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Boston Career Explorer

Office and Administrative Support

File Clerks

File correspondence, cards, invoices, receipts, and other records in alphabetical or numerical order or according to the filing system used. Locate and remove material from file when requested.

Also called: Claims Clerk, Clerk, Clerk Typist, Documentation Specialist, File Clerk, Medical Records Clerk

Median pay in Greater Boston
$50,680
$24.37/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
450
Massachusetts 2024–2034
−11.1%
80 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
High school diploma or equivalent
plus Short-term on-the-job training

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$37,770$45,560$50,680$58,860$70,210

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Perform general office activities, such as typing, answering telephones, operating office machines, processing mail, or securing confidential materials.
  • Keep records of materials filed or removed, using logbooks or computers and generate computerized reports.
  • Gather materials to be filed from departments or employees.
  • Find, retrieve, and make copies of information from files in response to requests and deliver information to authorized users.
  • Add new material to file records or create new records as necessary.
  • Sort or classify information according to guidelines, such as content, purpose, user criteria, or chronological, alphabetical, or numerical order.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Moderate exposure60 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 54
  • Language-model AIOE 52
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 75

Observed AI use today: Substantial (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure is in the moderate range, and observed AI use is substantial. AI tools and digital records can handle much of the filing, finding, and tracking of information. Massachusetts is projected to have fewer of these jobs over 2024-34 (-11.1%), as other workers find records on their own. Handling confidential materials and helping coworkers with requests still involve people.

Likely to change

  • Finding and retrieving records
  • Logging and sorting filed materials

Still relies on people

  • Securing confidential materials
  • Helping coworkers with unusual requests

What federal projections say

“Occupational substitution - share decreases as continued adoption of digital records permits other occupations to file and retrieve records on their own.”
BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, factors affecting this job (U.S.)

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

Related jobs that build on what you already do.

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    Careful record keeping carries over. Pay is similar ($50,740 Boston median), with 9.0% projected growth and lower AI exposure.

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    Postsecondary nondegree award

  • Dental Assistants

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

No college programs near Boston map to this job. Many people enter through on-the-job training or apprenticeship.

Talk to a career coach at the Office of Workforce Development about apprenticeships and City partner programs.

Related occupations

Talk to a career coach

A coach at the Office of Workforce Development can help you plan your next step, and connect you with training, apprenticeships and City partner programs that are not listed here.

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