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Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service · SOC 43-2011

Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service Salary in the Memphis Metro Area

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025Memphis, TN-MS-AR metro area

Figures describe the Memphis, TN-MS-AR metropolitan statistical area as defined by BLS/OMB — the whole multi-county metro region, not Memphis city limits.

Median annual wage$34,940
Median hourly wage$16.80

Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR metro area earned a median of $34,940 per year ($16.80 per hour) as of the May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. Pay ranged from $30,440 at the 10th percentile to $49,400 at the 90th. BLS estimates 110 people work in this occupation in the area.

Pay distribution

Half of Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service in the Memphis metro area earn more than $34,940 per year, half earn less; the middle half earn between $31,200 and $39,450.

Wage percentiles (BLS OEWS)
Wage10th25thMedian75th90th
Annual$30,440$31,200$34,940$39,450$49,400
Hourly$14.64$15.00$16.80$18.97$23.75

A percentile is a cut point: 25% of workers in this occupation and area earn less than the 25th-percentile wage. The median is the 50th percentile — half earn less, half earn more.

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How this area compares

  • Memphis metro areathis metro area
    $34,940
  • Tennesseestate (TN)
    $35,550
  • United Statesnational
    $38,630

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

The median here is −2% vs Tennessee overall and −10% vs the U.S. median for this occupation.

Compare with other areas

Where this metro sits nationally

$27,510$44,760$62,010$79,260El Paso, TX — $27,510San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas, PR — $27,540Gulfport-Biloxi, MS — $28,430Brownsville-Harlingen, TX — $28,760Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX — $28,850Lubbock, TX — $29,180Corpus Christi, TX — $29,380Killeen-Temple, TX — $29,570Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL — $30,160Columbus, GA-AL — $30,880Mobile, AL — $30,970Montgomery, AL — $32,130McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX — $32,170Tuscaloosa, AL — $32,210Jackson, MS — $32,320Columbia, SC — $32,890Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL — $33,310San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX — $33,320Birmingham, AL — $33,690Columbia, MO — $34,060Huntsville, AL — $34,300Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX — $34,330Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC — $34,560Oklahoma City, OK — $34,860Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA — $34,920Memphis, TN-MS-AR — $34,940Monroe, LA — $35,070Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL — $35,080Ocala, FL — $35,100Columbus, OH — $35,170Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL — $35,290Knoxville, TN — $35,360Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX — $35,390Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR — $35,650Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC — $35,760Chattanooga, TN-GA — $35,770Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL — $35,820Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL — $35,830Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL — $35,830Lafayette, LA — $35,890Tulsa, OK — $36,050Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC — $36,180Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD — $36,260Akron, OH — $36,350Jacksonville, FL — $36,490Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX — $36,550Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL — $36,570Richmond, VA — $36,740North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL — $36,770Lincoln, NE — $36,830Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL — $36,830Charleston-North Charleston, SC — $36,890Shreveport-Bossier City, LA — $37,020Springfield, MO — $37,020Kalamazoo-Portage, MI — $37,040Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN — $37,050Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA — $37,110New Orleans-Metairie, LA — $37,120Reno, NV — $37,380Cleveland, OH — $37,460Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI — $37,470Hammond, LA — $37,480New Haven, CT — $37,650Anchorage, AK — $37,690Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN — $37,690Rochester, NY — $37,720Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH — $37,840St. Louis, MO-IL — $37,870Tucson, AZ — $37,970Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN — $37,980Alexandria, LA — $37,990Greenville, NC — $37,990Springfield, MA — $38,080Green Bay, WI — $38,110Lexington-Fayette, KY — $38,150Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV — $38,190Omaha, NE-IA — $38,300Providence-Warwick, RI-MA — $38,370Peoria, IL — $38,380Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD — $38,410Bloomington, IL — $38,480Baton Rouge, LA — $38,540Medford, OR — $38,750Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN — $39,020Wichita, KS — $39,200Lancaster, PA — $39,290Springfield, IL — $39,450Winston-Salem, NC — $39,490Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY — $39,630Albuquerque, NM — $39,640Colorado Springs, CO — $39,650Rockford, IL — $39,660Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH — $39,870Pittsburgh, PA — $39,910Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA — $39,930Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ — $40,540Asheville, NC — $40,590Madison, WI — $40,630Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA — $41,100Greensboro-High Point, NC — $41,130Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY — $41,330Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA — $41,360Binghamton, NY — $41,420Kansas City, MO-KS — $41,470Dover, DE — $41,900Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI — $42,190Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC — $42,320Bakersfield-Delano, CA — $42,710Reading, PA — $42,900Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT — $43,500Worcester, MA — $44,050Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA — $44,130Merced, CA — $44,190Manchester-Nashua, NH — $44,210Modesto, CA — $44,320Visalia, CA — $44,330Syracuse, NY — $44,510Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN — $44,540Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY — $44,550Fresno, CA — $44,590Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA — $44,680Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO — $44,980Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV — $45,750Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH — $45,760Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA — $45,870San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA — $46,080Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA — $46,160Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA — $46,330New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ — $47,350Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA — $47,380Salinas, CA — $48,840Bend, OR — $48,880Napa, CA — $49,460Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA — $49,840Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA — $50,470Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI — $51,950Barnstable Town, MA — $57,030Stockton-Lodi, CA — $59,360Kahului-Wailuku, HI — $60,420San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — $61,780Urban Honolulu, HI — $63,190San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA — $79,260

Each dot is one metro area with a published median — hover any dot for the name and figure. Metros without published estimates are not drawn.

The Memphis metro area has the 117th-highest published median for this occupation among the 142 metro areas where BLS publishes it. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Other metro areas in Tennessee

Metro areas in the same state with published May 2025 medians for switchboard operators, including answering service, highest first. Areas without published estimates are not listed.

  • Memphis metro areathis page
    $34,940
  • Nashville-Davidson metro area
    $37,050
  • Chattanooga metro area
    $35,770
  • Knoxville metro area
    $35,360

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

Keep exploring

Other occupations in the same SOC group with published medians here, largest employment first:

Customer Service Representatives$44,090Office Clerks, General$38,610First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers$71,310Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks$45,800Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants$39,940Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks$48,400

Highest-paying metro areas for switchboard operators, including answering services · Highest-paying occupations in Memphis Metro

About this estimate

These figures are survey estimates from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program — modeled from employer reports collected over three years and benchmarked to May 2025. They describe what employers in this area currently pay across all industries, not what any individual worker will be offered.

Employment counts wage-and-salary jobs in the occupation (self-employed workers are excluded). Estimates carry sampling error; percentile wages are rounded by BLS. Some values are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality or quality — suppressed values appear here as “not published”, never as zero. Read the full methodology.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.