A document clerk can work anywhere there are documents-and many places have many documents to manage. Depending on their place of work, whether they're in a medical office, government agency, or somewhere else, the document clerk needs to be aware of specific procedures for technical documents.

No matter where they work, document clerks need to be highly organized. They keep track of physical and digital documents, cull outdated files, and verify information when needed. Document clerks also need to be familiar with scanners and copiers, security systems for sensitive documents, and typing programs.

Most document clerks don't have bachelor's degrees. For this line of work, on-the-job experience and proven organizational skills are more important than a diploma. Administrative skills and a knack for office procedures are very important, as well as the ability to be discreet if a document clerk is working in a sensitive industry. The document clerk should probably also prepare for paper cuts.

What Does a Document Clerk Do

There are certain skills that many document clerks have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, integrity and interpersonal skills.

Learn more about what a Document Clerk does

How To Become a Document Clerk

If you're interested in becoming a document clerk, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 42.4% of document clerks have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 3.1% of document clerks have master's degrees. Even though some document clerks have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Document Clerk

Document Clerk Career Paths

Average Salary for a Document Clerk

Document Clerks in America make an average salary of $30,597 per year or $15 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $37,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $25,000 per year.
Average Document Clerk Salary
$30,597 Yearly
$14.71 hourly

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Roles and Types of Document Clerk

The role of a document clerk includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general document clerk responsibilities:

  • Inputs data from work documents for assigned shops which could include labor hours
  • Printing documentation (medical records/eobs) from numerous websites for the processing of medical claims compiling documentation from omega that has to be mailed/filed with insurance companies using ftp to retrieve documentation from omega as to what needs to be printed in order to properly file the documentation appropriately with the insurance company a/r work consisting of the working of invoices due to insurance denials or no activity after being submitted to insurance front desk coverage this is an estimated 5-month contingent position in lewiston, maine
  • Prepare documents received from clients for scanning by performing the following tasks: remove staples, paper clips,

There are several types of document clerk, including:

Clerk

Role:

Clerks have a lot of administrative roles in their day-to-day job responsibilities. From answering the phone to typing up documents, and even filing and speaking with clients, clerks have a lot on their shoulders.

For the most part, you only need to graduate from high school before becoming a clerk but some clerk positions may require you to complete a certification course beforehand. The majority of your knowledge of the job will come from the on-the-job training you'll be taken through.

You may not have a lot of stress in your day or you could feel a lot of stress, it really depends on what industry you choose to start your career in. Speaking of, you have a lot of options. On the plus side, you'll never work more than 40 hours a week so you can leave work at the office and enjoy your time off.

  • Average Salary: $31,163
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Data Entry Clerk

Role:

A data entry clerk spends much of their time inputing data into a computing system. But we bet you already guessed that much. Luckily, there's more than what meets the eye when it comes to being a data entry clerk.

In addition to typing up the data, data entry clerks also spend their time organizing and prioritizing that data. In this position, you need to understand how to properly operate a keyboard and understand how the computing system works.

As an individual in this position, it might be important for you to take some keyboarding lessons or enroll in some typing classes. While employers generally just look to make sure you have a high school degree, it can never hurt to have a little bit more experience.

  • Average Salary: $31,582
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Office Clerk

Role:

An Office Clerk works in an office and carries out administrative tasks. Working under the supervision of secretaries or executive assistants, office clerks prepare documents and sort mail, file and update company records, schedule meetings, answer phones, greet clients and make sure office supplies are in stock at all times.

You might be asked to make travel arrangements or book venues, take minutes at meetings, and maybe even do some basic bookkeeping tasks. Using photocopy machines and printers and being familiar with basic computer software, such as word processors or spreadsheets, will also be required.

If you want to be an efficient office clerk, you need to be diligent, reliable, and hard-working. You must be perceptive and easy to talk to, and experience with office equipment and procedures is always helpful.

  • Average Salary: $30,927
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Document Clerk Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active document clerk jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where document clerks earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Document Clerk Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California5,237$32,330
2Texas2,616$29,280
3Florida2,398$28,505
4New York1,975$31,491
5Pennsylvania1,478$28,423
6Illinois1,443$31,731
7Ohio1,341$31,876
8Michigan1,285$31,295
9Georgia1,143$27,787
10Washington1,083$35,475
11Massachusetts1,080$34,073
12North Carolina1,075$30,601
13Indiana1,040$26,018
14Minnesota1,015$30,907
15Virginia947$32,794
16Missouri892$29,253
17Tennessee852$26,230
18Wisconsin815$30,000
19Colorado802$31,425
20New Jersey770$30,858
21Maryland690$34,026
22Oregon640$31,932
23Connecticut562$29,839
24Kansas556$31,165
25Kentucky553$30,444
26Utah489$29,987
27Arizona467$31,276
28Iowa460$31,603
29South Carolina453$28,049
30Alabama358$25,437
31Oklahoma307$25,033
32Nebraska306$28,094
33Louisiana276$28,457
34Idaho239$25,353
35Mississippi235$27,818
36New Mexico218$28,068
37Arkansas208$26,902
38Delaware175$26,733
39New Hampshire159$29,913
40Nevada150$27,890
41West Virginia149$30,844
42Alaska138$31,083
43South Dakota130$29,932
44Maine116$34,903
45Rhode Island109$27,924
46Hawaii105$32,501
47Montana87$30,322
48Vermont83$33,670
49North Dakota78$31,058
50Wyoming68$31,541

Document Clerk Education

Document Clerk Majors

25.2 %

Document Clerk Degrees

Bachelors

42.4 %

Associate

22.2 %

High School Diploma

19.9 %

Top Colleges for Document Clerks

1. Western Carolina University

Cullowhee, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$3,926

Enrollment

9,835

2. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

3. Ball State University

Muncie, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,896

Enrollment

15,529

4. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

5. Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green, OH • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,105

Enrollment

13,729

6. Cedar Crest College

Allentown, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$39,216

Enrollment

1,303

7. Morgan State University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,900

Enrollment

6,404

8. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

9. Siena Heights University

Adrian, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$27,124

Enrollment

2,035

10. University of Akron

Akron, OH • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,463

Enrollment

13,676

Top Skills For a Document Clerk

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 24.5% of document clerks listed office equipment on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and integrity are important as well.

  • Office Equipment, 24.5%
  • Word Processing, 11.4%
  • GMP, 10.9%
  • Data Entry Operations, 8.1%
  • Computer System, 7.5%
  • Other Skills, 37.6%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Document Clerk Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Document Clerk templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Document Clerk resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Document Clerk diversity

Document Clerk Gender Distribution

Female
Female
72%
Male
Male
28%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among document clerks, 72.3% of them are women, while 27.7% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among document clerks is White, which makes up 62.2% of all document clerks.

  • The most common foreign language among document clerks is Spanish at 67.6%.

Online Courses For Document Clerk That You May Like

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1. Build an End-to-End Data Capture Pipeline using Document AI

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This is a self-paced lab that takes place in the Google Cloud console. In this lab you use Cloud Functions and Pub/Sub to create an end-to-end document processing pipeline using Document AI. The Document AI API is a document understanding solution that takes unstructured data, such as documents and emails, and makes the data easier to understand, analyze, and consume. In this lab, you will create a document processing pipeline that will automatically process documents that are uploaded to Cloud...

2. Documentation and Usability for Cancer Informatics

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Introduction: Cancer datasets are plentiful, complicated, and hold information that may be critical for the next research advancements. In order to use these data to their full potential, researchers are dependent on the specialized data tools that are continually being published and developed. Bioinformatics tools can often be unfriendly to their users, who often have little to no background in programming (Bolchini et al. 2008). The usability and quality of the documentation of a tool can be...

3. Best Practices in Document Management

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4.4
(3,964)

Develop your cost-effective and future-proof documentation strategy...

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Best States For a Document Clerk

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a document clerk. The best states for people in this position are Washington, Maine, Massachusetts, and Maryland. Document clerks make the most in Washington with an average salary of $35,475. Whereas in Maine and Massachusetts, they would average $34,903 and $34,073, respectively. While document clerks would only make an average of $34,026 in Maryland, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Washington

Total Document Clerk Jobs: 1,083
Highest 10% Earn:
$42,000
Location Quotient:
1.11

2. Michigan

Total Document Clerk Jobs: 1,285
Highest 10% Earn:
$38,000
Location Quotient:
1.25

3. Kansas

Total Document Clerk Jobs: 556
Highest 10% Earn:
$37,000
Location Quotient:
1.38
Full List Of Best States For Document Clerks

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Top Document Clerk Employers

Most Common Employers For Document Clerk

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Westinghouse Appliances Australia$39,387$18.9411
2Pfizer$37,934$18.2415
3Mutual of Omaha$36,053$17.3310
4Abbott$35,282$16.9611
5CSC Holdings LLC$34,696$16.689
6JPMorgan Chase & Co.$34,417$16.5521
7BNY Mellon$34,012$16.3512
8King & Spalding$33,259$15.9915
9Wells Fargo$32,214$15.4910
10Anthem$31,710$15.2511

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