Customer Service Representatives
US occupation · SOC 43-4051
Job titles people report: Account Representative, Call Center Representative, Client Services Representative, Customer Care Representative (CCR), Customer Service Agent, Customer Service Representative (CSR), Customer Service Specialist, Customer Support Representative (Customer Support Rep), Guest Service Agent, Member Services Representative (Member Services Rep)
Pay and outlook
- Median annual wage, May 2025
- $44,770
- Half earn more, half earn less
- Middle half earn
- $36,870 – $51,780
- 25th to 75th percentile
- People employed, May 2025
- 2,595,750
- Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
- Projected change, 2025–35
- -5.3%
- Shrinking (below 0%)
- Openings a year (projected)
- 289,500
- 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
Interact with customers to provide basic or scripted information in response to routine inquiries about products and services. May handle and resolve general complaints. Excludes individuals whose duties are primarily installation, sales, repair, and technical support.
Main tasks
- Confer with customers by telephone or in person to provide information about products or services, take or enter orders, cancel accounts, or obtain details of complaints.
- Keep records of customer interactions or transactions, recording details of inquiries, complaints, or comments, as well as actions taken.
- Check to ensure that appropriate changes were made to resolve customers' problems.
- Contact customers to respond to inquiries or to notify them of claim investigation results or any planned adjustments.
- Determine charges for services requested, collect deposits or payments, or arrange for billing.
- Complete contract forms, prepare change of address records, or issue service discontinuance orders, using computers.
- Refer unresolved customer grievances to designated departments for further investigation.
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.
Interests it suits
The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.
- Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
- Enterprising: leading, persuading and making business decisions
- Social: helping, teaching and caring for people
Fields of study that lead here
From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 2 programmes 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.
Business
- Receptionist
- Customer Service Support/Call Center/Teleservice Operation
Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Business at the Major step.
Where many students take business
- Southern New Hampshire UniversityManchester, NH · 35% of degrees · 163,164 undergraduates
- Western Governors UniversitySalt Lake City, UT · 28% of degrees · 155,088 undergraduates
- Arizona State University Campus ImmersionTempe, AZ · 26% of degrees · 64,674 undergraduates
- Grand Canyon UniversityPhoenix, AZ · 22% of degrees · 73,371 undergraduates
- University of Maryland Global CampusAdelphi, MD · 25% of degrees · 49,664 undergraduates
- University of the PeoplePasadena, CA · 53% of degrees · 22,688 undergraduates
Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.
Related careers
Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.
- Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel
$69,990 median · +2.7% projected
- Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks
$49,230 median · -1.9% projected
- Credit Authorizers, Checkers, and Clerks
$50,080 median · -7.4% projected
- New Accounts Clerks
$47,670 median · -6.5% projected
- Receptionists and Information Clerks
$38,010 median · -1.7% projected
- Brokerage Clerks
$65,750 median · -7.6% projected
Sources
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0
Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.
Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk