Customer Service Representative career guide
A customer service representative answers questions and solves problems for customers by phone, chat, email or in person. They work for almost every kind of company: banks, airlines, retailers, utilities, software firms and more.
Pay data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Job content: O*NET 31.0. Updated 2026-10-26.
- $44,770median annual wage (U.S.)
- $21.53median hourly wage
- 2,595,750people employed in the U.S.
- High School Diploma or the equivalentmost common required education
What a customer service representative does
Interact with customers to provide basic or scripted information in response to routine inquiries about products and services. May handle and resolve general complaints. Excludes individuals whose duties are primarily installation, sales, repair, and technical support.
Typical tasks
- Confer with customers by telephone or in person to provide information about products or services, take or enter orders, cancel accounts, or obtain details of complaints.
- Keep records of customer interactions or transactions, recording details of inquiries, complaints, or comments, as well as actions taken.
- Check to ensure that appropriate changes were made to resolve customers' problems.
- Contact customers to respond to inquiries or to notify them of claim investigation results or any planned adjustments.
- Determine charges for services requested, collect deposits or payments, or arrange for billing.
- Complete contract forms, prepare change of address records, or issue service discontinuance orders, using computers.
- Refer unresolved customer grievances to designated departments for further investigation.
A typical day
Most of the day is spent handling contacts one after another: looking up an account, explaining a policy, fixing an order or passing a complex case to the right team. Representatives log every interaction in a customer system. Many roles track things like response time and whether the problem was solved the first time.
Skills employers look for
These are the skills O*NET rates as most important for this occupation.
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Service Orientation
- Complex Problem Solving
- Time Management
- Social Perceptiveness
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Administration and Management
- Sales and Marketing
- Mathematics
Tools and technology
Examples of technology used in this occupation, from O*NET: Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Apple macOS, Facebook, Google Docs, Intuit QuickBooks, Kronos Workforce Timekeeper, MEDITECH software.
Education and training
When O*NET asked people in this occupation what education the job requires, the most common answers were:
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED): 55% of respondents
- Some College Courses: 17% of respondents
- Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree: 14% of respondents
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Customer Service Representative pay
The median annual wage for customer service representatives was $44,770 in May 2025 ($21.53 an hour). Half of workers earned between $36,870 and $51,780.
Highest-paying states
- Washington: $50,330 median
- California: $49,560 median
- Massachusetts: $49,120 median
- Minnesota: $48,800 median
- District of Columbia: $48,250 median
States with the most customer service representatives
- Texas: 337,170 employed
- Florida: 228,000 employed
- California: 176,850 employed
- New York: 141,090 employed
- Illinois: 100,970 employed
Customer Service Representative pay in every state
How to get hired
Most customer service jobs require a high school diploma and train on the specific products and systems. Any job where you dealt with the public counts as experience, including retail and food service. Typing speed, clear writing and patience show up in interviews, and many employers offer remote roles once you have been trained.
Job titles you may see
Account Representative, Customer Service Representative (CSR), Customer Service Specialist, Member Services Representative (Member Services Rep).
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Related career guides
- Receptionist
- Sales Representative
- Retail Sales Associate
- Cashier
- Retail Store Supervisor
- Stocker and Order Filler
Customer Service Representative salary by state · Customer Service Representative job description and interview questions
Sources and methodology
Wage and employment estimates: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, cross-industry estimates for all ownerships. Figures are as published; BLS does not publish some estimates for some states. As defined by BLS, wages include tips, commissions and production bonuses, and exclude overtime pay, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses and other premium pay. BLS OEWS
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Jobder has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET Database
Written and maintained by the Jobder team. Last updated 2026-10-26. Questions or corrections: support@jobder.pro.
Frequently asked questions
What does a customer service representative do?
Interact with customers to provide basic or scripted information in response to routine inquiries about products and services. May handle and resolve general complaints. Excludes individuals whose duties are primarily installation, sales, repair, and technical support.
How much does a customer service representative make?
The median annual wage for customer service representatives in the United States was $44,770 in May 2025, or $21.53 an hour. The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $31,750 and the highest-paid 10% earned more than $63,590.
What education do you need to become a customer service representative?
In O*NET's survey of people in this occupation, the most common answer for required education was "High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)" (55% of respondents). O*NET classifies the occupation as "Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
Which state pays customer service representatives the most?
Washington had the highest median annual wage for this occupation in May 2025, at $50,330, followed by California ($49,560) and Massachusetts ($49,120).
How many customer service representatives are there in the U.S.?
BLS estimated 2,595,750 people were employed as customer service representatives in May 2025. Texas employed the most, with 337,170.