Careers / File Clerks

File Clerks — Career Decision Dashboard

United States

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Median annual wage

$43,600

United States, 2025

Employment

73,440

United States, 2025

Typical education

Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree

Job Zone 2

Skills identified

35

10 related careers

Career overview

File correspondence, cards, invoices, receipts, and other records in alphabetical or numerical order or according to the filing system used. Locate and remove material from file when requested.

O*NET code
43-4071.00
Job zone
2
Experience required
Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years

Typical tasks

  • Perform general office activities, such as typing, answering telephones, operating office machines, processing mail, or securing confidential materials.
  • Keep records of materials filed or removed, using logbooks or computers and generate computerized reports.
  • Gather materials to be filed from departments or employees.
  • Find, retrieve, and make copies of information from files in response to requests and deliver information to authorized users.
  • Add new material to file records or create new records as necessary.
  • Sort or classify information according to guidelines, such as content, purpose, user criteria, or chronological, alphabetical, or numerical order.
  • Scan or read incoming materials to determine how and where they should be classified or filed.
  • Eliminate outdated or unnecessary materials, destroying them or transferring them to inactive storage, according to file maintenance guidelines or legal requirements.

Choose a location

Salary analysis — United States

$31,200
10th
$36,420
25th
$43,600
Median
$51,770
75th
$63,490
90th

10th percentile

$31,200

25th percentile

$36,420

75th percentile

$51,770

90th percentile

$63,490

Most important skills

  • Reading Comprehension3.9
  • Active Listening3.4
  • Speaking3.3
  • Writing3.1
  • Monitoring3.1
  • Service Orientation3.1
  • Time Management3.0
  • Social Perceptiveness3.0
  • Critical Thinking3.0
  • Active Learning2.9
  • Complex Problem Solving2.9
  • Coordination2.9

What skills do you need?

Select the skills you already have

Skills listed are those O*NET rates at importance 3.0 or above for this occupation. Set your own level on the same 0–7 O*NET scale.

Skill coverage

0%

0 of 9 identified skills

Matched

0

Missing

9

Your selected skills cover approximately 0% of the skills identified for this occupation in O*NET. This is a coverage measure of listed skills only — it is not a qualification, hiring or interview outcome.

Skills to develop

SkillImportanceRequired levelYour levelGap
Reading Comprehension3.93.3Not selected3.3
Active Listening3.43.0Not selected3.0
Speaking3.33.0Not selected3.0
Writing3.13.0Not selected3.0
Critical Thinking3.03.0Not selected3.0
Service Orientation3.12.9Not selected2.9
Monitoring3.12.8Not selected2.8
Time Management3.02.8Not selected2.8
Social Perceptiveness3.02.5Not selected2.5

Ordered by required level gap multiplied by O*NET importance. No prediction or recommendation is implied.

Related careers

How salary varies by location

LocationMedianEmploymentYear
San Jose, CA$60,8405402025
Santa Cruz, CA$60,530602025
Salinas, CA$59,040802025
Chicago, IL$58,3202,6402025
Vallejo, CA$56,750602025
Napa, CA$55,980402025
San Francisco, CA$54,9108902025
Carson City, NV$54,820402025
Greeley, CO$54,360402025
Hartford, CT$54,240902025
Hanford, CA$53,860302025
Modesto, CA$52,8301002025
Medford, OR$52,780402025
Portland, OR$52,2804802025
Hagerstown, MD$51,990402025
Toledo, OH$50,8401002025
Muskegon, MI$50,740302025
Boston, MA$50,6804502025
OR$50,6609702025
HI$50,6301002025
All locations with published data

Career transition paths

Compare the skills of a career you hold today with File Clerks to see shared skills, target-only skills and skill overlap.

Build a transition comparison

Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0.

Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025 (May 2025 release).

Figures are periodic published survey snapshots, not real-time market rates.