What is a Payroll Clerk?
A payroll clerk is a member of the HR team and is primarily responsible for keeping track of the employees' working hours and accurately calculating their salaries based on this information. They perform data entry, update, and maintain payroll records. They create timesheets, prepare payment statements, and issue paychecks.
They calculate bonuses, extra hours, benefits, taxes, and all that jazz. They clear away the doubts employees might have and investigate any inconsistency in calculations.
Now, in most job descriptions, you will find keen attention to detail as one of the important skills to have in order to be successful. As far as payroll clerks are concerned, though, this requirement weighs in extra. You do not want to be the reason why people fail to get the wages they are entitled to; this much is easy to see.
What Does a Payroll Clerk Do
Financial clerks do administrative work for many types of organizations. They keep records, help customers, and carry out financial transactions.
How To Become a Payroll Clerk
A high school diploma or equivalent is typically required for most financial clerk jobs. These workers usually learn their duties through on-the-job training.
Payroll Clerk Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a payroll clerk can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as accounts payable clerk, progress to a title such as accountant and then eventually end up with the title assistant controller.
Average Salary for a Payroll Clerk
What Am I Worth?
States With The Most Payroll Clerk Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active payroll clerk jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where payroll clerks earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Payroll Clerk Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 4,815 | $45,407 |
| 2 | Texas | 2,257 | $39,173 |
| 3 | Florida | 1,951 | $36,598 |
| 4 | New York | 1,635 | $48,223 |
| 5 | Illinois | 1,227 | $43,257 |
| 6 | Pennsylvania | 1,224 | $40,396 |
| 7 | Ohio | 1,213 | $39,513 |
| 8 | Michigan | 1,062 | $37,879 |
| 9 | Georgia | 974 | $40,870 |
| 10 | Washington | 972 | $45,608 |
| 11 | North Carolina | 952 | $35,991 |
| 12 | Massachusetts | 882 | $48,241 |
| 13 | Indiana | 869 | $37,214 |
| 14 | Minnesota | 837 | $45,491 |
| 15 | Virginia | 795 | $38,419 |
| 16 | Missouri | 772 | $37,531 |
| 17 | Tennessee | 729 | $33,935 |
| 18 | Wisconsin | 711 | $41,197 |
| 19 | Colorado | 687 | $45,122 |
| 20 | Oregon | 609 | $43,301 |
| 21 | Maryland | 583 | $40,293 |
| 22 | Connecticut | 498 | $51,618 |
| 23 | Kansas | 492 | $41,955 |
| 24 | Kentucky | 476 | $34,489 |
| 25 | Utah | 407 | $39,905 |
| 26 | South Carolina | 366 | $32,611 |
| 27 | New Jersey | 346 | $50,185 |
| 28 | Iowa | 281 | $38,590 |
| 29 | Nebraska | 278 | $40,386 |
| 30 | Oklahoma | 273 | $37,661 |
| 31 | Alabama | 267 | $36,283 |
| 32 | Louisiana | 222 | $34,263 |
| 33 | Idaho | 212 | $36,635 |
| 34 | New Mexico | 194 | $34,550 |
| 35 | Arkansas | 193 | $31,879 |
| 36 | Mississippi | 189 | $38,757 |
| 37 | Arizona | 181 | $39,607 |
| 38 | Delaware | 135 | $39,190 |
| 39 | New Hampshire | 121 | $48,114 |
| 40 | Alaska | 117 | $44,327 |
| 41 | West Virginia | 117 | $42,397 |
| 42 | South Dakota | 107 | $31,408 |
| 43 | Rhode Island | 93 | $44,461 |
| 44 | Hawaii | 89 | $36,814 |
| 45 | Nevada | 85 | $39,307 |
| 46 | Maine | 80 | $41,083 |
| 47 | Vermont | 78 | $45,993 |
| 48 | North Dakota | 70 | $40,663 |
| 49 | Wyoming | 57 | $46,061 |
| 50 | Montana | 20 | $36,441 |
Top Colleges for Payroll Clerks
1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
2. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
3. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
4. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
5. Villanova University
Villanova, PA • Private
6. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Private
7. Bentley University
Waltham, MA • Private
8. SUNY Farmingdale
Farmingdale, NY • Private
9. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
10. SUNY Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY • Private
Top Skills For a Payroll 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, 18.8% of payroll clerks listed data entry on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and math skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Payroll Clerk Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Payroll Clerk templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Payroll Clerk resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Payroll Clerk Demographics
Payroll Clerk Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among payroll clerks, 87.6% of them are women, while 12.4% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among payroll clerks is White, which makes up 61.7% of all payroll clerks.
- The most common foreign language among payroll clerks is Spanish at 76.0%.
Work Experience Programs For Payroll Clerks
Virtual work experience programs replicate work at top companies and help you gain the skills to be successful when applying and working there. In only a few hours, learn the relevant tools necessary to complete a typical work day at that company. Virtual work experience programs are 100% free, open-access, and self-paced. No experience or application is required!
Company: Standard Bank
Cost: Free
Duration: 5.5 hours
Online Courses For Payroll Clerk That You May Like
Payroll calculations - federal income tax, social security, Medicare - Payroll journal entries posted to ledger accounts...
Use free UK payroll software to perform essential payroll management...
Best States For a Payroll Clerk
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a payroll clerk. The best states for people in this position are Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New York. Payroll clerks make the most in Connecticut with an average salary of $51,618. Whereas in New Jersey and Massachusetts, they would average $50,185 and $48,241, respectively. While payroll clerks would only make an average of $48,223 in New York, 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. Connecticut
$51,618
Avg. Salary
2. Minnesota
$45,491
Avg. Salary
3. Washington
$45,608
Avg. Salary
How Do Payroll Clerk Rate Their Jobs?
Top Payroll Clerk Employers
Most Common Employers For Payroll Clerk
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | U.S. Census Bureau | $53,477 | $25.71 | 167 |
| 2 | City of Houston | $46,183 | $22.20 | 18 |
| 3 | UPS | $46,109 | $22.17 | 22 |
| 4 | Patterson-UTI Energy | $43,827 | $21.07 | 16 |
| 5 | AT&T | $42,799 | $20.58 | 18 |
| 6 | Chicago Public Schools | $42,174 | $20.28 | 22 |
| 7 | ADP | $42,173 | $20.28 | 47 |
| 8 | Costco Wholesale | $41,859 | $20.12 | 28 |
| 9 | The GEO Group | $41,648 | $20.02 | 35 |
| 10 | Robert Half | $40,924 | $19.68 | 677 |
Payroll Clerk Videos
