Brokerage Clerks

Brokerage clerks manage the daily paperwork and digital records involved in investment transactions. Their main duties include writing stock purchase or sale orders, calculating transfer taxes, verifying transactions, and tracking stock price changes. They also distribute dividends, compute equity, and maintain detailed records of daily holdings. To perform these tasks, workers rely heavily on getting information, working with computers, and processing data.

This role fits well with people who have a conventional interest area, meaning they enjoy structured activities, clear procedures, and organizing data. Success in this field requires strong skills in active listening, reading comprehension, mathematics, and critical thinking. Clerks must communicate effectively with people outside their organization and build positive interpersonal relationships. They need to evaluate information to ensure it complies with industry standards and make sound decisions when problems arise. Important knowledge areas include economics, accounting, customer service, and administrative procedures. On the job, workers must demonstrate high attention to detail, dependability, integrity, and self-control while managing their time to organize and prioritize tasks.

To enter this career, you typically need a high school diploma. However, the occupation generally requires a medium level of preparation, which corresponds to O*NET Job Zone 3. Many people in this field prepare by completing vocational training, earning an associate degree, or gaining related work experience.

For those looking to align their college education with this career, accounting and related services is a primary major that leads to this field. This coursework helps build the necessary foundation in mathematics, economics, and administrative practices. No specific professional certifications, licenses, or associations are listed as requirements for this occupation. Training often continues on the job, where clerks learn the specific software, compliance standards, and transaction procedures used by their employing brokerage firm. Developing strong computer skills and a solid understanding of customer service will also help candidates prepare for the daily demands of the job.

According to 2025 data, the median annual pay for brokerage clerks is $65,750. This means half of the workers in this occupation earn more than this amount, and half earn less. The lowest 10 percent of earners make less than $50,260, while the highest 10 percent earn more than $102,010.

There are 35,940 people employed in this field. Between 2025 and 2035, employment is projected to decline by -7.6 percent. Despite this projected decrease in total jobs, there are still about 3,400 job openings expected each year. These annual openings arise as workers transfer to other occupations or exit the labor force entirely.