What does it cost to hire a word processor in Philadelphia?

Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role and never by salary or location. A contingency firm billing 20 to 30% of this role's $47,250 median wage in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would charge roughly $9,450 to $14,175 on the first year salary alone.

What should an offer for a word processor in Philadelphia look like?

Employers in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD area pay word processors and typists a median of $47,250, with the middle half of the market between $39,980 and $56,510 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $39,980 competes for the bottom quarter of that market.

Hiring a word processor in Philadelphia, PA

Employers in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD area pay word processors and typists a median of $47,250 a year, with the middle half of the market between $39,980 and $56,510 (BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 43-9022). Filling it through recruitlocalpros runs Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role rather than by salary or location, and our vetted recruiting partner handles sourcing, screening and placement end to end.

Do Philadelphia residents in office and administrative support work earn more than employers in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD area pay?

Philadelphia residents working in office and administrative support occupations earn a median of $41,846 (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011), against $49,330 as the median of the 52 wages BLS publishes for that same occupation group in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD area (BLS OEWS, May 2025), a difference of 15%, with the employers figure the higher of the two.

Both sides of that figure describe the whole office and administrative support group, not this one role. In the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD area the group covers 52 occupations BLS publishes a wage for, from hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks at $35,660 to meter readers, utilities at $83,350 (BLS OEWS, May 2025), with word processors and typists at $47,250 inside it.

That comparison is between two different measures, not a pay gap. The two weight the same occupation group differently: the Census figure is the midpoint across the people who actually hold those jobs, so a group carrying a few very well paid occupations is pulled toward them, while the BLS figure is the midpoint across the 52 published occupation wages, which counts each of those occupations once whatever its headcount. Census also counts where people live and BLS counts where the jobs are, and the two cover different populations, Census the civilian employed population 16 and over, BLS wage-and-salary jobs only. Read the number against other cities, where the same definitional difference applies on both sides, rather than as a shortfall.

Published wages across this group in the metro run above what Philadelphia residents in it earn, which usually means employers here draw this talent from beyond the city line rather than from inside it.

What does a word processor earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid to word processors and typists by employers in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD area. BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 43-9022.
25th percentile	$39,980
Median	$47,250
75th percentile	$56,510

Half of word processors and typists in this area earn between $39,980 and $56,510 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $39,980 competes for the bottom quarter of the market. Occupation detail for SOC 43-9022 at O*NET OnLine.

Place of residence

What Philadelphia residents earn

$41,846

Median annual earnings of Philadelphia residents working in office and administrative support occupations, 77,458 people (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011). An occupation group rather than this one role, and where people live rather than where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.

What does the role actually involve?

Core tasks

Perform other clerical duties, such as answering telephone, sorting and distributing mail, running errands or sending faxes.
Check completed work for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and format.
File and store completed documents on computer hard drive or disk, or maintain a computer filing system to store, retrieve, update, and delete documents.
Print and make copies of work.
Transmit work electronically to other locations.

Task statements for SOC 43-9022, O*NET OnLine 29.1.

Tools and technologies in demand

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, Google Workspace software, Intuit QuickBooks, Microsoft Access.

Flagged in demand or hot for SOC 43-9022 by O*NET OnLine 29.1. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.

Is the talent actually in Philadelphia?

This is a job zone two: some preparation needed occupation. These occupations usually require a high school diploma. O*NET OnLine, SOC 43-9022.

It does not require a degree, which widens the pool considerably. For context, 34.6% of Philadelphia adults hold one. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501, residents of Philadelphia aged 25 and over.

The average Philadelphia commute runs 32 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 16.4% of Philadelphia workers already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that. Census ACS 5-year 2023, place-level commuting characteristics for Philadelphia.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In Philadelphia County, administrative and support services employs 38,140 and turns over 16.2% a quarter, with 9,941 hires against 9,704 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $3,718 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 word processors and typists. 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 $47,250 median in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would bill roughly $9,450 to $14,175 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.

Questions employers ask about hiring a word processor in Philadelphia

What does it cost to hire a word processor in Philadelphia?: Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role and never by salary or location. A contingency firm billing 20 to 30% of this role's $47,250 median wage in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would charge roughly $9,450 to $14,175 on the first year salary alone.
What should an offer for a word processor in Philadelphia look like?: Employers in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD area pay word processors and typists a median of $47,250, with the middle half of the market between $39,980 and $56,510 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $39,980 competes for the bottom quarter of that market.
Do Philadelphia residents in office and administrative support work earn more than employers in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD area pay?: Philadelphia residents working in office and administrative support occupations earn a median of $41,846 (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011), against $49,330 as the median of the 52 wages BLS publishes for that same occupation group in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD area (BLS OEWS, May 2025), a difference of 15%. Both figures cover the whole occupation group rather than this one role, and one counts where people live while the other counts where the jobs are, so the percentage is not a pay gap.
Is the talent for this role already in Philadelphia?: This is a job zone 2 occupation and does not require a degree, which widens the pool considerably. For context, 34.6% of Philadelphia adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher (Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501).

Price this search

Eight questions about the role. Your tier range appears on screen.

Hiring a word processor somewhere else?

Same role, different market. The wage band moves with the metro.

Other office and administrative support roles in Philadelphia

Philadelphia is the largest of 2 Pennsylvania cities in this dataset.