# Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks

US SOC code 43-3051. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/43-3051

Also called: Payroll clerk, Payroll specialist, Timekeeping clerk, Payroll administrator, Payroll coordinator.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **153,140** US payroll and timekeeping clerks, with median pay of **$58,260** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2021, the highest was **159,190**, in May 2022, close to the May 2025 count. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://www.census.gov/library/publications/1904/dec/occupations.html) of **120,000** from 1900, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for payroll and timekeeping clerks: Cloud HCM platforms + direct deposit universal adoption, 2005 to 2020. Cloud HCM adoption through the 2010s correlated with sustained employment decline in payroll and timekeeping clerks.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to decline 15.9% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=43-3051&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **48.6%** 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.

## Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1888
- Latest US employment: 153,140 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [6]
- Latest US median pay: $58,260 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [11]
- Outlook: -15.9% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [27]

### 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.

- **Canada** (NOC 13102)
  - Employment, 2020: 39,925. Source: Statistics Canada Census 2021 [9]. Statistics Canada Census of Population 2021: number of persons with employment income in NOC 13102 Payroll administrators, Canada, reference year 2020. A recipients basis (anyone with employment income during the year), slightly broader than a point-in-time employed count. Statistics Canada Open Licence.
  - Median pay, 2020: C$60,000. Source: Statistics Canada Census 2021 [14]. Statistics Canada Census of Population 2021 (Table 98-10-0586): median employment income for NOC 13102 Payroll administrators, Canada, reference year 2020, full-year full-time workers (the basis comparable to the US OEWS full-time median). Statistics Canada Open Licence.

### All 29 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1900 | 120,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., 1900 Census Special Reports [1] |
| 1940 | 350,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., IPUMS USA [2] |
| 1950 | n/a | $2,600 (estimate) | Est., University of Missouri Libraries [10] |
| 1970 | 580,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Bureau of Labor Statistics / FRASER [3] |
| 1990 | 220,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., History of Automatic Data Processing Inc [4] |
| 2000 | 190,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., O\*NET 43-3051.00 [5] |
| 2003 | 194,330 | $29,590 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [6] |
| 2004 | 205,670 | $30,350 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [6] |
| 2005 | 205,600 | $31,360 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [6] |
| 2006 | 205,970 | $32,400 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [6] |
| 2007 | 201,940 | $33,810 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [6] |
| 2008 | 203,210 | $34,810 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [6] |
| 2009 | 190,810 | $36,000 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [6] |
| 2010 | 180,280 | $36,330 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [6] |
| 2011 | 176,320 | $37,160 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [6] |
| 2012 | 172,740 | $37,690 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [6] |
| 2013 | 170,400 | $38,670 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [6] |
| 2014 | 166,400 | $39,700 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [6] |
| 2015 | 166,700 | $41,000 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [6] |
| 2016 | 159,650 | $42,390 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [6] |
| 2017 | 152,990 | $43,890 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [6] |
| 2018 | 144,030 | $45,050 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [6] |
| 2019 | 142,700 | $46,180 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [6] |
| 2020 | 133,870 | $47,020 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [6] |
| 2021 | 149,290 | $47,610 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [6] |
| 2022 | 159,190 | $49,630 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [6] |
| 2023 | 157,230 | $52,240 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [6] |
| 2024 | 156,950 | $55,290 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [6] |
| 2025 | 153,140 | $58,260 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [6] |

## Sources (90)

### Employment series

1. [1900 Census Special Reports: Occupations at the Twelfth Census — clerical worker employment data](https://www.census.gov/library/publications/1904/dec/occupations.html), US Census Bureau
2. [IPUMS USA — 1940 Occupations Basis and Classification Documentation](https://usa.ipums.org/usa/volii/9050occup.shtml), IPUMS / University of Minnesota
3. [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook historical editions — Financial Clerks and Payroll Workers (available via FRASER St. Louis Fed)](https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/occupational-outlook-handbook), Bureau of Labor Statistics / FRASER
4. [History of Automatic Data Processing Inc. — FundingUniverse (ADP processing 20% of US payroll by 1985)](https://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/automatic-data-processing-inc-history/), FundingUniverse
5. [O\*NET 43-3051.00 — BLS OEWS employment and occupational context (2000 SOC introduction reference)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/43-3051.00), O\*NET / BLS
6. 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)
7. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2006, Table 97-563-XCB2006069 (Wage and salary statistics by occupation, NOC-S 2006), income reference year 2005](https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/tbt/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&PID=96285), Statistics Canada
8. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2016, Table 98-400-X2016356 (Occupation by employment income statistics, NOC 2016), income reference year 2015](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/catalogue/98-400-X2016356), Statistics Canada
9. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021, Table 98-10-0586 (Employment income statistics by occupation unit group, NOC 2021), income reference year 2020](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810058601), Statistics Canada

### Wage series

10. [University of Missouri Libraries — Prices and Wages by Decade: 1950-1959 (BLS clerical worker earnings)](https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages/1950-1959), University of Missouri Libraries / BLS historical sources
11. 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)
12. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2006, Table 97-563-XCB2006069 (Wage and salary statistics by occupation, NOC-S 2006), income reference year 2005](https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/tbt/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&PID=96285), Statistics Canada
13. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2016, Table 98-400-X2016356 (Occupation by employment income statistics, NOC 2016), income reference year 2015](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/catalogue/98-400-X2016356), Statistics Canada
14. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021, Table 98-10-0586 (Employment income statistics by occupation unit group, NOC 2021), income reference year 2020](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810058601), Statistics Canada

### Tool eras

15. [Time clock — Wikipedia (Bundy Manufacturing Company history and IBM lineage)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_clock), Wikipedia
16. [Bundy Manufacturing Company — Wikipedia (1889 founding, IBM merger lineage)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundy_Manufacturing_Company), Wikipedia
17. [Current Tax Payment Act of 1943 — Wikipedia (payroll withholding history)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_Tax_Payment_Act_of_1943), Wikipedia
18. [IBM — The punched card tabulator (payroll and Social Security applications, 1930s)](https://www.ibm.com/history/punched-card-tabulator), IBM
19. [Unit record equipment — Wikipedia (IBM tabulating machines and payroll processing history)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_record_equipment), Wikipedia
20. [Automatic Data Processing, Inc. -- Company History (Henry Taub founding 1949, growth to $1B revenue by 1985)](https://www.company-histories.com/Automatic-Data-Processing-Inc-Company-History.html), Company Histories
21. [History of Paychex, Inc. — FundingUniverse (Paychex founding 1971, Golisano, growth)](https://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/paychex-inc-history/), FundingUniverse
22. [American Payroll Association — About APA (founded 1982, FPC and CPP certifications)](https://www.americanpayroll.org/about-apa), American Payroll Association
23. [Workday — About Workday (company history, cloud HCM platform founding 2005)](https://www.workday.com/en-us/company/about-workday/core-values.html), Workday
24. [Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks — Data USA (employment trend 2014-2024)](https://datausa.io/profile/soc/payroll-timekeeping-clerks), Data USA
25. [ADP — AI Capabilities for Payroll and HR (ADP Assist)](https://www.adp.com/what-we-offer/ai-solutions/ai-capabilities.aspx), ADP
26. [Workday — Illuminate Expands with New AI Agents for HR, Finance, and Industry (Sep 2025)](https://newsroom.workday.com/2025-09-16-Workday-Illuminate-TM-Expands-with-New-AI-Agents-for-HR,-Finance,-and-Industry), Workday

### Forecasts and exposure studies

27. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 43-3051 Payroll and timekeeping clerks (2025: 159.6 thousand; 2035: 134.3 thousand; -15.9%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=43-3051&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
28. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 43-3051.00, human-rated β 0.486)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

29. [Bundy Manufacturing Company — Wikipedia (1888 patent, IBM corporate lineage)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundy_Manufacturing_Company), Wikipedia
30. [Social Security Act (1935) — National Archives (milestone document)](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/social-security-act), National Archives
31. [Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 — Wikipedia (minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping requirements)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Labor_Standards_Act_of_1938), Wikipedia
32. [Current Tax Payment Act of 1943 — Wikipedia (federal income tax withholding history)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_Tax_Payment_Act_of_1943), Wikipedia
33. [ADP (company) — Wikipedia (founding 1949, Henry Taub, Frank Lautenberg)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADP_%28company%29), Wikipedia
34. [American Payroll Association — About APA (founded 1982, FPC and CPP certifications)](https://www.americanpayroll.org/about-apa), American Payroll Association
35. [Workday — Illuminate Expands with New AI Agents for HR, Finance, and Industry (September 2025)](https://newsroom.workday.com/2025-09-16-Workday-Illuminate-TM-Expands-with-New-AI-Agents-for-HR,-Finance,-and-Industry), Workday

### Predecessors & successors

36. [Smithsonian "Carbons to Computers" — railroad payroll officers and specialized clerical roles (1870s-1900s)](https://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_plans/carbons/text/birth.html), Smithsonian Institution

### Present-day analysis

- [O\*NET 30.3 — Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks (43-3051.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/43-3051.00), accessed 2026-06-05
- [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Financial Clerks, 2024-2034](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/office-and-administrative-support/financial-clerks.htm), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Goldman Sachs — The Potentially Large Effects of AI on Economic Growth, 2023](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/articles/how-will-ai-affect-the-global-workforce), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Corpay — Payroll Trends 2025: How AI and Automation Are Reshaping the Industry](https://www.corpay.com/resources/blog/payroll-trends-how-ai-and-automation-are-reshaping-the-industry), accessed 2026-06-05
- [ADP — AI Capabilities for Payroll and HR (ADP Assist)](https://www.adp.com/what-we-offer/ai-solutions/ai-capabilities.aspx), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Rippling — AI Platform for Payroll and Workforce Management](https://www.rippling.com/platform/ai), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Paychex — AI in Payroll: Top Use Cases](https://www.paychex.com/articles/payroll-taxes/ai-in-payroll), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Indeed — Payroll Clerk Job Description (2026)](https://www.indeed.com/hire/job-description/payroll-clerk), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Gusto — Cofounder AI Teammate Automates SMB Payroll and Compliance](https://techedgeai.com/gusto-launches-cofounder-an-ai-teammate-that-automates-small-business-payroll-and-compliance/), accessed 2026-06-05

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