Correspondence Clerks vs Office Clerks, General: Similar Median Pay, Different Work

Correspondence Clerks vs Office Clerks, General: what changes?

Consider Correspondence Clerks if you want to compose letters or electronic correspondence in reply to requests for merchandise, damage claims, credit and other information, delinquent accounts, incorrect billings, or unsatisfactory services. Consider Office Clerks, General if you would rather perform duties too varied and diverse to be classified in any specific office clerical occupation, requiring knowledge of office systems and procedures. Both list high school diploma or equivalent; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Correspondence Clerks and Office Clerks, General. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Correspondence Clerks

National median pay (2025): $46,800
Route into the job: High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Maintain files and control records to show correspondence activities.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 500

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 5.6% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Correspondence Clerks brief

Office Clerks, General

National median pay (2025): $45,010
Route into the job: High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Operate office machines, such as photocopiers and scanners, facsimile machines, voice mail systems, and personal computers.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 249,000

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 6% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Office Clerks, General brief

How the national numbers differ

Office Clerks, General has the edge on annual openings

Office Clerks, General is at 249,000 annual openings, compared with 500 annual openings for Correspondence Clerks.

Correspondence Clerks has the edge on median pay

Correspondence Clerks is at $46,800, compared with $45,010 for Office Clerks, General.

Correspondence Clerks has the edge on projected growth

Correspondence Clerks is at -5.6% projected growth, compared with -6% projected growth for Office Clerks, General.

24.4/ 100

Correspondence Clerks

49.4/ 100

Office Clerks, General

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Correspondence Clerks vs Office Clerks, General

Dimension	Correspondence Clerks	Office Clerks, General
Median pay (2025)	$46,800	$45,010
Pay percentile	22.7 percentile	18.1 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	-5.6%	-6%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	500	249,000
2025 employment	4,800	2,600,000
How you qualify	High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing	High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 2	Job Zone 2
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.	One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Correspondence Clerks brief Read Office Clerks, General brief

Correspondence Clerks vs Office Clerks, General: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Correspondence Clerks

Office Clerks, General

How the national numbers differ

Office Clerks, General has the edge on annual openings

Correspondence Clerks has the edge on median pay

Correspondence Clerks has the edge on projected growth

Correspondence Clerks vs Office Clerks, General

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