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Bank Teller

$43,030
median / year
$34,360 – $49,680
what most earn per year (10th–90th percentile)

What the job actually is

Process deposits, withdrawals, and payments, and point customers toward the bank's other services.

You may also see this posted as: Financial Services Representative (FSR), Member Services Representative, Teller, Account Representative, Branch Operations Specialist, Customer Relationship Specialist.

Where you work

Bank branches

The hours

Regular hours, some Saturdays

The day to day

What you'd actually spend time doing

  • Balance currency, coin, and checks in cash drawers at ends of shifts and calculate daily transactions, using computers, calculators, or adding machines.
  • Receive checks and cash for deposit, verify amounts, and check accuracy of deposit slips.
  • Monitor bank vaults to ensure cash balances are correct.
  • Cash checks and pay out money after verifying that signatures are correct, that written and numerical amounts agree, and that accounts have sufficient funds.
  • Count currency, coins, and checks received, by hand or using currency-counting machine, to prepare them for deposit or shipment to branch banks or the Federal Reserve Bank.

Good fit if you like…

Conventional

organizing information, following systems, and getting details right

Enterprising

leading, persuading, selling, or turning an idea into action

Social

helping, teaching, caring for, or supporting other people

O*NET job zone 2 of 5

Some preparation—often a high school credential and on-the-job learning—is usually needed.

Work styles that matter most

Attention to DetailIntegrityDependabilityCautiousness

Software that shows up in the work

Examples employers report—not a checklist you must already know.

Microsoft Office softwareMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft PowerPointMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Word

By the numbers

May 2025 BLS wage & employment data · 2024–34 BLS employment projections.

Median pay
$43,030
per year
Hourly median
$20.69
per hour
What most earn
$34,360–$49,680
yearly, 10th to 90th percentile
Openings a year
~29,800
projected, 2024–34
Outlook to 2034
-12.9%
Declining
Working in the U.S.
329,480
people, nationwide

Openings a year counts new jobs plus the ones that open when people retire or move on — a truer picture of your odds than growth alone.

“Median” means half earn more and half earn less. Your city, employer, and years on the job move it a lot — that is what the 10th-to-90th range shows.

What it pays in your state

Statewide medians are a better starting point than the national number. Your city and experience still matter.

BLS state wage tables

How you get in

Typical starting education

High school / no degree

Training path: Short paid training, then hired.

Related work experience: None.

On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training.

License or certification

No license required to start in most places.

You can earn while you train. This field has a genuinely paid pathway in — an apprenticeship, a paid academy, or employer-funded training — so you draw a paycheck instead of taking on debt to learn it.

Check the path where you live

Licensing rules and available programs change by state. These federal tools take you to the current official listings.

What it takes

AccuracyCustomer serviceBasic mathHonesty

The honest take

Declining as banking goes digital, but turnover keeps hiring steady and it opens doors inside banks.

Standard Occupational Classification 43-3071. Pay and employment from the BLS May 2025 OEWS survey; outlook and openings from the 2024–34 employment projections; job context from the Occupational Outlook Handbook; tasks, interests, work styles, software examples, and job zone from O*NET 30.3. See something off? Tell us.