File Clerks
Business, Management and AdministrationO*NET 43-4071.00United States
File correspondence, cards, invoices, receipts, and other records in alphabetical or numerical order or according to the filing system used. Locate and remove material from file when requested.
- Median annual earnings
- $43,325
- Projected change
- −9%
- Typical education
- Associate degree
- Employment
- 77.44K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
38.4% of the workforce
Growing to 70.5K by 2035
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The work
What file clerks do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Perform general office activities, such as typing, answering telephones, operating office machines, processing mail, or securing confidential materials.
- Keep records of materials filed or removed, using logbooks or computers and generate computerized reports.
- Gather materials to be filed from departments or employees.
- Find, retrieve, and make copies of information from files in response to requests and deliver information to authorized users.
- Add new material to file records or create new records as necessary.
- Sort or classify information according to guidelines, such as content, purpose, user criteria, or chronological, alphabetical, or numerical order.
- Scan or read incoming materials to determine how and where they should be classified or filed.
- Eliminate outdated or unnecessary materials, destroying them or transferring them to inactive storage, according to file maintenance guidelines or legal requirements.
- Answer questions about records or files.
- Assign and record or stamp identification numbers or codes to index materials for filing.
- Place materials into storage receptacles, such as file cabinets, boxes, bins, or drawers, according to classification and identification information.
- Modify or improve filing systems or implement new filing systems.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $30,539
- 25th percentile
- $35,835
- 50th percentile
- $43,325
- 75th percentile
- $51,816
- 90th percentile
- $65,033
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $43,325 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
−9%projected to decline
202577,439 jobs
2035 projected70,495 jobs
6,944 fewer positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Associate degree
- 38.4%
- High school diploma or less
- 30.1%
- Some college
- 23.2%
- Bachelor's degree
- 8.3%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01File Clerks1,240 postings
- 02Van Owners/Operators208 postings
- 03File Maintenance Clerks193 postings
- 04Print Operators192 postings
- 05Administrative Clerks121 postings
- 06Owners/Operators105 postings
- 07Scanning Clerks92 postings
- 08Clerks86 postings
- 09Records Clerks86 postings
- 10Office Clerks76 postings
- 11File Clerks/Office Assistants75 postings
- 12Digital Print Operators69 postings
- 13Medical Records File Clerks56 postings
- 14Associate Directors of Clinical Operations53 postings
- 15Document Scanners53 postings
- 16Receptionists/File Clerks53 postings
- 17Legal File Clerks52 postings
- 18Administrative Assistants/File Clerks46 postings
- 19Mailroom Clerks45 postings
- 20Medical File Clerks43 postings
Top employers
- 01Robert Half437 postings
- 02Telesolv Consulting156 postings
- 03Albertsons97 postings
- 04Fox Carriers74 postings
- 05AppleOne61 postings
- 06Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman Llp59 postings
- 07Abc Legal Services56 postings
- 08Parexel50 postings
- 09Adecco49 postings
- 10V3 Transportation42 postings
- 11Dexian40 postings
- 12Safeway40 postings
- 13Randstad39 postings
- 14DLA Piper38 postings
- 15Insight Global37 postings
- 16Kelly Services37 postings
- 17Canon35 postings
- 18TEKsystems35 postings
- 19ManpowerGroup29 postings
- 20Amerit Consulting26 postings
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