---
title: "Computer User Support Specialist"
description: "Provide technical assistance to computer users. Answer questions or resolve computer problems for clients in person, via telephone, or electronically.…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-user-support-specialist"
last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z"
---

# Computer User Support Specialist

**Category:** Computer and Mathematical · **SOC code:** 15-1232 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 15-1232.00

Provide technical assistance to computer users. Answer questions or resolve computer problems for clients in person, via telephone, or electronically. May provide assistance concerning the use of computer hardware and software, including printing, installation, word processing, electronic mail, and operating systems.

Also advertised as: Computer Support Specialist; Computer Tech (Computer Technician); Desktop Support Technician (Desktop Support Tech); Help Desk Analyst; Help Desk Tech (Help Desk Technician); IS Tech (Information Systems Technician); IT Specialist (Information Technology Specialist); IT Support Specialist (Information Technology Support Specialist).

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $61,860 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $29.74/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $40,980 to $100,540, with the middle half between $49,000 and $79,040
- **Total US employment:** 717,190
- **Typical entry education:** Some college
- **Preparation required:** Some preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -3.7% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034)
- **Annual job openings:** 40,800 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 30/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 717,190 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $40,980 |
| 25th | $49,000 |
| 50th (median) | $61,860 |
| 75th | $79,040 |
| 90th | $100,540 |
| Mean (average) | $67,330 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DC | $80,950 | $73,657 | 3,140 |
| CA | $79,570 | $71,866 | 74,490 |
| WA | $75,220 | $70,291 | 21,860 |
| MA | $75,070 | $70,983 | 17,570 |
| NY | $72,560 | $67,234 | 39,100 |
| CO | $71,900 | $69,771 | 16,740 |
| CT | $70,210 | $67,764 | 9,300 |
| WY | $65,100 | $70,233 | 790 |
| VA | $65,040 | $64,330 | 20,910 |
| MD | $64,750 | $61,691 | 12,200 |
| NJ | $64,470 | $59,253 | 18,200 |
| MN | $63,630 | $64,520 | 15,320 |
| AK | $63,110 | $61,656 | 950 |
| VT | $63,030 | $64,344 | 1,630 |
| OR | $62,840 | $60,797 | 8,850 |

39 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 54 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-user-support-specialist/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/computer-user-support-specialist.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 729,500 in the 2024–2034 base year to 702,500 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 27,000 jobs, or -3.7%. Declining: -3.7% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 40,800 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Some college, no degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Some preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Moderate-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Bachelor's Degree | 47.3% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 32.3% |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 13.7% |
| First Professional Degree | 4.1% |
| Some College Courses | 1.9% |
| High School Diploma | 0.3% |

## What the work involves

- Read technical manuals, confer with users, or conduct computer diagnostics to investigate and resolve problems or to provide technical assistance and support.
- Confer with staff, users, and management to establish requirements for new systems or modifications.
- Develop training materials and procedures, or train users in the proper use of hardware or software.
- Set up equipment for employee use, performing or ensuring proper installation of cables, operating systems, or appropriate software.
- Answer user inquiries regarding computer software or hardware operation to resolve problems.
- Install and perform minor repairs to hardware, software, or peripheral equipment, following design or installation specifications.
- Refer major hardware or software problems or defective products to vendors or technicians for service.
- Maintain records of daily data communication transactions, problems and remedial actions taken, or installation activities.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Troubleshooting — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Computers and Electronics — importance 4.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Telecommunications — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mechanical — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Expression — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Conventional (C), Realistic (R), Investigative (I).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| C — Conventional | 6.02 |
| R — Realistic | 4.13 |
| I — Investigative | 3.77 |
| S — Social | 3.31 |
| E — Enterprising | 2.36 |
| A — Artistic | 1.00 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 89.8 |
| ISFJ | 84.6 |
| ESTJ | 80.9 |
| ESFJ | 67.2 |
| ISTP | 61.0 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Computer Network Support Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-network-support-specialist) — median $76,220
- [Network and Computer Systems Administrator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/network-and-computer-systems-administrator) — median $99,130
- [Computer Systems Engineers/Architect](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-systems-engineers-architect) — median $116,580
- [Computer Systems Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-systems-analyst) — median $105,850
- [Software Developer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/software-developer) — median $135,980
- [Database Administrator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/database-administrator) — median $104,620
- [Computer, Automated Teller, and Office Machine Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-automated-teller-and-office-machine-repairer) — median $47,810
- [Information Security Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/information-security-analyst) — median $129,180
- [Information Security Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/information-security-engineer) — median $116,580
- [QA Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/qa-analyst) — median $104,300

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/computer-user-support-specialist