How much does a receptionist cost (3 figures)
The median published figure in the Receptionist Cost Benchmark is 27.83 USD across 3 sources' own pages (range 18.27 to 49.46 USD), read 11 November 2026.
3 of the 10 named sources read in full publish a figure; 7 publish none, read 11 November 2026.
The median is unchanged since 18 October 2026 (was 27.83 USD across 3).
Every figure, with its source
One row per published figure: the figure as the source's own page publishes it, the page, and the day it was read. A figure that is not on a page we read is not on this one.
| Source | Figure | Read |
|---|---|---|
| BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation | 49.46 USD | 2026-11-11 |
| BLS Administrative and Support Services (NAICS 561) at a glance | 27.83 USD | 2026-09-12 |
| BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Receptionists | 18.27 USD | 2026-10-12 |
The sentence each figure was read from (3)
- BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, read 2026-11-11:
Employer costs for employee compensation for civilian workers averaged $49.46 per hour worked in June
- BLS Administrative and Support Services (NAICS 561) at a glance, read 2026-09-12:
Average hourly earnings $27.83 $27.86 $27.68 (p)$27.72
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Receptionists, read 2026-10-12:
The median hourly wage for receptionists was $18.27 in May 2025.
Read in full, publishes no figure
7 named sources were read in full on the dates shown and print no usable figure. They are counted, never filled in.
- BLS Employee Benefits in the United States, read 2026-11-11: every candidate on the page was refused
- BLS OEWS 43-2011 Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- BLS OEWS 43-4171 Receptionists and Information Clerks, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- BLS OEWS industry table, NAICS 561421 Telephone Answering Services, read 2026-11-11: every candidate on the page was refused
- BLS OEWS national occupational employment and wage estimates, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- ONS Employee earnings in the UK (ASHE), read 2026-09-12: every candidate on the page was refused
- the wage authority per area, read 2026-11-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
Methodology
Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2).
3 of the 10 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 7 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 0 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere.
The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source in USD (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences), so N counts sources, never sentences; 57 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded.
The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): the OEWS wage for 43-4171 and 43-2011 per state, grossed up by the ECEC benefits load to an employer cost per hour, converted to a cost per answered call at the same 50/200/500-call volumes the price index uses, and set beside the index's median - so the crossover volume at which the cheapest published service stops being cheaper than a part-time hire is a number this site computes and nobody else publishes
57 candidate sentences on these pages were refused by a reviewer; each refusal and its reason is recorded in the review ledger.
Sources (10)
- BLS Administrative and Support Services (NAICS 561) at a glance(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS Employee Benefits in the United States(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Receptionists(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS OEWS 43-2011 Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS OEWS 43-4171 Receptionists and Information Clerks(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS OEWS industry table, NAICS 561421 Telephone Answering Services(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS OEWS national occupational employment and wage estimates(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- ONS Employee earnings in the UK (ASHE)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- the wage authority per area(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
Cite or embed this figure
The median published figure in the Receptionist Cost Benchmark is 27.83 USD across 3 sources' own pages (range 18.27 to 49.46 USD), read 11 November 2026.
3 of the 10 named sources read in full publish a figure; 7 publish none, read 11 November 2026.
The median is unchanged since 18 October 2026 (was 27.83 USD across 3).
Cite as: "comparecallanswering.com Receptionist Cost Benchmark", updated 2026-11-11, https://comparecallanswering.com/datasets/receptionist-cost-benchmark/.
Download the CSV (3 rows, computed 2026-11-11)
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Questions this data answers
Is answering service cheaper than employing a receptionist, once benefits and cover are counted?
The median published figure in the Receptionist Cost Benchmark is 27.83 USD across 3 sources' own pages (range 18.27 to 49.46 USD), read 11 November 2026.
Where do the figures in the Receptionist Cost Benchmark come from?
Every figure is quoted from its source's own page and dated (last read 11 Nov 2026). 10 named sources were read and 3 publish a figure; the 7 that publish none are recorded as not published, never estimated.