Hiring a telephone operator in Atlanta, GA
Employers in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA area pay telephone operators a median of $40,400, with the middle half of the market between $39,850 and $50,360. Atlanta residents working in office and administrative support occupations report a median of $40,056, which is 1% below what the metro pays for this role.
What does a telephone operator earn here?
Place of work
What employers pay
| 25th percentile | $39,850 |
| Median | $40,400 |
| 75th percentile | $50,360 |
Half of telephone operators in this area earn between $39,850 and $50,360. A band set below $39,850 competes for the bottom quarter of the market.
Place of residence
What Atlanta residents earn
$40,056
Median earnings of Atlanta residents working in office and administrative support occupations, 23,433 people. Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011. Where people live, not where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.
The 1% figure is not a pay gap. ACS counts the civilian employed population 16 and over, part-time and part-year work included; OEWS counts wage-and-salary jobs only. The two populations differ, so read this number against other cities rather than as a shortfall: the same definitional difference applies to every city equally, which is what makes a city-to-city reading sound.
The two sit close together, so pay alone is unlikely to be what wins or loses this hire.
What does the role actually involve?
Core tasks
- Observe signal lights on switchboards, and dial or press buttons to make connections.
- Operate telephone switchboards and systems to advance and complete connections, including those for local, long distance, pay telephone, mobile, person-to-person, and emergency calls.
- Listen to customer requests, referring to alphabetical or geographical directories to answer questions and provide telephone information.
- Update directory information.
- Suggest and check alternate spellings, locations, or listing formats to customers lacking details or complete information.
O*NET 29.1, task statements for SOC 43-2021.
Tools and technologies in demand
Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Word, Computer aided dispatch software, Handheld computer device software.
O*NET 29.1, flagged in demand or hot for this occupation. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.
Is the talent actually in Atlanta?
This is a job zone two: some preparation needed occupation. These occupations usually require a high school diploma.
It does not require a degree, which widens the pool considerably. For context, 58.4% of Atlanta adults hold one. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501.
The average Atlanta commute runs 26.8 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 26.6% already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that.
How often do these jobs turn over?
In DeKalb County, administrative and support services employs 26,168 and turns over 14.0% a quarter, with 6,196 hires against 7,189 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $5,378 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 56.
That figure covers every occupation in the industry, not this role alone, so read it as the local churn rate rather than as a number about telephone operators. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a high-churn market, where speed matters more than a perfect fit.
What does the search cost?
The fee is set by the seniority of the role, never by salary and never by location. Across all six tiers it runs $6,240 to $54,340 per search. A contingency firm hiring at this role's median would bill roughly $8,080 to $12,120 on the first year salary alone.
One owner runs the search from market map to signed offer. Searches typically fill in 23 to 35 days, which is a typical window rather than a promise, and the replacement guarantee runs 45 days at 50% off.
Price this search
Eight questions about the role. Your tier range appears on screen.
Hiring a telephone operator somewhere else?
Same role, different market. The wage band moves with the metro.
- New York, NY
- Los Angeles, CA
- Philadelphia, PA
- Austin, TX
- Columbus, OH
- Washington, DC
- Boston, MA
- Detroit, MI
- Baltimore, MD
- Long Beach, CA
- Cleveland, OH
- Anaheim, CA
Other office and administrative support roles in Atlanta
Related
- Hiring Telephone Operators: the role, the pay, the process
- Recruiting services in Atlanta
- Every Georgia city we cover
Atlanta is the largest of 3 Georgia cities in this dataset.