How to hire a city clerk

How to hire a city clerk, step by step

Here's a step-by-step city clerk hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a city clerk job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new city clerk
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a city clerk do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a city clerk, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect city clerk also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   The following list breaks down different types of city clerks and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of City Clerk	Description	Hourly rate
   City Clerk	Information clerks perform routine clerical duties such as maintaining records, collecting data, and providing information to customers.	$20-38
   Payroll Clerk	A payroll clerk is responsible for managing the payroll process by collecting the necessary information needed to release payments. Payroll clerks' duties include verifying timesheets, calculating necessary deductions, issuing paychecks timely, managing payment discrepancies and disputes, updating employee's payment information in the database, and creating payroll reports... Show more	$14-26
   Clerk	Clerks are responsible for many of the general administrative tasks in the office. They are in charge of manning office telephone lines, managing incoming and outgoing mails, filing paperwork and other needed records, scheduling and documenting meetings, typing out documents when needed, disseminating memos and other official announcements, and keeping an inventory of office equipment and supplies... Show more	$11-18

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Meeting Agendas
   • City Ordinances
   • Payroll Taxes
   • Meeting Minutes
   • Utility Billing
   • Office Equipment
   • Notary
   • Budget Preparation
   • Municipal Elections
   • Public Hearings
   • Public Notices
   • Human Resources
   • City Government
   • Financial Statements

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Demonstrate strong math skills in managing inmate s accounts and calmly and effectively deescalating outbursts of belligerent inmates.
   • Prepare grant applications for water, sewer, EDA and CBDG.
   • Collect, analyze, submit to NYS town relate data.
   • Record information into QuickBooks for payment of bills and to issue checks.
   • Prepare and submit various government reports, prepare various city contracts and act as notary public.
   • Process summons, court files, subpoenas, warrants, bonds, attorney correspondence and background checks.

   More city clerk duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your city clerk job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A city clerk salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a city clerk in Indiana may be lower than in New York, and an entry-level city clerk usually earns less than a senior-level city clerk. Additionally, a city clerk with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average city clerk salary

   $58,166yearly

   $27.96 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level city clerk salary

   $42,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 13, 2026

   Average city clerk salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$79,031	$38
   2	Iowa	$73,526	$35
   3	Nevada	$70,634	$34
   4	Georgia	$70,561	$34
   5	Oklahoma	$69,109	$33
   6	Colorado	$68,085	$33
   7	Texas	$66,316	$32
   8	Virginia	$61,364	$30
   9	Wisconsin	$59,844	$29
   10	Arizona	$53,782	$26

   Average city clerk salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Icma-rc	$94,380	$45.38	54
   2	City of Reno	$61,387	$29.51
   3	Minnesota Limited	$60,072	$28.88	2
   4	City of Richmond	$57,399	$27.60	1
   5	City of Boise	$57,254	$27.53
   6	Robert Half	$56,322	$27.08	628
   7	University of Texas System	$56,159	$27.00	5
   8	Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation	$54,912	$26.40	3
   9	City of El Segundo	$54,343	$26.13
   10	Johns Creek GA	$52,913	$25.44
   11	City of Cleveland	$52,781	$25.38
   12	Westminster Police	$52,554	$25.27	1
   13	City of Aurora	$52,200	$25.10
   14	Bashas'	$42,203	$20.29	41

4. Writing a city clerk job description

   A city clerk job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a city clerk job description:

   City clerk job description example

   Tortilleria Clerk
   
   Tortilleria clerks provide customer satisfaction by mixing, manufacturing, baking, frying and displaying delicious flour and corn tortillas as well as tasty snack items.
   
   Job Responsibilities:
   
   * Engaging with customers through smiles and greetings, offering product information, providing selling suggestions and active sampling and always giving a genuine thank you.
   * Mixing masa for tortillas.
   * Manufacturing and packaging tortillas and tostada shells and snack items like toasted corn chips and duros.
   * Ensuring all manufacturing and cooking facilities meet proper food safety guidelines.
   * Maintaining adequate stock levels to ensure adequate production of tortilleria products.
   * Merchandise tortilleria products on shelves, merchandisers and floor displays.
   * Maintaining a positive and friendly attitude towards customers and fellow team members.
   * Understanding proper product preparation and merchandising techniques and procedures,
   * Keeping clean neat and orderly work areas, including a well swept production area.
   
   Performs other duties as needed or assigned by management. Must be at least 18-years old.
   
   Nothing in this job description restricts management's right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time. This description reflects management's assignment of essential functions; it does not proscribe or restrict the tasks that may be assigned. This job description is subject to change at any time
   
   Employer provides reasonable accommodations to a qualified employee that does not impose an undue hardship on the employer.
   
   Ability to:
   
   * Remain helpful, tactful and courteous at all times.
   * Work quickly and efficiently, sometimes with little direction, to accomplish assigned duties.
   * Add, subtract, divide, multiply and perform other basic business math calculations.
   * Learn and use proper food safety and sanitation polices.
   * Be dexterous enough with hands and fingers so as to be able to bag tortillas and use necessary department equipment.
   * Communicate openly and professionally through appropriate body language, facial expressions and speech, also communicating in writing when necessary.
   * Listen to and understand verbal and non-verbal communication of customers and fellow members.
   * Stand for long periods of time, bend and twist, and frequently lift and/or maneuver merchandise and supplies weighing 30 - 50 lbs.
   * Work in the hot tortilleria department next to the tortilla maker/oven.
   * Work with flour products, spices, flavorings, sauces and oils.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find city clerks for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your city clerk job on Zippia to find and recruit city clerk candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting city clerks requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new city clerk

   Once you've found the city clerk candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new city clerk. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a city clerk?