4	1,000	0.90×
3	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$68,870	107.8	300	1.48×
4	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$68,380	109.9	120	1.21×
5	Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$67,740	109.4	110	1.46×
6	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$67,710	101.1	100	0.57×
7	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$66,930	108.3	2,500	0.94×
8	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$66,800	105.6	60	0.62×
9	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$66,650	102.4	50	0.88×
10	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$66,630	111.1	1,980	0.96×
11	Boulder, CO	$66,140	105.2	—	—
12	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$65,810	106.7	2,000	1.88×
13	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$65,790	103.7	80	0.64×
14	New Haven, CT	$65,190	104.6	250	0.89×
15	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$65,040	113.6	6,600	1.07×
16	Bellingham, WA	$64,990	103.3	140	1.54×
17	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$64,760	105.8	1,580	1.00×
18	Oshkosh-Neenah, WI	$64,690	92.9	70	0.79×
19	Longview-Kelso, WA	$64,440	97.5	60	1.42×
20	Fairbanks-College, AK	$64,240	103.2	50	1.38×
21	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$64,170	105.4	1,850	1.56×
22	Yakima, WA	$64,050	95.5	110	1.17×
23	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$64,000	106.9	310	0.77×
24	Barnstable Town, MA	$63,910	98.4	60	0.68×
25	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$63,810	111.9	1,840	1.21×
26	Midland, MI	$63,760	91.9	50	1.29×
27	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA	$63,680	103.9	70	1.38×
28	Rochester, MN	$63,550	90.8	80	0.64×
29	Madison, WI	$63,500	97.3	360	0.89×
30	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$63,500	112.6	7,770	0.83×
31	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$63,440	108.9	2,010	0.65×
32	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$63,400	100.3	230	0.90×
33	Vallejo, CA	$63,170	108.5	190	1.31×
34	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$63,060	104.8	1,920	1.00×
35	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$62,920	103.6	4,170	0.94×
36	Napa, CA	$62,920	112.6	100	1.29×
37	Warner Robins, GA	$62,880	93.8	60	0.76×
38	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$62,710	100.1	4,260	1.50×
39	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$62,430	100.1	110	0.84×
40	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$62,400	102.7	590	0.99×

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 payroll and timekeeping clerks 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
Bill and Account Collectors$47,030
Procurement Clerks$50,580
Financial Clerks, All Other$53,830
Gambling Cage Workers$37,580