Customer Service Jobs: A Salary Guide for 2023

Are you looking for a customer service job, or are you hiring for one? You’re not alone—customer service jobs are in high demand. But what are customer service jobs worth? That’s a loaded question with a lot of variation. In this guide, we cover everything you need to know about customer service jobs, including salary benchmarks, the factors that impact salaries, and tips for both hiring managers and job seekers. We’ll look at how location, industry, seniority, and other factors play a role in determining customer service salaries.

• Customer Service Jobs Salary Benchmarks
• Factors that impact customer service salaries
• Tips for hiring managers
• Tips for job seekers
• Frequently asked questions

The Median Salary for a Customer Support Specialist

The median worldwide salary for a customer support specialist is between $50,000–$55,000 per year. That’s based on the most recent available data from 2018, so we can expect salaries in 2023 to be higher. However, average and median customer service salaries vary significantly depending on a number of factors.

How Location Affects Customer Service Salaries

Location is one of the most important factors impacting customer service salaries. Customer service jobs in North America typically boast the highest salaries in the world. The median salary for a customer support specialist in North America is $55,000. However, salaries vary widely within North America, depending on the city and cost of living. For example, customer service jobs in San Francisco, San Jose, New York City, and Seattle all average 10-35% higher than the median U.S. salary. Globally, cities like Hong Kong, Sydney, London, and Paris also report higher salaries, with a median of $60,000.

• The location of both the customer support representative and the company impact salaries
• Regardless of region, customer service jobs based in cities with a high cost of living come with higher salaries
• Location’s impact is second only to the type of role and seniority

How Industry Affects Customer Service Salaries

Customer service jobs can be found in all kinds of industries, and your earning potential varies from one to the next. The level of demand for customer support in each industry, specialized skills or technical know-how needed, and company size all play a role.

• Tech
• Retail and e-commerce

The Impact of Seniority and Job Titles on Customer Service Salaries

Seniority and job title are the two most important factors determining customer service salaries. While tenure with a company has a small impact on earning potential, pay does rise based on level of experience and tenure.

• Entry-level: Base pay for entry-level customer service jobs falls between $37,000–$42,000 per year. That number rises to the median (about $55,000) after you gain a few years of experience.
• Manager: Substantial salary growth happens when you move up to management and higher roles. Base pay for Customer Success Managers—a mid-level customer service job—averages $69,725. Upper levels along the customer service career path include roles like Director of Customer Experience. The average base salary for that job is $122,663. Plus, higher-level roles bring more potential to earn bonuses and commission on top of your salary.

Hourly vs. Salaried Customer Service Jobs

Whether you’re paid by the hour or based on an annual salary can also impact earnings in a big way. The average hourly rate for an entry-level customer service specialist ranges from $15–$18 per hour. If you work full-time, that’s between $31,200–$37,440 per year. By that measure, hourly customer service jobs can yield a much lower annual paycheck than similar salaried roles. And there’s more to it than the annual full-time math. Not all hourly roles are full-time, so you may not see the full annual pay. Plus, hourly rates also include freelance and contract customer service jobs—many of which don’t include benefits like health insurance, PTO (paid time off), or retirement contributions.

Demographic Factors Impacting Customer Service Salaries

Your experience and the specifics of the job aren’t the only things that impact a customer service salary. We’ve seen progress in recent years, but wage gaps based on gender, race, and sexuality persist in many industries. The customer service sphere isn’t immune to those gaps. As with most industries, straight white men earn the highest salaries. Women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ folks tend to earn less.

• Gender: Women are well-represented in the customer service field. They even earn higher salaries than men during the entry-level phase of their careers. But as seniority increases, that gender gap flips and widens. Overall, women average $50,000 while men average $52,000 annually.
• Race: When it comes to race, the wage gap in customer service is much narrower than the overall wage gap in the U.S. But it still exists and broadly follows the same trend. Despite that, Black customer service reps regularly earn 1.5% less than their white counterparts in similar roles. Hispanic and Latino customer service pros fall in the middle, earning around 0.46% less than white workers. Asian customer service customer support pros command the highest salaries.
• Sexuality and gender identity: While we know wage gaps and employment discrimination against LGBTQ+ folks exist broadly, data specific to customer service is hard to come by.

Tips for Hiring Managers

Whether you’re hiring your first customer support rep or your hundredth, doesn’t matter. The job climate changes all the time, so it’s important to keep a few things in mind throughout the process.

• Do you need a full-time employee? Before you budget for benefits and start looking for a full-time customer support rep, it’s worth re-assessing your needs. Do you really need someone full-time?
• U.S.-based customer service is more expensive. Support reps based in the United States command much higher salaries than those in other regions of the world. If—for whatever reason—you need to hire U.S.-based support, expect to pay more for those employees. Budget accordingly.
• You may need to offer above-average salaries. In any region, you may need to offer a salary above the median to be competitive. Here are a few indicators you should bump up customer service pay:

Tips for Job Seekers

If you’re looking for a customer service job, all the salary data above may feel overwhelming. Below, we recap the main highlights to keep in mind as you job search and evaluate potential roles.

• Demand and salary vary by location. Outside the level of a customer service role, location is the biggest factor affecting salary. There are a few ways you can use the knowledge to earn higher pay.
• Certain skills can help you earn more. There are some in-demand skills and experience that companies are willing to pay a premium for. Cultivating those skills can help up-level your earning potential.
• Chart a path into management to grow your salary. Moving into a customer service management role is the top way to grow your salary. Remember: while your salary will increase as you gain experience beyond entry level, there’s a tipping point. After a few years in the field, salary growth plateaus. Taking on management and supervisory responsibilities will allow you to keep growing and earning more.

Frequently Asked Questions about Customer Service Salaries

Still have questions? Here are a few more answers to some common questions around customer service salaries.

• What should I pay an entry-level customer service representative? Choosing a fair rate to pay an entry-level customer service representative isn’t always straightforward. There’s a lot to consider. That said, we can share a few benchmarks to serve as a jumping-off point: The average hourly rate for an entry-level customer support specialist sits between $15–$18 per hour. The average annual salary ranges from $37,000–$42,000 per year.
• What’s the job satisfaction for customer support representatives? Job satisfaction across industries is tough to measure. Still, there’s data to support high satisfaction levels among customer support representatives. According to information from Payscale, customer support reps are “highly satisfied” with their jobs.
• Is $19 per hour for an entry-level help desk agent a good wage? In short, yes. The average rate for an entry-level customer support agent falls between $15–$18 per hour. So $19 per hour is an above-average wage. However, if the job requires more than a year or two of experience or is located in an area with a high cost of living, you may be able to earn more with another company.
• Have customer support salaries changed substantially in 2022? We don’t have much data available yet on salary numbers in 2023. That said, rebounds of the U.S. and global economies plus ramped up competition for employees should drive up wages. So it’s reasonable to expect salaries will increase.