Official pay data
Updated October 11, 2026
Salary guide
Official annual estimates for the whole country, mapped to the closest published occupation.
United States · annual wage estimate
25th percentile
$33,960
Median
$38,010
75th percentile
$45,130
BLS covers wage and salary employees, including part-time workers, but excludes self-employed workers and owners or partners in unincorporated firms. Wages include commissions and production bonuses, but exclude overtime premiums, employer benefits, and non-production bonuses; this is not a base-pay-only or total-compensation measure. Annual wage estimates generally convert hourly rates using a full-time, year-round schedule of 2,080 hours. Actual annual earnings on a shorter schedule can be lower.
This is a country-level occupation benchmark, not a local offer estimate. Pay can differ by location, employer, duties, and working pattern.
Source: BLS, 2025-05-01. Mapped to Receptionists and information clerks; the occupation is broader than the page role. Figures are estimates, not advertised salaries.
This national benchmark uses the broader U.S. occupation of Receptionists and Information Clerks. That is a useful comparison for a Receptionist because the work centers on answering inquiries, directing visitors, and sharing information about an organization. It is not a promise that every front-desk job has the same mix of scheduling, records, security, or payment duties. If office coordination, scheduling, records, and correspondence make up most of the job, compare the [Administrator salary guide](/salaries/administrator).
Benchmark fit
Receptionist fits within Receptionists and Information Clerks because the broader occupation covers answering inquiries and giving visitors, customers, and the public information about an organization's activities, departments, offices, and employees.
Nearby titles: Reported titles in the broader occupation include Front Desk Receptionist, Medical Receptionist, Information Assistant, Registration Clerk, and Scheduler..
Those titles are reported within the same broad occupation, not a guarantee that their daily duties are interchangeable. A medical front desk assignment may include patient intake or billing, while a corporate reception role may include visitor-access work.
Role scope
A Receptionist answers inquiries and helps customers and visitors find information about an organization's activities, departments, offices, and employees.
Greet visitors, check them in, and direct or escort them to their destination. · Answer calls, take messages, or forward calls to the appropriate person. · Schedule and confirm appointments or maintain calendars where the workplace assigns that work to reception. · Maintain documents and handle incoming and outgoing correspondence. · Handle mail, messages, or courier deliveries in workplaces that assign those tasks to the role.
Visitors are checked in and directed to the right destination. · Calls, messages, appointments, and correspondence are routed or recorded.
Some hospital and doctors' office reception roles collect patient information, direct patients to a waiting room, and may handle billing or insurance payments. Those assignments do not define every Receptionist job.
Visitor greeting, check-in, and direction are central front-desk duties; access control is a more specific assignment in some large corporations and government offices.
Read the range
Compare a reception desk focused on calls, visitors, appointments, and correspondence with one that also handles medical intake, billing, or visitor access. The first mix reflects broad Receptionist duties, while the added tasks apply only to some workplaces and should be checked against the offer.
One quarter of employees earn below this figure.
Half of employees earn below this figure and half above it; it is not the arithmetic midpoint of the displayed range.
One quarter of employees earn above this figure.
Beyond salary
Compare the offer's fixed cash pay with any conditional cash separately. The benchmark's wage measure can include commissions and production bonuses, but it excludes overtime premiums, employer benefits, and non-production bonuses. Ask for the written terms of anything outside fixed pay.
Confirm whether the stated rate is hourly or annual, the scheduled hours, and the pay period before comparing it with the benchmark.
If offered, ask how eligibility, targets, timing, and payment are defined. These forms of cash pay are included in the wage measure, unlike non-production bonuses.
Check the conditions for overtime and any bonus, plus the cost and terms of benefits such as health coverage, leave, retirement contributions, or equity if they are offered. They should not be treated as part of the benchmarked wage figure.
Offer review
Compare roles
Administrators support office communication, schedules, records, and routine administrative work. Receptionist work overlaps at the front desk but is centered on inquiries, visitors, and information about the organization. Administrator uses a different occupational benchmark, so its figures should not be substituted for the Receptionist benchmark.
Compare salary guideQuestions
Source
Source: BLS, 2025-05-01. The figures cover Receptionists and information clerks (43-4171) and all employment. Updated October 11, 2026. This broad occupation benchmark may not match every Receptionist vacancy.
Put the benchmark to work
Use the salary range as context. Tailor your resume around the experience that supports your target level.
