State medians come from the same OEWS release as the national figures. The cost-of-living column divides each state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, restating pay in national-average dollars so a high-cost state and a low-cost one can be compared directly.
Bill and Account Collector Salary (2026): Data, Outlook & How to Become One
The median pay for Bill and Account Collectors is $47,030 a year ($22.61/hr), according to BLS OEWS, May 2025. Employment is projected to fall 10.5% through 2034, with about 13,700 openings a year (BLS EP, 2024–2034). Typical entry-level education: High school diploma or equivalent.
SOC 43-3011Office and Administrative SupportLast updated August 23, 2026
- Median pay
- $47,030
- Projected growth
- -10.5%
- Openings a year
- 13,700
- Typical education
- High school
BLS OEWS, May 2025
BLS EP, 2024–2034
BLS EP, 2024–2034
BLS EP, 2024–2034
Also advertised as: Account Representative, Accounts Receivable Specialist (AR Specialist), Collection Agent, Collection Specialist, Collector, Debt Collector.
How much do Bill and Account Collectors make?
10th percentile$34,400
Entry / lowest-paid tenth
25th percentile$39,010
Lower quartile
Median (50th)$47,030
Half earn more, half earn less
75th percentile$56,740
Upper quartile
90th percentile$65,580
Top-paid tenth
| Median annual wage | $47,030 |
|---|---|
| Median hourly wage | $22.61/hr |
| Mean annual wage | $49,060 |
| People employed | 158,830 |
Versus all US occupations
At $47,030, Bill and Account Collectors earn 8% below the $50,980 median across all US occupations, a difference of $3,950 a year.
Versus office and administrative support occupations
Inside the Office and Administrative Support group, where the middle occupation pays $48,500, this is 3% below the group median.
Pay range
The top 10% earn $65,580 or more while the bottom 10% earn $34,400, a gap of 1.9×. That is a typical spread for a US occupation.
Rank in the bank
This median pays more than 21% of the 923 occupations in the NueCareer career bank.
Cost of living
District of Columbia posts the highest raw median ($62,230), but once local prices are taken into account Alaska leads at $59,409 in national-average dollars.
Which states pay Bill and Account Collectors the most?
| State | Median | COL-adjusted | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | $62,230 | $56,624 | 240 |
| Alaska | $60,810 | $59,409 | 310 |
| Massachusetts | $59,800 | $56,545 | 2,510 |
| California | $57,930 | $52,321 | 13,880 |
| Connecticut | $57,930 | $55,912 | 900 |
| Vermont | $57,630 | $58,831 | 80 |
| Hawaii | $53,570 | $48,722 | 180 |
| New Jersey | $52,510 | $48,261 | 3,310 |
| Rhode Island | $52,000 | $50,841 | 370 |
| Oregon | $50,880 | $49,226 | 830 |
Is Bill and Account Collector a growing career?
Bill and Account Collectors-10.5%
All US occupations3.1%
-10.5% projected growth vs 3.1% for all occupations.
Declining
BLS projects employment of Bill and Account Collectors to change -10.5% over 2024–2034, while total US employment is projected to rise 3.1%. That is 17,500 fewer jobs.
Annual openings
About 13,700 openings are projected each year, 8.2% of the 166,900 jobs that existed in 2024. Most come from workers leaving the occupation, not from growth alone.
Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.
Continued use of enhanced software and automated calling systems is expected to increase productivity and allow collectors to handle more accounts. This technology will allow more collections work to be done with fewer employees. However, the need to collect various types of debt, including student, credit card, and mortgage debt, should create some demand for bill and account collectors.
How to become a Bill and Account Collector
No licence, no certification and no degree: BLS records a high school diploma and training on the job. The gate is regulatory rather than educational, and it is unusually specific about how you do the work rather than who may do it. Since 30 November 2021 the CFPB's Regulation F has put numbers on the job: a debt collector is presumed to violate federal law if it telephones a person about a particular debt more than seven times in seven consecutive days, or at all within seven consecutive days of having had a telephone conversation with that person about that debt. Where a state licence exists it usually sits on the collection agency rather than on the collector.
The credential path, step by step
- Finish high school
Most bill and account collectors are required to have a high school diploma, although some employers prefer applicants who have taken some college courses. Communications, accounting and basic computer courses are useful.
- Get hired and take the training, which is more legal than technical
Collectors typically receive training after being hired, covering computer software, federal debt collection law in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and state debt collection regulations, plus negotiation techniques. The legal content is the substance of the job rather than background reading.
- Learn the Regulation F call limits as operating constraints
A debt collector is presumed to comply if it places no more than seven calls to a particular person about a particular debt within seven consecutive days, and none within seven consecutive days after having had a telephone conversation with them about that debt; exceeding either is presumed to be a violation. Calls placed with the person's prior consent given directly to the collector within the previous seven days, and calls not connected to the dialled number, do not count. A time before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. local time at the consumer's location is presumed inconvenient. You must not contact a consumer at their place of employment if you know or have reason to know the employer prohibits it, nor contact a consumer you know is represented by an attorney whose name and address you know or can readily ascertain, unless the attorney fails to respond in a reasonable time or consents.
- Know the validation notice and the time-barred debt rule
Validation information must be given to the consumer either orally in the initial communication or by a validation notice sent in the initial communication or within five days of it. A debt collector must not bring or threaten to bring a legal action against a consumer to collect a debt whose statute of limitations has expired; the only carve-out is a proof of claim filed in a bankruptcy proceeding.
- Work out whether the rules apply to you at all
Regulation F defines a debt collector as any person whose principal business is the collection of debts, or who regularly collects or attempts to collect debts owed to another, and expressly excludes an officer or employee of a creditor collecting the creditor's own debts in the creditor's name. That distinction is why the same job title carries very different rules: an in-house collector working for the original creditor sits outside the definition, while a collector at a third-party agency sits inside all of it.
- How long the training takes
No programme; training happens after hire
BLS records a high school diploma as the typical entry-level education, with on-the-job training in the employer's software, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, state debt collection regulations and negotiation technique.
- Continuing education
Not required
None is required of collectors personally. The training obligation sits with the employer, which BLS records as covering federal debt collection law and state regulations. What changes over time is the rulebook rather than a credit requirement: Regulation F took effect on 30 November 2021 and restated much of the job in measurable terms.
Licensing and state variation
Not a state license
Individual collectors are not generally licensed; the licence, where a state requires one, sits on the collection agency. North Carolina, for example, requires a permit from the Commissioner of Insurance before any person, firm, corporation or association may conduct or operate a collection agency in the state, backed by a surety bond in favour of the state and a certification that no officer, individual proprietor or partner has been convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude or violated any state or federal debt collection law. BLS records that new collectors are trained on state debt collection regulations precisely because those differ, so check the banking, financial institutions or insurance regulator in each state you collect in, not only the one you sit in. Regulation F, by contrast, is federal and applies identically everywhere.
Who governs the credential
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) — Writes and enforces Regulation F (12 CFR part 1006), which implements the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and sets the communication limits, validation notice requirements and prohibitions that govern how collection work is done. It licenses nobody: it regulates conduct.
- North Carolina Department of Insurance (NC DOI) — Issues the permit required to operate a collection agency in North Carolina under Chapter 58, Article 70 of the General Statutes. Included as a worked example of agency-level licensing; the responsible regulator differs by state and is often the banking or financial institutions department instead.
Credential detail for bill and account collectors is researched by hand from the bodies that issue it, not derived from BLS or O*NET. Sources last checked August 23, 2026. Requirements change: confirm with your own state board before enrolling in anything.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Bill and Account Collectors · checked August 23, 2026
- eCFR, 12 CFR part 1006: Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (Regulation F) · checked August 23, 2026
- CFPB: Debt Collection Practices (Regulation F) final rule · checked August 23, 2026
- North Carolina Department of Insurance: Collection Agency Licensing · checked August 23, 2026
- North Carolina General Statutes G.S. 58-70-5: Application to Commissioner for permit · checked August 23, 2026
What the federal data says
Bill and account collectors typically need at least a high school diploma to enter the occupation, and they receive training on the job.
| Typical entry-level education | High school diploma or equivalent |
|---|---|
| Preparation needed (O*NET job zone) | Little or no preparation |
| Work experience in a related occupation | None |
| Typical on-the-job training | Moderate-term on-the-job training |
What education people in the job have
O*NET incumbent survey: the highest level of education reported by people already working as bill and account collectors.
- High School Diploma48.2%
- Some College Courses27.4%
- Bachelor's Degree21.1%
- Less than a High School Diploma2.3%
- Post-Secondary Certificate1.1%
What does a Bill and Account Collector do?
Locate and notify customers of delinquent accounts by mail, telephone, or personal visit to solicit payment. Duties include receiving payment and posting amount to customer's account, preparing statements to credit department if customer fails to respond, initiating repossession proceedings or service disconnection, and keeping records of collection and status of accounts.
Bill and account collectors try to recover payment on overdue bills. They negotiate repayment plans and help people find solutions to make it easier to pay their overdue bills.
Day-to-day tasks
- Answer customer questions regarding problems with their accounts.
- Arrange for debt repayment or establish repayment schedules, based on customers' financial situations.
- Record information about financial status of customers and status of collection efforts.
- Advise customers of necessary actions and strategies for debt repayment.
- Locate and notify customers of delinquent accounts by mail, telephone, or personal visits to solicit payment.
- Confer with customers by telephone or in person to determine reasons for overdue payments and to review the terms of sales, service, or credit contracts.
- Locate and monitor overdue accounts, using computers and a variety of automated systems.
- Trace delinquent customers to new addresses by inquiring at post offices, telephone companies, credit bureaus, or through the questioning of neighbors.
O*NET core tasks, ordered by reported importance.
Working conditions and hours
Most bill and account collectors work full time. Some work shifts that include weekends or evenings.
Where the work happens
- Indoors, in a climate-controlled space, every day
Physical demands
- Seated for more than half the working day
Working with people
- Constant contact with other people
Pressure and stakes
- Handling conflict situations at least monthly
Schedules: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition. Conditions: O*NET Work Context survey, showing only the signals people in the job report decisively one way or the other.
Where bill and account collectors work
| Business support services | 25% |
|---|---|
| Credit intermediation and related activities | 19% |
| Healthcare and social assistance | 11% |
| Professional, scientific, and technical services | 8% |
| Management of companies and enterprises | 7% |
BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition.
Core skills
- Active Listening3.9/5
- Speaking3.9/5
- Writing3.3/5
- Reading Comprehension3.1/5
- Critical Thinking3.1/5
- Monitoring3.0/5
- Active Learning2.9/5
- Mathematics2.6/5
Transferable skills
- Social Perceptiveness3.4/5
- Persuasion3.4/5
- Negotiation3.0/5
- Service Orientation3.0/5
- Time Management3.0/5
- Coordination2.9/5
- Complex Problem Solving2.9/5
- Judgment and Decision Making2.9/5
Tools and software
- Accounting software · in demand
- Electronic mail software · in demand
- Enterprise resource planning ERP software · in demand
- Medical software · in demand
- Office suite software · in demand
- Presentation software · in demand
- Spreadsheet software · in demand
- Word processing software · in demand
- Access software
- Categorization or classification software
- Customer relationship management CRM software
- Data base user interface and query software
“In demand” marks an O*NET Employer-Based Hot Technology, software named in real job postings for this occupation.
What personality type suits a Bill and Account Collector?
Interest profile: O*NET Occupational Interests, scored 1–7
Realistic2.1
Investigative1.0
Artistic1.0
Socialprimary3.3
Enterprisingprimary4.4
Conventionalprimary7.0
Day to day this is work built around organising, following procedures and working precisely with data, combined with leading, persuading, selling and making decisions.
Closest MBTI types
NueCareer fit scores: cosine similarity between each MBTI type's interest vector and this occupation's O*NET interest profile. Not a BLS or O*NET figure; the method is documented on our methodology page.
Bill and Account Collector: frequently asked questions
How much do Bill and Account Collectors make?
Bill and Account Collectors earn a median of $47,030 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), 8% below the $50,980 median for all US occupations. That works out at $22.61/hr. The middle half earn between $39,010 and $56,740. The top 10% earn $65,580 or more.
Do you need a degree to become a Bill and Account Collector?
No. A bachelor's degree is not the norm: BLS reports a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education for Bill and Account Collectors. BLS also lists moderate-term on-the-job training as typical on-the-job training. In O*NET's survey of people already doing the job, 48.2% hold high school diploma.
Is Bill and Account Collector a growing career?
No. BLS projects employment to fall 10.5% over 2024–2034, a loss of 17,500 jobs (BLS EP, 2024–2034). BLS still projects about 13,700 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.
What does a Bill and Account Collector do?
Bill and account collectors try to recover payment on overdue bills. A core O*NET task: answer customer questions regarding problems with their accounts. Employers most often ask for Accounting software, Electronic mail software, Enterprise resource planning ERP software.
Which states pay Bill and Account Collectors the most?
The highest state medians for Bill and Account Collectors are District of Columbia ($62,230), Alaska ($60,810), Massachusetts ($59,800) (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Adjusted for local prices using BEA Regional Price Parities, Alaska moves to the top at $59,409.
What personality type suits a Bill and Account Collector?
O*NET scores Bill and Account Collectors highest on the Conventional, Enterprising and Social interest areas, so the work mixes organising, following procedures and working precisely with data with leading, persuading, selling and making decisions. On NueCareer's MBTI-to-interest mapping the closest types are ESTJ, ESFJ. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 923 occupations in the bank.
How long does it take to become a Bill and Account Collector?
No programme; training happens after hire. BLS records a high school diploma as the typical entry-level education, with on-the-job training in the employer's software, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, state debt collection regulations and negotiation technique.
Do you need a license to work as a Bill and Account Collector?
Not a state license. Individual collectors are not generally licensed; the licence, where a state requires one, sits on the collection agency. North Carolina, for example, requires a permit from the Commissioner of Insurance before any person, firm, corporation or association may conduct or operate a collection agency in the state, backed by a surety bond in favour of the state and a certification that no officer, individual proprietor or partner has been convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude or violated any state or federal debt collection law. BLS records that new collectors are trained on state debt collection regulations precisely because those differ, so check the banking, financial institutions or insurance regulator in each state you collect in, not only the one you sit in. Regulation F, by contrast, is federal and applies identically everywhere.