# Counter and Rental Clerks

US SOC code 41-2021. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/41-2021

Also called: Rental clerk, Counter clerk, Car rental agent, Equipment rental clerk, Rental agent.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **400,810** US counter and rental clerks, with median pay of **$41,300** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2003, the highest was **473,090**, in May 2005. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://www.carrentalexpress.com/blog/history-car-rental-industry) of **3,000** from 1926, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for counter and rental clerks: Mobile check-in, contactless apps, and IoT fleet management, 2015 to 2025.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=41-2021&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **67.7%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend. In May 2021 BLS changed how it estimates these counts (a model-based method using three years of survey data) and moved fully to the 2018 occupation codes, so part of a change across 2021 can come from the method rather than the work.

## Counter and Rental Clerks employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1916
- Latest US employment: 400,810 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [4]
- Latest US median pay: $41,300 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [10]
- Outlook: +3% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [30]

### In other countries

The latest figure each country's statistics agency publishes for this job. Each uses its own occupation definition, survey basis and currency, so the numbers are not directly comparable with each other or with the US figures.

- **United Kingdom** (UK SOC 7219)
  - Employment, 2025: 299,000. Source: ONS ASHE 2025 [6]. ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Table 14): employee jobs in SOC 7219 Customer service occupations n.e.c., United Kingdom, 2025 (ASHE "number of jobs", thousands x1000; excludes self-employment). Open Government Licence v3.0.
  - Median pay, 2025: £24,438. Source: ONS ASHE 2025 [13]. ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Table 14.7a): median gross annual pay for all employee jobs in SOC 7219 Customer service occupations n.e.c., United Kingdom, 2025. Open Government Licence v3.0.
- **Australia** (ANZSCO 6219)
  - Employment, 2025: 12,500. Source: ABS Labour Force Survey [7]. ABS Labour Force Survey (Detailed), table EQ08: employed persons in ANZSCO 6219 Other Sales Assistants and Salespersons, national (summed across sex and state/territory), annual average of 4 quarterly estimates.
  - Median pay, 2025: A$68,536. Source: ABS Employee Earnings May 2025 [14]. Annualised (x52) from A$1,318 median weekly earnings. ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025: median pay for full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate, before tax. Surfaced via the Jobs and Skills Australia occupation profile.

### All 27 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1926 | 3,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Car Rental Express [1] |
| 1960 | 50,000 (estimate) | $3,200 (estimate) | Est., Rental Equipment Register (employment) [2]; Est., University of Missouri Libraries (pay) [8] |
| 1985 | 250,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Wikipedia [3] |
| 2000 | 540,000 (estimate) | $18,400 (estimate) | Est., Wikipedia (employment) [3]; Est., BLS (pay) [9] |
| 2003 | 442,310 | $17,640 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [4] |
| 2004 | 444,850 | $18,280 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [4] |
| 2005 | 473,090 | $18,970 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [4] |
| 2006 | 468,900 | $19,570 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [4] |
| 2007 | 462,040 | $20,070 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [4] |
| 2008 | 448,480 | $20,900 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [4] |
| 2009 | 416,950 | $21,300 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [4] |
| 2010 | 414,730 | $22,100 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [4] |
| 2011 | 420,070 | $22,740 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [4] |
| 2012 | 432,650 | $23,130 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [4] |
| 2013 | 430,700 | $23,370 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [4] |
| 2014 | 437,610 | $23,860 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [4] |
| 2015 | 447,050 | $24,440 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [4] |
| 2016 | 450,330 | $25,550 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [4] |
| 2017 | 445,530 | $25,820 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [4] |
| 2018 | 426,700 | $27,290 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [4] |
| 2019 | 411,560 | $28,820 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [4] |
| 2020 | 368,300 | $30,870 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [4] |
| 2021 | 371,620 | $31,330 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [4] |
| 2022 | 370,770 | $35,830 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [4] |
| 2023 | 390,300 | $37,400 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [4] |
| 2024 | 398,620 | $38,540 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [4] |
| 2025 | 400,810 | $41,300 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [4] |

## Sources (106)

### Employment series

1. [Car Rental Express -- "The History of the Car Rental Industry" (1926 convention, Saunders 21 states)](https://www.carrentalexpress.com/blog/history-car-rental-industry), Car Rental Express / historical industry sources
2. [Rental Equipment Register -- "The Birth of Rental" (4,500+ rental stores by 1960, American Rental Association history)](https://www.rermag.com/features/article/20932891/the-birth-of-rental), Rental Equipment Register
3. [Wikipedia -- Video rental shop (by mid-1985, 15,000 video rental stores in the US; rapid expansion to 25,000 by 1988)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_rental_shop), Wikipedia
4. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
5. ONS: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14.7a (Annual pay - Gross), 4-digit SOC 7212, United Kingdom. Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0., Office for National Statistics. Editions: [2002](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2002/2002-table-14.zip), [2006](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2006consistentw_007methodology/2006-table-14.zip), [2010](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2010revised/2010-revised-table-14.zip)
6. ONS: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14.7a (Annual pay - Gross), 4-digit SOC 7219, United Kingdom. Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0., Office for National Statistics. Editions: [2011](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2011revisedbasedonsoc2010/2011-revised-table-14.zip), [2015](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2015/table142015revised.zip), [2020](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2020revised/table142020revised.zip), [2022](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2022revised/ashetable142022revised.zip), [2025](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2025provisional/ashetable142025provisional.zip)
7. [ABS: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, table EQ08 (Employed persons by Occupation unit group, ANZSCO 2013), latest release](https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia-detailed/latest-release), Australian Bureau of Statistics

### Wage series

8. [University of Missouri Libraries -- "Prices and Wages by Decade: 1950-1959" (BLS historical wage data for service trades)](https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages/1950-1959), University of Missouri Libraries / BLS historical sources
9. [BLS -- Retail and service trade wage surveys, year 2000 (proxy via comparison to published 2003 OES baseline for 41-2021)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes412021.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics
10. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
11. [BLS OEWS May 2024, national cross-industry estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
12. ONS: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14.7a (Annual pay - Gross), 4-digit SOC 7212, United Kingdom. Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0., Office for National Statistics. Editions: [2002](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2002/2002-table-14.zip), [2006](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2006consistentw_007methodology/2006-table-14.zip), [2010](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2010revised/2010-revised-table-14.zip)
13. ONS: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14.7a (Annual pay - Gross), 4-digit SOC 7219, United Kingdom. Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0., Office for National Statistics. Editions: [2011](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2011revisedbasedonsoc2010/2011-revised-table-14.zip), [2015](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2015/table142015revised.zip), [2020](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2020revised/table142020revised.zip), [2022](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2022revised/ashetable142022revised.zip), [2025](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2025provisional/ashetable142025provisional.zip)
14. [Jobs and Skills Australia: Other Sales Assistants and Salespersons (ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025)](https://www.jobsandskills.gov.au/data/occupation-and-industry-profiles/occupations/6219-other-sales-assistants-and-salespersons), Jobs and Skills Australia / Australian Bureau of Statistics

### Tool eras

15. [Car Rental Express -- "The History of the Car Rental Industry" (Joe Saunders 1916, mileage meter at 10 cents/mile)](https://www.carrentalexpress.com/blog/history-car-rental-industry), Car Rental Express
16. [Wikipedia -- Car rental (Walter Jacobs 1918, Hertz history)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_rental), Wikipedia
17. [Automotive Hall of Fame -- Warren E. Avis (first airport car rental counter, 1946)](https://automotivehalloffame.org/honoree/warren-e-avis/), Automotive Hall of Fame
18. [Wikipedia -- Avis Car Rental (founded 1946 at Willow Run Airport, Ypsilanti, Michigan; first car rental business located at an airport)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avis_Car_Rental), Wikipedia
19. [Wikipedia -- Video rental shop (first US store December 1977; 15,000 stores by mid-1985; 70,000 by 1988; Blockbuster 84,300 employees)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_rental_shop), Wikipedia
20. [Wikipedia -- Blockbuster (retailer) (Blockbuster founded 1985, peak employment and store count)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbuster_%28retailer%29), Wikipedia
21. [Rental Equipment Register -- "The Birth of Rental" (equipment rental industry adoption of management software)](https://www.rermag.com/features/article/20932891/the-birth-of-rental), Rental Equipment Register
22. [Wikipedia -- Hertz Global Holdings (Hertz technology and reservation system history)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hertz_Global_Holdings), Wikipedia
23. [Kiosk Marketplace -- "Hertz expanding self-service car rental kiosks" (ExpressRent kiosk history 2011-2012)](https://www.kioskmarketplace.com/news/hertz-expanding-self-service-car-rental-kiosks/), Kiosk Marketplace
24. [Wikipedia -- Redbox (founding 2002 by McDonald's, pivot to DVD kiosks 2004, peak 34,000 kiosks, closure 2024)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redbox), Wikipedia
25. [Point of Rental -- "The AI-First Rental Operation: what the next decade will look like" (digital transformation of rental operations)](https://www.point-of-rental.com/gb/the-ai-first-rental-operation-what-the-next-decade-will-look-like-and-how-software-will-transform-it/), Point of Rental
26. [Booqable -- Rental software features (online booking, automated contracts, mobile-first rental management)](https://booqable.com), Booqable
27. [CBS News -- Hertz partners with UVeye for AI inspection across U.S. operations (April 2025)](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hertz-uveye-ai-tech-rental-car-inspections/), CBS News
28. [Anolla -- AI rental consultant handles 79.3% of typical queries in real time](https://anolla.com/en/best-rental-software), Anolla
29. [Gitnux -- AI in the Rental Industry 2026 (1.8x faster resolution, 80% less manual data entry, predictive maintenance)](https://gitnux.org/ai-in-the-rental-industry-statistics/), Gitnux

### Forecasts and exposure studies

30. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 41-2021 Counter and rental clerks (2025: 409.4 thousand; 2035: 421.9 thousand; +3.0%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=41-2021&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
31. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 41-2021.00, human-rated β 0.677)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

32. [Wikipedia -- Car rental (Walter Jacobs 1918, Hertz acquisition 1923)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_rental), Wikipedia
33. [Automotive Hall of Fame -- Warren E. Avis (first airport car rental, 1946)](https://automotivehalloffame.org/honoree/warren-e-avis/), Automotive Hall of Fame
34. [American Rental Association -- Wikipedia (founding March 6, 1955 by 21 operators, Leonard Hawk first president)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Rental_Association), Wikipedia
35. [Wikipedia -- Video rental shop (George Atkinson, Video Station December 1977)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_rental_shop), Wikipedia
36. [Wikipedia -- Blockbuster (retailer) (founded 1985 Dallas; peak 9,094 stores; 84,300 employees at 2004 peak)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbuster_%28retailer%29), Wikipedia
37. [CBS News -- "Hertz partners with UVeye for AI inspection across U.S. operations" (April 2025)](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hertz-uveye-ai-tech-rental-car-inspections/), CBS News

### Predecessors & successors

38. [Wikipedia -- Car rental (first US rental 1916, origins in livery trade)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_rental), Wikipedia
39. [Rental Equipment Register -- "The Birth of Rental" (early rental stores grew from hardware trade)](https://www.rermag.com/features/article/20932891/the-birth-of-rental), Rental Equipment Register

### Present-day analysis

- [O\*NET 30.3 -- Counter and Rental Clerks (41-2021.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/41-2021.00), accessed 2026-06-03
- [BLS OES May 2024 -- Counter and Rental Clerks wages and employment (national flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), accessed 2026-10-07
- [BLS Monthly Labor Review 2026 -- Industry and occupational employment projections overview 2024-34](https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2026/article/industry-and-occupational-employment-projections-overview.htm), accessed 2026-06-03
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 -- GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-06-03
- [Gitnux -- AI in the Rental Industry 2026 (1.8x faster resolution, 80% less manual data entry)](https://gitnux.org/ai-in-the-rental-industry-statistics/), accessed 2026-06-03
- [Anolla -- AI rental consultant handles 79.3% of typical queries in real time](https://anolla.com/en/best-rental-software), accessed 2026-06-03
- [Point of Rental -- The AI-First Rental Operation: what the next decade will look like](https://www.point-of-rental.com/gb/the-ai-first-rental-operation-what-the-next-decade-will-look-like-and-how-software-will-transform-it/), accessed 2026-06-03
- [CBS News -- Hertz partners with UVeye for AI inspection across U.S. operations (Apr 2025)](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hertz-uveye-ai-tech-rental-car-inspections/), accessed 2026-06-03
- [Rybo.ai -- AI Car Rental Chatbot product overview](https://www.rybo.ai/car-rental-chatbot/), accessed 2026-06-03
- [InTempo Software -- Revolutionizing the Equipment Rental Industry Through AI](https://www.intemposoftware.com/blog/revolutionizing-equipment-rental-industry-ai), accessed 2026-06-03
- [Yenra -- AI Car Rental Systems: 10 Updated Directions 2026](https://yenra.com/ai-tech/car-rental-systems/), accessed 2026-06-03
- [Booqable -- Rental software features: contract generation and payment processing](https://booqable.com), accessed 2026-06-03

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.