Medical Administrative Assistant Earnings: National and Local Data

For medical administrative assistant earnings, use the exact BLS occupation. Its name is medical secretaries and administrative assistants. A broader office-support figure describes different work. So does a salary for clinical medical assistants. Keep the occupation name with the number when comparing career options. A course or certificate does not guarantee a job or higher pay.

The BLS national annual median was $45,930 (May 2025) for SOC 43-6013. That measure covers workers with varied experience. It does not isolate course graduates, CMAA holders or new entrants. For a local decision, compare the same occupation and wage measure, then read the actual employer's duties, hours and advertised terms.

The short answer

The BLS administrative pay table gives the occupation-specific national median. The wage period is May 2025. The source was checked in November 2026. These dates do different jobs: one names the data, the other records the factual check.

A median is the midpoint among the covered workers. It is not the arithmetic mean, a take-home figure or an offer of work. Do not treat it as the pay a given applicant can expect.

Which occupation the figures cover

SOC 43-6013 covers medical secretaries and administrative assistants. It is a useful match for nonclinical office administration in healthcare. Read the medical administration duties guide first. Then check whether this series fits a vacancy with a mixed title.

Clinical medical assistants and medical records specialists have different work scopes. Reception, scheduling and insurance-details entry can overlap with other office jobs. But overlap does not make all of their wage statistics interchangeable.

A job may combine office and clinical tasks. Ask the employer which tasks are clinical and which are office work. Compare pay only after you know which duties the job involves.

National and location pay

Source: BLS OOH. Use BLS OEWS tables for a location-specific check. No local number is calculated from the national median.

Choose the state or metro area where you plan to work. Compare the same wage measure and data period. If BLS has no local estimate, use published local vacancies to learn about actual offers.

Setting and experience limits

Hospitals, specialist practices and other healthcare offices may organise administrative work differently. A wage difference between settings can reflect the mix of work and workers. It does not show that moving to one setting gives a given person a pay rise.

The national median is not a starting-pay series. A lower percentile would not by itself show beginner pay either. For an entry-level choice, read the actual employer's vacancy. Keep any experience conditions with the stated pay range.

Compare medical administration with adjacent roles

General administration can involve similar calendars and correspondence without the same healthcare context. Medical records work can include coding and classifying records. That differs from planning the work of a front office. A credential for one route should not be treated as the award for another.

NHA awards CMAA, the Certified Medical Administrative Assistant credential. Its current route includes education or supervised relevant work conditions and an exam. Course completion by another provider is a separate award. The career guide sets out the checked difference in entry rules.

Plan training costs

List the costs of the actual route. These include tuition, any separate exam, materials and travel. Mark a missing cost as still to check. If an exam voucher is included, count it once and check its conditions.

Do not subtract tuition from the whole national annual median. That difference is not a return on training. The median is not extra income caused by training. Your choice also depends on the entry rules and whether you can finish the course. You still need to find suitable work.

Save the hours and experience conditions with any advertised hourly range. Ask the employer how many hours are paid before using it in your budget.

Sources and method

The national figure comes from the BLS OOH occupation table, which names OEWS as its wage source. The reference period is May 2025, Checked November 2026. No hourly conversion, tax estimate or credential premium is included.

Use medical administrative assistant earnings as one part of a career decision. Return to the medical administration guide to compare duties and entry rules. Do this before choosing a course.