Occupational Employment and Wages, 2002

43-4151 Order Clerks

Receive and process incoming orders for materials, merchandise, classified ads, or services such as repairs, installations, or rental of facilities. Duties include informing customers of receipt, prices, shipping dates, and delays; preparing contracts; and handling complaints. Exclude "Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance" (43-5032) who both dispatch and take orders for services.

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)
327,120 1.3 % $12.67 $26,350 0.4 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median)
75% 90%
Hourly Wage $7.72 $9.44 $11.93 $15.17 $18.56
Annual Wage (2) $16,050 $19,630 $24,810 $31,550 $38,610

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
Electronic shopping and mail-order houses 23,310 $10.09 $20,980 1 241
Couriers 14,360 $14.81 $30,810 2 41
Machinery and supply merchant wholesalers 11,630 $14.50 $30,150 3 53
Misc. nondurable goods merchant wholesalers 8,340 $11.95 $24,850 4 188
Commercial equip. merchant wholesalers 8,310 $13.65 $28,390 5 89

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Employment rank Wage rank
Natural gas distribution 370 $20.45 $42,530 136 1
Power generation and supply 1,020 $19.97 $41,540 67 2
Other financial investment activities 300 $17.67 $36,750 151 3
Coal mining 40 $17.62 $36,660 249 4
Wired telecommunications carriers 3,920 $17.55 $36,500 20 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
Vermont 1,710 $11.43 $23,770 0.582% 395
Idaho 2,320 $9.74 $20,260 0.410% 449
Utah 4,220 $11.81 $24,560 0.404% 445
Wisconsin 10,520 $11.29 $23,480 0.391% 544
Kansas 4,400 $10.79 $22,450 0.338% 494

Top paying States for this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment Wage rank within State
Alaska 390 $15.49 $32,230 0.136% 298
New Jersey 13,010 $14.67 $30,520 0.337% 471
Massachusetts 7,630 $14.21 $29,560 0.238% 486
Connecticut 4,210 $14.09 $29,310 0.257% 432
New York 14,320 $14.01 $29,140 0.173% 489

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
Burlington, VT MSA 720 $11.53 $23,990 0.695%
Provo-Orem, UT MSA 890 $11.71 $24,360 0.615%
Lynchburg, VA MSA 500 $10.18 $21,180 0.537%
Bergen-Passaic, NJ PMSA 3,340 $14.79 $30,750 0.527%
Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH MSA 580 $10.29 $21,410 0.504%

Top paying Metropolitan areas for this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
Stamford-Norwalk, CT PMSA 500 $16.93 $35,210 0.250%
San Jose, CA PMSA 2,210 $16.64 $34,610 0.247%
Danbury, CT PMSA 230 $15.94 $33,160 0.260%
Anchorage, AK MSA 270 $15.86 $33,000 0.197%
Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon, NJ PMSA 3,080 $15.73 $32,720 0.491%

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