Receptionist Wage by State 2026: BLS Pay and What One Hire Costs

In the BLS wage survey for May 2025, released May 15, 2026, the median receptionist earned $14.98 an hour in Mississippi and $23.59 an hour in Washington, DC. With employer benefits and turnover added, one full-time hire costs $3,606 a month in Mississippi and $5,679 in DC.

Receptionist wage by state, and what one hire costs there

Prices checked against each vendor's own pricing page on October 26, 2026. Wages: BLS OEWS, May 2025, released May 15, 2026.

Our arithmetic: each state's BLS median hourly wage for 2,080 paid hours, plus employer benefits other than paid leave at the national ECEC rate for June 2026, plus turnover. One full-time receptionist, at any call volume. How we price.

The table covers 52 areas: the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Nationally, BLS counts 910,180 receptionists and information clerks in the May 2025 survey, at a median of $18.27 an hour.

Highest and lowest receptionist wages by state

Where receptionists earn the most

The District of Columbia has the highest median in the May 2025 survey: $23.59 an hour, or $49,060 a year. One full-time receptionist there costs $5,679 a month on our arithmetic, $68,152 a year.

Among the 50 states, Alaska leads at $21.50 an hour, one cent above Washington at $21.49 an hour in the same survey. California follows at $21.20 an hour, then Massachusetts at $21.09 an hour and New York at $20.71 an hour.

Where receptionists earn the least

Mississippi has the lowest median of the 50 states in the May 2025 survey: $14.98 an hour, or $31,160 a year. West Virginia, at $15.34 an hour, and Alabama, at $15.67 an hour, come next. One hire in Mississippi costs $3,606 a month.

Puerto Rico, which BLS publishes alongside the states, sits below all of them at $11.01 an hour in the same survey.

The gap grows with the hours you cover

The state gap multiplies with every extra person on the schedule. On May 2025 medians, keeping the phone answered 168 hours a week, leave backfilled, costs $26,504 a month in DC and $16,830 in Mississippi. That takes 4.7 full-time staff in either place; the coverage hours math shows where that number comes from.

What moves a receptionist's wage

Where in the pay range you hire

The state median is the middle receptionist, not the one you will hire. Nationally, the 10th percentile earned $13.83 an hour in the May 2025 survey. The 90th percentile earned $24.01 an hour in the same survey.

BLS publishes the same percentiles for each state, and this table does not show them. Your offer, not the median, sets your cost: the budget steps below show how to scale the row.

Median or mean

The national mean wage was $18.97 an hour in the May 2025 survey, against the median of $18.27 an hour. Higher earners pull the mean up. The table uses the median, so half the receptionists in each state earn more than its row and half earn less.

What the job title covers

The wage is for one BLS occupation code, 43-4171, "Receptionists and Information Clerks" (BLS occupational structure, May 2025). If your hire will also run payroll, billing or the office, the market will price that work too, and this row will understate the offer.

City or countryside

A state median blends its cities and its rural counties. BLS also publishes May 2025 wages for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, which this table does not use (bls.gov/oes/tables.htm, read October 27, 2026). If you hire in a large metro, check its own row before you budget.

The date of the data

Every row describes pay in May 2025, in the release published May 15, 2026. OEWS comes out once a year, so the table moves when BLS publishes the next survey, not when prices change.

How to use the table for your own budget

The monthly cost in each row is built in three steps. Texas shows the arithmetic, and any state works the same way.

1. Wage. The Texas median is $16.93 an hour in the BLS survey for May 2025.
2. Benefits. Private employers pay $0.46 in benefits for every wage dollar to office and administrative support workers (BLS ECEC, June 2026). Paid leave is $0.11 of it and is already paid in the 2,080 hours, so the other $0.35 brings Texas to $22.80 an hour.
3. Hours and turnover. That rate times 2,080 paid hours, plus $1,493 a year for turnover, is $48,911 a year, or $4,076 a month.

Rounding the hourly rate to the cent before multiplying moves the yearly total by a few dollars; the table multiplies first and rounds last.

If you will pay above the median, scale the row by your offer. In our model, benefits and turnover are both fixed shares of the wage, so an offer 10% above your state's median makes the row 10% higher.

If you need more than one person's hours, the row is not enough. One full-time receptionist leaves the phone uncovered on 26 paid leave days a year, the private-industry average in the BLS National Compensation Survey for March 2026. Full cover of 40 hours a week takes 1.1 staff, which on the May 2025 Texas median costs $4,529 a month.

What the state rows leave out

Three of the four inputs are national. Benefits come from one national ECEC group, paid leave from the national NCS average and turnover from national JOLTS quits for calendar year 2025. A state where employers offer richer benefits, or where receptionists quit more often, costs more than its row shows.

The model also prices the phone hours alone. Recruiting time beyond the turnover line, a desk, a computer and a phone line are not in any row. Neither is the front-desk work a receptionist does besides calls, which no phone service prices either.

A hire against an AI or virtual receptionist, in any state

A state's row does not change with your call volume. Vendor prices do not change with your state. At 13 three-minute calls a day, AI receptionists cost $129 to $695.30 a month, and live virtual receptionists cost $990 to $3,970.50.

At 3 calls a day the AI range is $59.95 to $199. Set either range against your state's row on May 2025 BLS medians: in Mississippi that row is $3,606, in California $5,104. The vendor-by-vendor comparison is on receptionist cost vs AI receptionist, and what a quitting receptionist adds is on receptionist turnover cost.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the median receptionist wage in the United States?

The national median for receptionists and information clerks was $18.27 an hour, or $38,010 a year, in the BLS wage survey for May 2025. The survey counted 910,180 people in the job. State medians run from $14.98 an hour in Mississippi to $23.59 an hour in the District of Columbia.

Which state pays receptionists the most?

The District of Columbia, at a median of $23.59 an hour in the BLS wage survey for May 2025. Among the 50 states, Alaska is highest at $21.50 an hour, with Washington at $21.49 an hour.

Which state pays receptionists the least?

Mississippi, at a median of $14.98 an hour in the BLS wage survey for May 2025. Puerto Rico, which BLS publishes with the states, is lower at $11.01 an hour.

How much does a receptionist cost an employer in California?

One full-time receptionist on the California median of $21.20 an hour (BLS OEWS, May 2025) costs $5,104 a month, or $61,247 a year. That adds employer benefits other than paid leave, from the BLS compensation survey for June 2026, and the cost of replacing a receptionist who quits. Covering 168 hours a week with leave backfilled costs $23,818 a month.

How much does a receptionist cost an employer in Texas?

One full-time receptionist on the Texas median of $16.93 an hour (BLS OEWS, May 2025) costs $4,076 a month with benefits and turnover. With benefits other than paid leave, the wage becomes $22.80 an hour, using the BLS compensation survey for June 2026.

How are annual receptionist salaries calculated?

BLS reports annual wages on a year of 2,080 hours: 40 hours a week for 52 weeks. In the May 2025 survey it publishes a national annual median of $38,010 next to the hourly median of $18.27 an hour. A part-time receptionist earns the hourly rate for fewer hours, so the annual figure overstates their pay.