Administrative Assistant Salary: Roles, Locations and Pay Data

Administrative assistant salary figures need an occupation label. General office support, executive assistance and medical administration are different BLS groups. Compare the wage for the duties you want to do, even when employers use similar titles. A course or certificate does not guarantee a job or higher pay.

The national median gives a reference point for a defined occupation and date. It does not show what a beginner will earn, what one employer offers or what a certificate adds to pay. Match the duties first, then compare the same measure and reference period for the location where you intend to work.

The short answer

For May 2025, the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook reports separate annual medians for general, executive and medical administrative occupations. The table below retains those differences. Checked November 2026.

A median splits the covered workers into two halves. It is different from the mean, which is an arithmetic average. Neither measure is a quoted wage from a local employer. The reference month is May 2025. The check date tells you when the source was read, not when the wages were earned.

National pay by administrative occupation

Source: BLS OOH administrative pay table. The SOC names the occupation grouping. All rows are national annual medians for the same reference period. No hourly rate or take-home amount is calculated here.

The broader combined group also includes legal secretaries. Its median should not replace the occupation-specific rows when you know which work you are comparing. The executive row includes an experienced occupation. So its higher median cannot be treated as a quick-course outcome.

Location and industry variation

Local pay may differ from the national figure. Compare a state or metropolitan estimate for the same SOC and reference year. A city-name salary page can mix jobs, dates or measures. Check which jobs and wage measure it covers before using it in your budget.

The BLS OEWS tables are the route to published national, state, metropolitan and industry estimates. Choose your intended work location there to find a local comparison.

To make a local comparison, retain these fields:

• The occupation title and SOC.
• The exact geography, including whether it is a state or metropolitan area.
• The wage measure: median, another percentile or mean.
• The pay period: hourly or annual.
• The data's reference date and source.

If BLS has no estimate for your area, ask local employers about their pay ranges. A nearby area's estimate can help you explore another job market, but it does not tell you the rate where you plan to work.

Industry and occupation describe different things. A medical administrative assistant works in a given kind of administration. A broad healthcare-industry figure may include many other jobs. Choose a row whose occupation and industry scope both match the comparison you intend to make.

What the data says about starting pay

These medians cover workers with varied experience. They do not isolate people in their first job. A lower percentile is also not by itself a beginner rate: it can reflect location, employer and other factors as well as experience.

For a starting-pay decision, read actual entry-level vacancies in your intended area. Record the tasks, required experience, hours and advertised range where one is supplied. A job advertisement is employer-specific evidence and should remain separate from the BLS population estimate.

Do not assume a range's upper end is available to a new applicant. Read any conditions attached to the range. If the employer does not publish a rate, ask the employer for the rate.

For a career changer comparing two openings, one full-time and one part-time, an annual headline can conceal different hours. Compare each offer on its stated terms before judging which works for your budget. Confirm whether overtime is included.

Compare duties before comparing salaries

A general assistant may handle scheduling and correspondence. Executive support may add senior-level coordination and confidential work. Medical administration adds healthcare terminology and records procedures. See the administrative assistant duties guide for the differences.

Job titles can overlap. An office coordinator doing general clerical work may belong closer to the general occupation than the executive one. The word senior in a vacancy does not by itself show the BLS mapping.

Use the duty list to make the match. If a role combines bookkeeping, reception and executive assistance, record that mixed scope. Ask the employer which duties matter most before choosing the wage row to compare.

Training and career next steps

Pay research helps you decide whether a field deserves further investigation. It cannot prove that a given course will raise your earnings. Tuition, exam fees and time away from work remain separate costs, with no automatic repayment from a national median.

For an entry office role, compare the requested software and communication skills with your evidence. For an experienced route, IAAP's CAP has separate education-and-experience entry rules. A course completion award is not that credential. The career guide explains where introductory learning fits.

Build a training budget from known charges and your own circumstances. Leave missing costs open instead of using a salary forecast to make the total appear affordable.

Sources and method

A practical comparison record

Keep a short record for each wage figure you use. Put the job duties beside the occupation code. Then add the place, period and measure. This avoids a common mistake: comparing a national median for one job with a local mean for another.

For example, imagine an office assistant vacancy that includes some diary management for a director. That alone does not make it an executive assistant job. Read the rest of the tasks. Check the level of judgement and the experience requested before choosing a comparison row.

A second sample vacancy might call itself a medical receptionist. If its duties are largely scheduling and medical office records, the medical secretaries and administrative assistants series can be useful context. If the vacancy includes other duties, ask the employer for more detail before using that wage as a comparison.

Keep a stated employer range separate from the official table. Record whether it is hourly or annual, and whether the employer says it depends on experience. If hours vary, ask what the advertised amount covers. A number with no clear work period is not enough for a household budget.

For your training decision, compare only the costs you can show. A course fee is a payment you may make now. A wage estimate describes workers in a past reference period. You can decide that the work interests you without claiming that a certificate will produce the median.

Use the original source link when you return to the figures. A copied table can lose a footnote or a period label. If your saved figure is old, read the current release and check the work and area it covers before using it for a new decision.

This reference uses the BLS OOH table for the three national occupation medians, with May 2025 as the wage period. The source was checked in November 2026. BLS names the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics programme as the wage source.

No state values, hourly conversions, tax estimates or credential premiums have been added. The OEWS table index gives the route for a more detailed local check. Keep any later local row's original measure and period with it.

The broader career comparison puts office work beside other training routes.

Use administrative assistant salary data to compare a defined job with a defined market. Then check the employer's actual rules and terms before choosing training or changing work.