Office and Administrative Support · Holland code CES
Court, Municipal, and License Clerks
Perform clerical duties for courts of law, municipalities, or governmental licensing agencies and bureaus. May prepare docket of cases to be called; secure information for judges and court; prepare draft agendas or bylaws for town or city council; answer official correspondence; keep fiscal records and accounts; issue licenses or permits; and record data, administer tests, or collect fees.
Also called: City Clerk, Court Clerk, License Clerk, Town Clerk, City Recorder, City Secretary, License Specialist, Motor Vehicle Licensing Clerk.
O*NET 43-4031.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $48,700
- Middle half earn $40,810 to $60,840. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 2 of 5
- Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Prepare documents recording the outcomes of court proceedings.
- Plan or direct the maintenance, filing, safekeeping, or computerization of all municipal documents.
- Evaluate information on applications to verify completeness and accuracy and to determine whether applicants are qualified to obtain desired licenses.
- Prepare ordinances, resolutions, or proclamations so that they can be executed, recorded, archived, or distributed.
- Examine legal documents submitted to courts for adherence to laws or court procedures.
- Issue various permits and licenses, such as marriage, fishing, hunting, and dog licenses, and collect appropriate fees.
- Issue public notification of all official activities or meetings.
- Code information on license applications for entry into computers.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Active Listening3.9 / 5
- Speaking3.8 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.3 / 5
- Writing3.1 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.1 / 5
- Monitoring3.0 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.3 / 5
- Administrative4.3 / 5
- English Language4.2 / 5
- Law and Government4.0 / 5
- Computers and Electronics3.7 / 5
- Mathematics3.0 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic16
- Investigative15
- Artistic2
- Social42
- Enterprising54
- Conventional86
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- court reporter · DE Gerichtsstenograf/Gerichtsstenografin · FR greffier/greffière
- court administrative officer · DE Justizfachangestellter/Justizfachangestellte · FR agent administratif judiciaire/agente administrative judiciaire
- court clerk · DE Justizverwaltungsbeamter/Justizverwaltungsbeamtin · FR assistant de justice/assistante de justice
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Legal secretaries (4212)30,700 employed
- Legal associate professionals (3520)57,300 employed
- Company secretaries and administrators (4214)24,800 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €50,992 |
| Austria | €46,986 |
| Germany | €44,473 |
| Netherlands | €42,448 |
| Ireland | €41,613 |
| Sweden | €41,155 |
| Italy | €34,882 |
| France | €34,816 |
| Spain | €29,757 |
| Portugal | €18,080 |
| Poland | €12,108 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.17. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (43-4031).
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