The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics page for receptionists, in the Occupational Outlook Handbook, states that the median hourly wage for receptionists was $18.27 in May 2025. The same page says employment of receptionists is projected to decline 2 percent from 2025 to 2035.
Serath arithmetic, not a BLS annual salary: $18.27 times 2,080 hours is about $38,000 before overtime, payroll tax, benefits, or a second person to cover lunch. A shop that needs nights and Saturdays is not buying one median wage. It is buying shifts the median job does not cover.
What the BLS page does not say
It does not say an AI receptionist replaces that job. It does not price answering services. It is the clean public baseline for "what does the human version of this chair pay, at the median, per hour."
Serath's studio prices, copied from the live site on this sweep, sit next to that baseline as a different product: Text-Back is $500 plus $250 a month, Front Desk is $750 plus $400 a month, Full Desk is $1,200 plus $650 a month. Those are fixed-scope systems with a maintenance watch, not a claim that they equal a W-2 receptionist.
References
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Receptionists," Occupational Outlook Handbook. Median wage May 2025 and outlook 2025–2035. Opened 24 September 2026.
- Serath AI studio prices on the live homepage: Text-Back, Front Desk, Full Desk, Store Rescue.