Occupational Employment and Wages, 2002

43-3011 Bill and Account Collectors

Locate and notify customers of delinquent accounts by mail, telephone, or personal visit to solicit payment. Duties include receiving payment and posting amount to customer's account; preparing statements to credit department if customer fails to respond; initiating repossession proceedings or service disconnection; keeping records of collection and status of accounts.

National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
State profile for this occupation
Metropolitan area 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)
407,280 1.5 % $13.62 $28,330 0.3 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median)
75% 90%
Hourly Wage $8.97 $10.54 $12.88 $15.90 $19.45
Annual Wage (2) $18,650 $21,920 $26,780 $33,060 $40,460

Industry profile for this occupation: Top

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Employment rank Wage rank
Business support services 78,400 $12.60 $26,210 1 165
Nondepository credit intermediation 40,650 $14.00 $29,120 2 92
General medical and surgical hospitals 23,420 $12.78 $26,570 3 154
Depository credit intermediation 20,890 $13.55 $28,190 4 122
Management of companies and enterprises 20,680 $14.13 $29,400 5 86

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Employment rank Wage rank
Radio and television broadcasting 920 $24.71 $51,390 69 1
Power generation and supply 1,540 $18.36 $38,180 43 2
Natural gas distribution 1,020 $18.21 $37,880 62 3
Telecommunications resellers 2,310 $18.15 $37,750 27 4
Advertising and related services 1,190 $17.89 $37,200 55 5

State profile for this occupation: Top

States with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment Wage rank within State
South Dakota 3,230 $11.66 $24,260 0.887% 313
Utah 6,670 $12.79 $26,610 0.639% 403
Arizona 12,510 $12.75 $26,520 0.557% 415
Delaware 1,660 $14.21 $29,560 0.414% 315
Georgia 15,350 $12.91 $26,860 0.406% 434

Top paying States for this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment Wage rank within State
Connecticut 4,560 $15.73 $32,720 0.278% 387
District of Columbia 1,560 $15.68 $32,610 0.262% 300
Massachusetts 7,560 $15.35 $31,930 0.236% 436
New York 24,740 $15.30 $31,830 0.298% 440
California 49,150 $15.20 $31,620 0.340% 450

Metropolitan area profile for this occupation: Top

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
Sioux Falls, SD MSA 1,980 $12.01 $24,980 1.742%
Salt Lake City-Ogden, UT MSA 6,070 $12.84 $26,700 0.882%
Phoenix-Mesa, AZ MSA 10,940 $12.73 $26,470 0.689%
Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC MSA 4,950 $13.93 $28,980 0.618%
Lewiston-Auburn, ME MSA 280 $11.22 $23,340 0.600%

Top paying Metropolitan areas for this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
New York, NY PMSA 9,650 $18.15 $37,750 0.242%
Stamford-Norwalk, CT PMSA 620 $17.85 $37,130 0.310%
San Francisco, CA PMSA 2,630 $17.78 $36,980 0.264%
San Jose, CA PMSA 2,360 $17.72 $36,860 0.264%
Pittsfield, MA MSA 40 $16.99 $35,330 0.095%

About 2002 National, State, and Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

To see profiles of other occupations, select from the major groups below:

These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in every State and the District of Columbia. The top five employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable Excel files(XLS).

Percentile wage estimates show the percentage of workers in an occupation that earn less than a given wage and the percentage that earn more. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.


(1) Data for detailed occupations does not sum to the totals because the totals include data for occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

All Office and Administrative Support Occupations

2002 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2002 Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2002 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

List of Occupations in SOC Code Number Order

List of Occupations in Alphabetical Order

Download 2002 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates in Zipped Excel files

Technical notes

 

Last Modified Date: November 26, 2003