Telemarketers Career, Salary and Skills
Telemarketers have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $35,450 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 58,430. Wage data is published for 132 locations.
Occupation description
Solicit donations or orders for goods or services over the telephone.
O*NET code
41-9041.00
Job zone
2
Typical education
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
Experience
None
National salary and employment
Median annual
$35,450
Hourly median
$17.04
Employment
58,430
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
$27,040
10th
$29,640
25th
$35,450
Median
$40,230
75th
$50,350
90th
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Persuasion | 4.12 | 3.62 |
| Speaking | 4.12 | 3.75 |
| Active Listening | 4.00 | 3.88 |
| Service Orientation | 3.50 | 3.12 |
| Reading Comprehension | 3.25 | 3.25 |
| Social Perceptiveness | 3.25 | 3.00 |
| Critical Thinking | 3.00 | 3.12 |
| Negotiation | 3.00 | 2.62 |
| Writing | 2.50 | 2.50 |
| Coordination | 2.50 | 2.25 |
Typical tasks
- Contact businesses or private individuals by telephone to solicit sales for goods or services, or to request donations for charitable causes.
- Obtain customer information such as name, address, and payment method, and enter orders into computers.
- Explain products or services and prices, and answer questions from customers.
- Record names, addresses, purchases, and reactions of prospects contacted.
- Maintain records of contacts, accounts, and orders.
- Answer telephone calls from potential customers who have been solicited through advertisements.
- Deliver prepared sales talks, reading from scripts that describe products or services, to persuade potential customers to purchase a product or service or to make a donation.
- Telephone or write letters to respond to correspondence from customers or to follow up initial sales contacts.
Technology
- Acarda Sales Technologies Acarda Outbound
- Automatic call distribution software
- Database Systems Corp Telemation
- Microsoft Dynamics
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Word
- Remote access call center software
- Salesforce software
- Softphone software
- Zoom
Telemarketers salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Telemarketers Salary in FLMedian $35,570 · Employment 9,760
- Telemarketers Salary in CAMedian $46,000 · Employment 3,880
- Telemarketers Salary in TXMedian $34,290 · Employment 3,660
- Telemarketers Salary in OHMedian $35,290 · Employment 3,090
- Telemarketers Salary in Miami, FLMedian $35,870 · Employment 2,730
- Telemarketers Salary in MOMedian $29,840 · Employment 2,710
- Telemarketers Salary in GAMedian $36,020 · Employment 2,620
- Telemarketers Salary in Orlando, FLMedian $33,490 · Employment 2,240
- Telemarketers Salary in TNMedian $29,470 · Employment 2,210
- Telemarketers Salary in NVMedian $34,290 · Employment 2,200
- Telemarketers Salary in NYMedian $41,400 · Employment 1,960
- Telemarketers Salary in Las Vegas, NVMedian $32,150 · Employment 1,830
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- Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales AgentsNational median $78,660
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- Public Relations SpecialistsNational median $74,750
- CashiersNational median $32,880
- First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales WorkersNational median $87,520
Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.