Telephone Answering Services — Average Employee Salary
The average employee in the telephone answering services industry earns $50,953 per year ($24.50/hour), according to Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW data.
What Do Telephone Answering Workers Earn?
At $50,953/year (equivalent to $24.50/hour for a full-time worker), telephone answering services wages are below the national average of ~$65,000.
Lower wages in this industry are common in service-oriented or retail-adjacent sectors where entry barriers are lower. This can be an advantage for business owners managing payroll costs, but may contribute to higher turnover.
The typical telephone answering services business employs 11 people. These are mid-sized operations where payroll is a significant but manageable expense.
Wages as a Percentage of Revenue
For the average telephone answering services business generating $2.7M/year with 11 employees at $50,953 each, total payroll represents roughly 20.5% of revenue. Labor costs are relatively low compared to revenue — other costs (materials, equipment, overhead) dominate.
What This Means for Business Owners
If you're starting or running a telephone answering servicesbusiness, here's what the wage data means for your bottom line:
- Per-employee cost: Budget approximately $66,239/year per employee (salary + ~30% for benefits, taxes, and insurance).
- Typical team size: 11 employees = ~$560,483/year in base payroll.
- Hourly equivalent: $24.50/hour base — factor this into pricing and project estimates.
- Revenue needed: With average revenue of $2.7M/business, you need strong utilization rates to maintain healthy margins after payroll.
See how these wages compare to total revenue and profit margins.
View full Telephone Answering Services revenue benchmarks →Frequently Asked Questions
- How much do telephone answering services employees make?
- The average telephone answering services employee earns $50,953 per year, which is equivalent to $24.50/hour for a full-time worker (2,080 hours/year). This is below the national average of approximately $65,000.
- How many people work in the telephone answering services industry?
- The telephone answering services industry employs 35,867 workers across 3,178 establishments in the United States. The average business in this industry has approximately 11 employees.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW 2023).