Administrative Assistant Jobs Salary Guide: Pay, Ranges and How to Earn More

Quick Answer

Administrative assistant jobs pay a median of $48,310 a year in the United States, or $23.23 an hour, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2025). That is the middle of the range: the lowest-paid 10 percent earned less than $35,360 a year, while the highest-paid 10 percent earned more than $77,720. This administrative assistant jobs salary guide explains what sits behind those figures, how pay changes by specialism, industry and place, and what you can do to earn more.

Pay for admin work is a range, not a single number. A general administrative assistant in a small firm earns far less than an executive assistant supporting a chief executive, and a legal secretary earns more than a medical receptionist. The figures in this administrative assistant jobs salary guide are general ranges from a public source, so you can judge any offer against them. Use them to set your expectations, to compare roles, and to negotiate with confidence.

Administrative Assistant Jobs Salary Guide: The Headline Figures

The headline figure is the median. Half of all secretaries and administrative assistants earned more than $48,310 a year in May 2025, and half earned less. The median hourly rate was $23.23. These are national figures for the United States, and they cover all four specialisms the Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks: general, executive, legal and medical. Your own pay will sit above or below the median depending on the specialism, the industry and where you live.

The national median and the range

The spread around the median is wide. The lowest 10 percent of secretaries and administrative assistants earned less than $35,360 a year, while the highest 10 percent earned more than $77,720. That gap is the story of this administrative assistant jobs salary guide: the same job title can pay very differently. A part-time general assistant in a small town and a full-time executive assistant in a large city share a job family, but their pay packets have little in common.

Pay by specialism

Specialism is the biggest single driver of pay. Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants earned a median of $76,590 a year in May 2025, well above the national median. Legal secretaries and administrative assistants earned a median of $55,570. General administrative assistants earned $47,540, close to the national median. Medical secretaries and administrative assistants earned $45,930, the lowest of the four specialisms. The lesson is clear: the more senior the people you support, and the more specialist the knowledge you need, the higher the pay. Keep that order in mind as you read this administrative assistant jobs salary guide: specialism first, then industry, then place.

Pay by industry and employer

Industry matters too. Secretaries and administrative assistants in government earned a median of $54,250 a year, and those in professional, scientific and technical services earned $54,080. Religious, grantmaking and civic organisations paid $49,390, and educational services paid $48,980. Healthcare and social assistance, the largest employer of medical secretaries, paid $46,290. Large employers and the public sector usually pay more than small firms, and they add better benefits on top. This administrative assistant jobs salary guide uses the Bureau’s industry figures because they are the most reliable public source.

How Pay Grows With Experience

Experience lifts pay, but it lifts it through the roles you can reach rather than through automatic annual rises. A new starter in a general admin post can expect to begin near the bottom of the range, around $35,000 to $40,000 a year in the United States. After two or three years of solid office work, the same person can move into a senior general post, or into a specialist team, and the pay follows. After five or more years, executive assistant and office manager roles open up, and those carry the highest salaries in the field. This administrative assistant jobs salary guide follows that ladder, from entry-level general posts to executive support.

The fastest growth comes from changing the job, not from waiting in it. Staying in the same general admin post for five years usually brings only small cost-of-living rises. Moving to a larger employer, a busier team or a specialist sector brings a bigger step. Each move should add a skill or a responsibility: a new software package, a diary for a senior manager, a budget to track, or a team to coordinate. Those additions are what the next employer pays for, and they are the proof that belongs on your resume.

Hourly Pay, Overtime and Benefits

Most administrative assistant jobs are paid by the hour or by an annual salary, and the two are usually the same money expressed differently. A median of $23.23 an hour works out at about $48,310 a year for a full-time 40-hour week. Part-time roles pay the same hourly rate, pro rata, so a 20-hour week at the median rate earns about $24,000 a year. Always compare offers by the hourly rate first, then check the hours, because two jobs with the same annual salary can mean very different hourly pay. That is the first rule of this administrative assistant jobs salary guide: compare the hourly rate, not just the annual figure.

Overtime and benefits change the real figure. Some employers pay time-and-a-half for hours over 40 a week, and some offer shift allowances for early or late work. Benefits add value that does not show in the salary: paid holiday, a pension or retirement plan, health cover, and paid training. A role that pays a little less but offers a pension and health cover can be worth more over a year than a higher salary with no benefits. Always ask for the full package in writing before you accept.

What Raises Your Pay Fastest

Three things raise admin pay faster than anything else: a specialism, a senior manager to support, and a scarce skill. Medical and legal specialisms pay more than general admin because they need terminology and procedures that take time to learn. Supporting a senior executive pays more because the stakes are higher and the diary is harder. A scarce skill, such as advanced spreadsheet work, a second language, or bookkeeping, sets you apart from other applicants and gives you a reason to ask for more. This administrative assistant jobs salary guide puts those three levers first because they move pay the most.

• Specialise. Move into legal, medical or executive support, where the medians run from $55,570 to $76,590 a year.
• Learn the expensive software. Advanced spreadsheets, customer databases and booking systems are the skills employers pay a premium for.
• Take the senior diary. Supporting one senior manager well is worth more than supporting a whole floor badly.
• Add a certificate. A recognised typing or office software certificate proves a skill an employer can price.
• Move to a bigger employer. Large firms, hospitals, universities and government bodies pay above the median and promote from within.
• Negotiate at the offer stage. The first salary you accept sets the base for every rise that follows, so it is the cheapest time to ask.

Our guide to administrative assistant jobs no experience explains how to build these skills from scratch, and our guide to administrative assistant jobs part time covers how part-time pay and pro rata salaries work.

Where to Find the Best-Paid Admin Roles

The best-paid admin roles cluster in large cities, in government, and in professional services. London, New York, San Francisco and other major cities pay more because the cost of living is higher and the employers are larger. Government departments, universities, hospitals and law firms pay above the median and offer stable hours and pensions. The trade-off is competition: these roles attract many applicants, so a strong resume and a good typing score matter more. This administrative assistant jobs salary guide points you to the employers that pay above the median, and explains the trade-off.

Search the major job boards with the exact phrase “administrative assistant” plus your city, and filter by salary to see the range on offer. Set up alerts so new adverts reach you first. Check the careers pages of large local employers directly, because hospitals, councils, universities and big firms often list admin roles on their own sites before the job boards. Small firms hire too, but they usually pay less, so use them as a starting point rather than a destination.

How to Negotiate a Higher Salary

Negotiation starts before the interview, with research. Look up the median for the specialism and the city, and know the range for the role. When the employer names a figure, compare it with the median: if it is below the median for that specialism, you have a reason to ask for more. Name a range, not a single number, and anchor it to the market: “For an executive assistant in this city, the range is $65,000 to $76,000, and my experience sits in the middle of it.” That is firmer than “I would like more money.”

Use evidence, not adjectives. A typing score, a certificate, a spreadsheet you built, or a rota you ran are proof an employer can price. If the employer cannot move on salary, ask about the rest of the package: extra holiday, a training budget, a review after six months, or a move to a higher grade. Get any agreement in writing before you accept, and keep a note of the salary range in the advert, because that is the figure the employer already thought was fair. This administrative assistant jobs salary guide gives you the medians to quote, so you can anchor your ask in the market.

A Worked Example: From $38,000 to $62,000 in Four Years

Consider a school leaver who starts as a general administrative assistant in a small firm at $38,000 a year. She types at 45 words per minute and learns the office software on the job. After eighteen months she moves to a larger firm as a senior general assistant at $46,000, because she can now run a diary and a shared inbox. She takes a free spreadsheet course and a medical terminology course in her spare time, then moves to a hospital as a medical secretary at $52,000. Two years later she becomes an executive assistant to a hospital director at $62,000.

Each move added a skill the next employer paid for: a faster typing speed, a bigger diary, a specialist vocabulary, and a senior manager to support. Her pay rose by $24,000 in four years, not because she waited, but because she changed the job at each step. That is the pattern this administrative assistant jobs salary guide keeps returning to: pay follows the role, and the role follows the skill.

Mistakes That Cost You Money

Accepting the first figure. The first salary an employer names is often a starting point, not a final offer. A polite counter, backed by the median for the role, costs nothing and can add thousands a year. Comparing annual salaries without checking the hours. A $50,000 salary for a 45-hour week pays less per hour than a $48,000 salary for a 37-hour week. Always divide by the hours. Ignoring the benefits. A pension, health cover and paid training can be worth several thousand a year, so a lower salary with good benefits can beat a higher salary with none.

Staying too long in one post. Admin pay grows fastest when you move, because each new employer resets your salary to the market rate for the new role. Staying five years in the same post usually brings only small rises. Underselling a specialism. If you can do legal or medical work, say so plainly and price it: those specialisms pay $55,570 and $45,930 at the median, and executive support pays $76,590. Do not accept a general admin rate for specialist work. Use this administrative assistant jobs salary guide to check the median for your specialism before you accept any offer.

Frequently Asked Questions About Administrative Assistant Jobs Salary Guide

What is the average salary for an administrative assistant?

The median is $48,310 a year, or $23.23 an hour, in the United States (May 2025, US Bureau of Labor Statistics). That is the middle of the range, not the average of all salaries. Half of all secretaries and administrative assistants earned more than that, and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $35,360, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $77,720. This administrative assistant jobs salary guide uses the Bureau’s May 2025 figures throughout.

Which administrative assistant job pays the most?

Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants pay the most, with a median of $76,590 a year (May 2025). Legal secretaries and administrative assistants are next at $55,570. General administrative assistants earn $47,540 at the median, and medical secretaries earn $45,930. The highest-paid admin roles support senior executives, need specialist knowledge, or sit in large organisations in major cities. This administrative assistant jobs salary guide lists the four specialisms in pay order, from executive support down to medical.

How much do administrative assistants make per hour?

The median hourly rate is $23.23 (May 2025). The lowest 10 percent earned less than about $17 an hour, and the highest 10 percent earned more than about $37 an hour. Hourly pay rises with specialism, seniority and location: executive assistants in large cities can earn $30 to $37 an hour, while entry-level general assistants in small towns may start near $17 to $19 an hour.

Does pay differ between the US, the UK and Europe?

Yes. The figures in this administrative assistant jobs salary guide are US medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the United Kingdom, general admin roles often start in the low to mid-20,000 pound range, with London and specialist posts paying more. Across Europe, pay tracks local office wages and the cost of living in each city. Always compare an offer with the median for your own area, not with a figure from another country.

Can I earn more without a degree?

Yes. Most admin roles do not require a degree, and the highest-paid specialisms reward skills and experience rather than qualifications. A fast, accurate typing speed, a recognised office software certificate, and experience supporting a senior manager will lift your pay more than a degree. Focus on the specialism and the skills in this guide, and use each role to add one that the next employer will pay for.

Conclusion

Administrative assistant pay is a wide range, and where you sit in it depends on choices you can control. The median is $48,310 a year in the United States, but executive assistants earn $76,590 and general assistants earn $47,540 at the median. Pick a specialism, learn the software employers pay for, support a senior manager, and move when the next role pays more. Use the figures in this administrative assistant jobs salary guide to judge every offer, and negotiate from the median, not from the first figure you are given.