SOC 43-2011.00

    Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service

    Operate telephone business systems equipment or switchboards to relay incoming, outgoing, and interoffice calls.

    Median pay
    $38,630
    Growth
    -26.0%
    Decline
    Openings a year
    3,100
    Typical education
    High school diploma

    Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition

    Source: BLS 2025 wages · 2025–35 projections

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    Annual pay range

    Lowest 10% earn less than
    $29,990
    Median
    $38,630
    Highest 10% earn more than
    $59,470
    National wages for all workers in this occupation. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.

    34,280 people work in this occupation.

    What switchboard operators, including answering service do

    Job Zone 2: Some preparation

    Operate telephone business systems equipment or switchboards to relay incoming, outgoing, and interoffice calls. May supply information to callers and record messages.

    Usually a high school diploma; some on-the-job training or experience.

    Interest profile

    Realistic (R)
    44 / 100
    Investigative (I)
    6 / 100
    Artistic (A)
    0 / 100
    Social (S)
    32 / 100
    Enterprising (E)
    36 / 100
    Conventional (C) · strongest
    83 / 100
    How strongly each interest area describes the work, from O*NET (scores rescaled to 0–100). The interest code lists the strongest areas in order.

    Interest code CRE. Compare it with yours

    What you'd do

    Getting Information
    87
    Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
    79
    Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
    76
    Performing for or Working Directly with the Public
    74
    Working with Computers
    70
    Performing Administrative Activities
    68
    Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
    61
    Documenting/Recording Information
    56
    Processing Information
    56
    Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
    54
    Work activities rated by importance for this occupation, O*NET (0–100).

    Skills and strengths

    Skills

    • Active Listening
    • Speaking
    • Social Perceptiveness
    • Service Orientation
    • Coordination
    • Reading Comprehension
    • Monitoring
    • Critical Thinking
    • Time Management
    • Writing

    Knowledge

    • Customer and Personal Service
    • English Language
    • Administrative
    • Computers and Electronics
    • Telecommunications
    • Administration and Management
    • Communications and Media
    • Public Safety and Security
    • Personnel and Human Resources
    • Mathematics

    Abilities

    • Oral Comprehension
    • Oral Expression
    • Speech Clarity
    • Speech Recognition
    • Near Vision
    • Selective Attention
    • Deductive Reasoning
    • Inductive Reasoning
    • Information Ordering
    • Written Comprehension

    Work styles

    • Dependability
    • Cooperation
    • Social Orientation
    • Attention to Detail
    • Self-Control
    • Integrity
    • Stress Tolerance
    • Optimism
    • Empathy
    • Sincerity

    Also called

    Answering Service Telephone Operator · CBX Operator (Computerized Branch Exchange Operator) · Central Communications Specialist · Combination Operator · Command and Control Specialist · Communication Center Operator · Communications Coordinator · Communications Operator · Communications Specialist · Complaint Operator

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    Sources and attribution

    Every figure on this page comes from these public datasets. Missing values are shown as not reported, never estimated.

    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. CollegesRef has modified all or some of this information.

    Page data updated November 5, 2026.