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Hotel Desk Clerk

$34,270
median pay per year
full range coming in the next data update

What the job actually is

Check guests in and out, take reservations, answer questions, and handle payments and complaints at the front desk.

Where you work

Hotels and resorts

The hours

Shifts, nights and weekends

By the numbers

May 2024–25 BLS wage data · 2024–34 BLS employment projections.

Median pay
$34,270
per year
What most earn
range coming soon
Openings a year
~43,600
projected, 2024–34
Outlook to 2034
+4%
About average
Working in the U.S.
264,200
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.

How you get in

Typical starting education

High school / no degree

Training path: Learn on the job.

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.

What it takes

Customer serviceBooking systemsCommunicationComposure

The honest take

Always hiring thanks to turnover — a first hospitality job that can lead toward front-office management.

Standard Occupational Classification 43-4081. Pay, employment, and outlook from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS wage survey and 2024–34 employment projections). See something off? Tell us.