BLS OEWS, May 2025

Customer service representative salary in the US

What customer service representatives are paid in the US, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with how your own pay compares. Figures from the BLS OEWS release dated May 2025.

Median annual pay

$44,770

Middle half earn

$36,870 to $51,780

People in this job, US

2,595,750

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Customer Service Representatives, national, annual pay, May 2025

10th percentile
$31,750
25th percentile
$36,870
Median
$44,770
75th percentile
$51,780
90th percentile
$63,590

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 43-4051. Percentiles across everyone employed in the occupation, not experience levels.

At a glance

What customer service representatives earn across the US

  • The highest-paying large metros are San Jose, CA ($60,480), San Francisco, CA ($57,830), Seattle, WA ($53,550).
  • At the other end are San Juan, PR ($26,520), Virginia Beach, VA ($38,150), Oklahoma City, OK ($39,330): the top metro's median is 128% higher than the lowest.
  • 29 of the 50 metros listed below pay a median above the national figure.
  • About 2,595,750 people are employed in this occupation across the US.
  • Pay varies widely within the job: the 90th percentile earns 2 times the 10th.

Worked from BLS OEWS, May 2025. Not adjusted for the cost of living.

Skills

What employers look for in a customer service representative

The skills our customer service representative resume example leads with, written for US employers.

  • Ticket handling
  • Live chat support
  • Phone support
  • De-escalation
  • CSAT improvement
  • First-contact resolution
  • Order management
  • Returns and refunds
  • Zendesk
  • Salesforce Service Cloud

See the full customer service representative resume example, with bullets and keywords.

Negotiating

Using these numbers

Below $36,870 puts you in the bottom quarter for customer service representatives in the US. That is worth raising, with evidence of what you deliver.

The median, $44,770, is the middle of the market, not a ceiling. An offer at or near it is a fair starting point to negotiate from.

Asking for $51,780 or more puts you in the top quarter, so it needs a reason an employer will accept: a wider scope, a competing offer, or a skill that is hard to hire for.

Percentiles are not experience levels. They describe everyone doing the job, so a senior hire can sit at the median of a market full of senior people.

About the numbers

What these figures are

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys employers for its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and these figures are from the release dated May 2025. They cover wage and salary workers in Customer Service Representatives, a category that is often broader than a single job title. Self-employed people are not included.

They are base pay: bonuses, equity and overtime are not included, and they are not adjusted for the cost of living.

Questions

Questions about customer service representative pay in the US

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