Word Processors and Typists salary

SOC 43-9022 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$49,280

per year, nationally

Middle half

$40,800–$57,670

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

35,010

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-36.1%

2,200 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.

$36,810$65,150

10th: $36,810
25th: $40,800
Median: $49,280
75th: $57,670
90th: $65,150

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 word processors and typists 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	Colorado	$57,550	103.1	60	0.09×
2	California	$56,380	110.7	10,270	2.51×
3	Massachusetts	$53,740	105.8	350	0.42×
4	Oregon	$52,420	103.4	40	0.09×
5	Minnesota	$51,550	98.6	210	0.32×
6	Idaho	$49,930	95.5	60	0.31×
7	Tennessee	$49,750	91.9	90	0.12×
8	New Jersey	$49,520	108.8	3,560	3.69×
9	Connecticut	$49,250	103.6	170	0.46×
10	District of Columbia	$49,180	109.9	120	0.77×
11	Ohio	$48,670	92.8	310	0.25×
12	Wisconsin	$48,540	94.1	180	0.27×
13	New York	$48,400	107.9	12,340	5.66×
14	Michigan	$47,970	96.2	520	0.53×
15	Texas	$47,720	97.1	290	0.09×
16	Maryland	$47,110	105.0	210	0.34×
17	Nebraska	$47,080	90.1	80	0.36×
18	Rhode Island	$47,040	102.3	120	1.03×
19	Alabama	$46,860	88.8	70	0.14×
20	New Mexico	$46,400	92.2	60	0.32×
21	Virginia	$46,130	101.1	290	0.31×
22	Washington	$46,110	107.0	140	0.18×
23	Illinois	$45,490	100.0	490	0.36×
24	Delaware	$45,480	99.8	50	0.45×
25	Oklahoma	$43,710	87.8	40	0.11×
26	Iowa	$43,210	87.8	360	1.03×
27	Arkansas	$43,010	86.9	40	0.12×
28	South Carolina	$42,840	93.7	30	0.06×
29	Arizona	$42,070	100.7	—	—
30	Nevada	$41,290	100.0	170	0.50×
31	Pennsylvania	$41,000	97.6	1,170	0.85×
32	Hawaii	$40,060	110.0	270	1.93×
33	Indiana	$39,520	93.3	120	0.16×
34	Missouri	$37,440	90.8	260	0.39×
35	West Virginia	$36,060	89.5	80	0.52×
36	Florida	$35,770	103.4	1,000	0.45×
37	Georgia	$31,450	96.3	—	—

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 word processors and typists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for word processors and typists

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	$79,430	115.6	840	1.57×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$64,280	110.4	100	0.39×
3	Worcester, MA	$59,110	102.5	90	1.16×
4	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$58,450	105.8	40	0.10×
5	Ann Arbor, MI	$58,180	100.9	30	0.63×
6	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$58,150	106.7	130	0.54×
7	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$57,820	108.8	50	1.11×
8	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$57,670	113.6	6,830	4.83×
9	Salinas, CA	$57,590	109.0	80	1.83×
10	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$57,320	111.9	410	1.20×
11	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$55,660	95.4	110	0.45×
12	Vallejo, CA	$55,140	108.5	40	1.35×
13	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$54,430	92.7	30	0.41×
14	Kansas City, MO-KS	$54,160	92.5	30	0.13×
15	Visalia, CA	$53,790	99.8	120	2.99×
16	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$53,740	108.3	190	0.32×
17	Madison, WI	$53,710	97.3	50	0.58×
18	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$52,370	103.6	270	0.26×
19	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$52,290	112.6	8,370	3.92×
20	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$52,000	98.9	250	6.54×
21	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$51,750	106.9	50	0.53×
22	Clarksville, TN-KY	$51,670	90.9	50	2.00×
23	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$51,550	104.8	190	0.42×
24	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$50,470	98.6	40	0.05×
25	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$49,950	100.3	220	0.50×
26	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$49,280	106.4	880	2.28×
27	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$49,180	108.9	320	0.46×
28	Fresno, CA	$49,070	102.2	70	0.66×
29	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$48,910	102.7	70	0.51×
30	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$48,720	103.1	60	0.07×
31	Modesto, CA	$48,710	104.1	130	2.95×
32	Merced, CA	$48,490	98.3	50	2.75×
33	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$48,310	101.8	140	0.87×
34	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$48,080	105.1	180	2.73×
35	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$48,070	94.7	70	0.26×
36	Kingston, NY	$47,920	100.7	210	15.70×
37	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$47,860	109.4	620	10.25×
38	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$47,740	97.9	90	0.54×
39	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$47,250	102.6	690	1.05×
40	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$47,110	104.5	—	—

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 word processors and typists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Office Clerks, General$45,010
Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks$49,230
Office and Administrative Support Workers, All Other$45,670
Data Entry Keyers$41,340
Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service$39,280
Office Machine Operators, Except Computer$40,960
Statistical Assistants$50,330
Proofreaders and Copy Markers$51,120