Correspondence Clerks

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025

$46,800

Half earn more, half earn less

Middle half earn

$38,610 – $56,090

25th to 75th percentile

People employed, May 2025

4,290

Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)

Projected change, 2025–35

-5.6%

Shrinking (below 0%)

Openings a year (projected)

500

New jobs plus replacing people who leave

Typical education to enter

High school diploma or equivalent

BLS

• All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
• Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
• Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Compose letters or electronic correspondence in reply to requests for merchandise, damage claims, credit and other information, delinquent accounts, incorrect billings, or unsatisfactory services. Duties may include gathering data to formulate reply and preparing correspondence.

Main tasks

• Maintain files and control records to show correspondence activities.
• Read incoming correspondence to ascertain nature of writers' concerns and to determine disposition of correspondence.
• Gather records pertinent to specific problems, review them for completeness and accuracy, and attach records to correspondence as necessary.
• Prepare documents and correspondence, such as damage claims, credit and billing inquiries, invoices, and service complaints.
• Compile data from records to prepare periodic reports.
• Compose letters in reply to correspondence concerning such items as requests for merchandise, damage claims, credit information requests, delinquent accounts, incorrect billing, or unsatisfactory service.
• Route correspondence to other departments for reply.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)

High school diploma or equivalent

Training once hired: short-term on-the-job training

O*NET Job Zone 1–2

Little to some preparation

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 1 programme to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

• Office Clerks, General

  $45,010 median · -6% projected

• File Clerks

  $43,600 median · -15.8% projected

• Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive

  $47,540 median · -6% projected

• Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

  $55,570 median · -5.2% projected

• Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

  $50,670 median · -5.6% projected

• Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants

  $76,590 median · 0% projected