Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2018

43-2011 Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service

Operate telephone business systems equipment or switchboards to relay incoming, outgoing, and interoffice calls. May supply information to callers and record messages.

National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
Geographic profile for this occupation

National estimates for this occupation: Top

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
71,600	2.5 %	$15.04	$31,290	0.7 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$10.12	$11.76	$14.14	$17.43	$21.46
Annual Wage (2)	$21,040	$24,450	$29,420	$36,260	$44,640

Industry profile for this occupation: Top

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Business Support Services	16,590	1.84	$13.87	$28,850
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	14,720	0.27	$15.30	$31,820
Offices of Physicians	5,000	0.19	$14.65	$30,470
Traveler Accommodation	4,860	0.24	$16.15	$33,590
Automobile Dealers	2,960	0.23	$13.96	$29,030

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Business Support Services	16,590	1.84	$13.87	$28,850
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	14,720	0.27	$15.30	$31,820
Traveler Accommodation	4,860	0.24	$16.15	$33,590
Automobile Dealers	2,960	0.23	$13.96	$29,030
Outpatient Care Centers	1,970	0.21	$19.30	$40,150

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OES Designation)	2,570	0.05	$19.35	$40,250
Outpatient Care Centers	1,970	0.21	$19.30	$40,150
Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities	60	0.01	$19.01	$39,540
Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services	310	0.03	$18.34	$38,150
Facilities Support Services	60	0.04	$17.72	$36,860

Geographic profile for this occupation: Top

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	10,330	0.61	1.23	$17.38	$36,160
Florida	4,910	0.57	1.15	$13.47	$28,020
Texas	4,700	0.39	0.78	$13.14	$27,320
New York	3,850	0.41	0.83	$18.28	$38,020
Ohio	3,310	0.61	1.23	$13.49	$28,070

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Nevada	1,600	1.19	2.40	$15.11	$31,430
Louisiana	1,870	0.98	1.98	$13.07	$27,180
Rhode Island	440	0.90	1.83	$15.43	$32,090
South Carolina	1,590	0.77	1.56	$13.11	$27,270
Georgia	3,240	0.74	1.49	$14.76	$30,700

Top paying States for this occupation:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Connecticut	810	0.49	0.98	$20.64	$42,920
District of Columbia	260	0.36	0.73	$19.90	$41,390
Hawaii	470	0.73	1.49	$19.83	$41,250
New York	3,850	0.41	0.83	$18.28	$38,020
Oregon	750	0.40	0.80	$17.87	$37,170

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in this occupation:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	4,370	0.71	1.44	$16.32	$33,950
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	3,980	0.42	0.85	$18.42	$38,320
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	2,310	0.86	1.74	$15.26	$31,750
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	2,170	0.47	0.94	$17.04	$35,440
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	1,670	0.65	1.31	$14.29	$29,720
San Diego-Carlsbad, CA	1,490	1.02	2.05	$19.72	$41,010
Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV	1,380	1.40	2.82	$15.22	$31,670
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	1,360	0.46	0.92	$14.03	$29,180
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	1,310	0.67	1.34	$14.89	$30,970
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	1,250	0.35	0.71	$13.46	$27,990