Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2003

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
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)
217,700 1.3 % $10.69 $22,230 0.3 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median)
75% 90%
Hourly Wage $7.20 $8.50 $10.27 $12.47 $14.77
Annual Wage (2) $14,980 $17,680 $21,360 $25,930 $30,720

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
General medical and surgical hospitals 24,740 $10.61 $22,080 1 177
Business support services 24,550 $8.92 $18,540 2 237
Offices of physicians 12,890 $10.54 $21,920 3 183
Employment services 12,060 $9.61 $19,990 4 229
Automobile dealers 11,310 $9.73 $20,230 5 224

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Employment rank Wage rank
Nonscheduled air transportation (6) $21.10 $43,880 (6) 1
Natural gas distribution 80 $17.71 $36,830 180 2
Waste collection (6) $14.83 $30,850 (6) 3
Other financial investment activities (6) $14.74 $30,650 (6) 4
Power generation and supply 470 $14.15 $29,440 75 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
New Mexico 1,960 $8.89 $18,500 0.267% 539
Nevada 2,720 $11.49 $23,900 0.255% 515
Tennessee 6,180 $10.20 $21,210 0.236% 610
Florida 16,770 $9.46 $19,670 0.233% 663
Louisiana 4,140 $9.06 $18,850 0.224% 601

Top paying States for this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment Wage rank within State
District of Columbia 900 $13.06 $27,160 0.151% 365
Hawaii 1,160 $12.57 $26,160 0.210% 385
Alaska 320 $12.38 $25,750 0.109% 422
Connecticut 2,820 $12.37 $25,740 0.172% 533
Massachusetts 5,990 $12.33 $25,650 0.189% 591

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
Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX MSA 730 $8.99 $18,690 0.477%
Wichita Falls, TX MSA 250 $9.15 $19,040 0.452%
Utica-Rome, NY MSA 500 $9.10 $18,920 0.400%
Nashville, TN MSA 2,270 $10.87 $22,600 0.344%
Pittsfield, MA MSA 140 $12.44 $25,880 0.335%

Top paying Metropolitan areas for this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
San Francisco, CA PMSA 1,620 $15.06 $31,330 0.166%
San Jose, CA PMSA 1,030 $14.05 $29,220 0.117%
New York, NY PMSA 6,240 $13.95 $29,010 0.157%
Oakland, CA PMSA 1,390 $13.77 $28,640 0.137%
Stamford-Norwalk, CT PMSA 460 $13.54 $28,160 0.230%

About May 2003 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) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include 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.

(6) Estimates not released.

All Office and Administrative Support Occupations

2003 May National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2003 May State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2003 May Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2003 May National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

List of Occupations in SOC Code Number Order

List of Occupations in Alphabetical Order

Download May 2003 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates in Zipped Excel files

Technical notes

 

Last Modified Date: May 7, 2004