How much do data entry specialists make in 2026?
Data entry specialists are counted in the BLS data entry keyers series: OEWS May 2025 puts SOC 43-9021 at a national median of $41,340 a year ($19.88 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $31,200 and the top 10% at $58,790. The pay figures matter less than the outlook, so take that first: employment in this occupation is projected to decline 25.9% through 2034, one of the steepest falls in the entire projections, with roughly 9,500 openings a year. Anyone considering this work as a career rather than as a temporary job should know that before anything else. The decline is driven by exactly what you would expect — optical character recognition, automated document processing, system integration that removes rekeying entirely, and machine learning models that extract structured data from unstructured sources faster and more accurately than a person can type it. What remains is work where accuracy is legally or clinically critical, where source documents are genuinely difficult, or where the volume is too small to automate. Specialists who pair keying speed with verification, quality assurance or database and reporting skills are the ones whose roles survive, and those skills also lead somewhere else. Employment is projected to decline 25.9% through 2034, with roughly 9,500 openings a year. → Full data entry specialist career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $41,340 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Data Entry Specialists earn a national median $41,340/yr ($19.88/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 43-9021); the P10 to P90 range is $31,200 to $58,790.
- Employment is projected to fall 25.9% through 2034, one of the steepest declines in the entire projections — this is the most important fact about the occupation.
- Optical character recognition, automated document processing and system integration have removed most rekeying, leaving work where accuracy is critical or sources are genuinely difficult.
- Pairing keying with verification, quality assurance, database or reporting skills is both what keeps a role viable and what leads out of the occupation.
US Data Entry Specialist Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do data entry specialists earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 43-9021; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 43-9021, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a data entry specialist earn at each career stage?
Data entry pay follows accuracy standards and what else you can do with the data. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 43-9021.
By State
Which states pay data entry specialists the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the BLS national data entry keyer median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. This occupation is unusually exposed to geographic arbitrage: work that can be done anywhere has been moved to lower-cost regions and offshore, which compresses domestic rates independent of local wage levels.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($47,540), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay data entry specialists the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the national median scaled by the state wage index and then by that state's published metro index. They estimate local wage levels and are not BLS metropolitan-area observations. Because much of this work is remote, metro adjustment describes the worker's location rather than the employer's market.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a data entry specialist’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does data entry specialist pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Data Entry Specialists sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify data entry specialist wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a data entry specialist actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Data Entry Specialist Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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