Where the work is

Where office clerks are most in demand

These are the US metro areas with the highest concentration of office clerks — not simply the biggest cities. Ranked using Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.

How this ranking works

A location quotient compares how common a job is locally against how common it is nationally. 1.0 means exactly the national average. 2.0 means the job is twice as concentrated there as it is across the country as a whole.

We rank by concentration rather than raw headcount deliberately. The largest metros have the most of nearly every job simply because they have the most people — ranking that way would show you the same list of big cities for every occupation. Concentration tells you something different: where this work is disproportionately part of the local economy, which is where your experience carries the most weight.

Metro areas by concentration

  1. 1
    Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA 2.2×
    3,360 jobs · 34.2 per 1,000 local jobs · median $19.73/hr
  2. 2
    Lubbock, TX 2.1×
    5,440 jobs · 32.6 per 1,000 local jobs · median $17.76/hr
  3. 3
    Lewiston, ID-WA 1.8×
    840 jobs · 29.2 per 1,000 local jobs · median $20.88/hr
  4. 4
    St. George, UT 1.8×
    2,560 jobs · 28.3 per 1,000 local jobs · median $21.58/hr
  5. 5
    Casper, WY 1.6×
    1,040 jobs · 25.9 per 1,000 local jobs · median $20.58/hr
  6. 6
    Lawton, OK 1.6×
    1,090 jobs · 25.4 per 1,000 local jobs · median $17.00/hr
  7. 7
    Mayaguez, PR 1.6×
    1,310 jobs · 25.0 per 1,000 local jobs · median $10.63/hr
  8. 8
    Ann Arbor, MI 1.6×
    5,460 jobs · 24.8 per 1,000 local jobs · median $18.44/hr
  9. 9
    Sebring, FL 1.6×
    690 jobs · 24.5 per 1,000 local jobs · median $18.91/hr
  10. 10
    Ponce, PR 1.6×
    1,560 jobs · 24.6 per 1,000 local jobs · median $11.09/hr
  11. 11
    Logan, UT-ID 1.5×
    1,620 jobs · 24.2 per 1,000 local jobs · median $19.58/hr
  12. 12
    Traverse City, MI 1.5×
    1,650 jobs · 24.1 per 1,000 local jobs · median $21.38/hr
  13. 13
    Hot Springs, AR 1.5×
    930 jobs · 24.2 per 1,000 local jobs · median $16.82/hr
  14. 14
    Lafayette, LA 1.5×
    4,240 jobs · 23.6 per 1,000 local jobs · median $16.59/hr
  15. 15
    Alexandria, LA 1.5×
    1,420 jobs · 23.7 per 1,000 local jobs · median $15.55/hr
  16. 16
    San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA 1.5×
    2,860 jobs · 23.4 per 1,000 local jobs · median $22.17/hr
  17. 17
    Monroe, LA 1.5×
    2,060 jobs · 23.5 per 1,000 local jobs · median $14.56/hr
  18. 18
    Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ 1.5×
    1,320 jobs · 23.4 per 1,000 local jobs · median $20.07/hr
  19. 19
    Greenville, NC 1.5×
    1,870 jobs · 23.2 per 1,000 local jobs · median $19.76/hr
  20. 20
    Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ 1.5×
    1,660 jobs · 22.9 per 1,000 local jobs · median $22.00/hr
  21. 21
    Springfield, IL 1.4×
    2,310 jobs · 22.9 per 1,000 local jobs · median $23.07/hr
  22. 22
    Johnstown, PA 1.4×
    1,080 jobs · 22.6 per 1,000 local jobs · median $18.81/hr
  23. 23
    Helena, MT 1.4×
    1,010 jobs · 22.7 per 1,000 local jobs · median $22.33/hr
  24. 24
    Bay City, MI 1.4×
    770 jobs · 22.7 per 1,000 local jobs · median $18.32/hr
  25. 25
    Boise City, ID 1.4×
    8,810 jobs · 22.5 per 1,000 local jobs · median $22.05/hr

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (2025). Areas with fewer than 100 people in this occupation are excluded — a handful of workers in a small town produces a dramatic ratio off a base too small to mean anything.

Highest paying metro areas

Concentration and pay are not the same thing, and they often point at different places. Cost of living is not adjusted for here — a higher figure in an expensive metro is not automatically a better outcome.

Outside the metros

BLS also reports rural and small-town regions separately. These often have far higher concentration and less competition for the same work.

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Employment and concentration figures are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics programme and describe the whole occupation, not LocalWork listings. They are a guide to where work is concentrated, not a guarantee of current openings.