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Role hub · Telemarketers

Telemarketer: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

Maid DizdarevicCareer coach · 8x LinkedIn Top Voice
Updated Nov 2, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of telemarketers earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$35,450
Hourly
$17.04
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Telemarketers solicit donations or orders for goods or services over the telephone. The median pay is $35,450 a year ($17.04 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a high school diploma or equivalent (39% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$35,450
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
58,430
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 1-2 of 5
very little to some preparation
Most common education
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
39% of workers
Key facts

Telemarketers at a glance

  • Telemarketers in the United States earned a median annual wage of $35,450 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists no formal educational credential as the typical entry-level education for telemarketers in the United States.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS projects employment of telemarketers in the United States to decline 21.4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 5,800 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS estimated that 58,430 people were employed as telemarketers in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

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The work

What telemarketers do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Contact businesses or private individuals by telephone to solicit sales for goods or services, or to request donations for charitable causes.
  2. Obtain customer information such as name, address, and payment method, and enter orders into computers.
  3. Explain products or services and prices, and answer questions from customers.
  4. Record names, addresses, purchases, and reactions of prospects contacted.
  5. Maintain records of contacts, accounts, and orders.
  6. Answer telephone calls from potential customers who have been solicited through advertisements.
  7. Deliver prepared sales talks, reading from scripts that describe products or services, to persuade potential customers to purchase a product or service or to make a donation.
  8. Telephone or write letters to respond to correspondence from customers or to follow up initial sales contacts.
Where this career works

Industries that employ it

Data Share of all telemarketer jobs in each industry, 2025 (BLS Employment Matrix).

  1. Administrative and support services65.3% of all jobs in this occupation · -25.2% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $34,260
  2. Insurance carriers and related activities9.0% of all jobs in this occupation · -14.3% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $44,830
  3. Professional, scientific, and technical services4.2% of all jobs in this occupation · -10.8% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $38,940
  4. Merchant wholesalers, durable goods2.3% of all jobs in this occupation · -15.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $54,570
  5. Specialty trade contractors2.1% of all jobs in this occupation · -16.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $39,900
  6. Telecommunications2.0% of all jobs in this occupation · -26.6% projected change here 2025–35

Sources: BLS 2025–35 National Employment Matrix (share of the occupation's jobs, projected change) and BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates (mean wage). Different industry estimates are not a pay forecast for any person.

Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

PersuasioncoreSpeakingcoreActive ListeningcoreService OrientationSocial PerceptivenessReading ComprehensionNegotiationCritical ThinkingCoordination

Knowledge areas: Sales and Marketing, Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Administration and Management, Computers and Electronics, Communications and Media.

Tools and technology

Software telemarketers use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • Acarda Sales Technologies Acarda OutboundHelpdesk or call center software
  • Automatic call distribution softwareHelpdesk or call center software
  • Remote access call center softwareAccess software
  • Softphone softwareHelpdesk or call center software
  • Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft Office softwareOffice suite softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft OutlookElectronic mail softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft PowerPointPresentation softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft WordWord processing softwareHot technology
  • Salesforce softwareCustomer relationship management CRM softwareHot technology
  • ZoomVideo conferencing softwareHot technology
  • Database Systems Corp TelemationCustomer relationship management CRM software

Also called: Call Agent, Inside Sales Representative (Inside Sales Rep), Telemarketing Sales Representative (Telemarketing Sales Rep), Telephone Sales Representative (TSR), Telephone Service Representative (TSR).

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).

How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.