Administrative Assistant Hourly Pay & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 14,117 US job postings by 6,274 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for administrative assistants: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 14,117 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for administrative assistants in US job postings is $21.50 an hour (2,957 postings from 1,480 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $18.50 to $24.50 an hour.
- Postings that ask for up to 1 year of experience advertise a median of $22.50 an hour (534 postings).
- The skills that most set administrative assistant postings apart are Excel, Microsoft Office, word.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 2 years of experience.
Administrative Assistant job postings in the US, October 2026
- $21.50/hr
- Median advertised pay (2,957 postings)
- $18.50–$24.50
- Middle 50% of postings
- $22.50/hr
- Starting pay (postings asking up to 1 year)
- 14,117
- US job postings from 6,274 employers
How much does an administrative assistant make an hour?
The median advertised pay is $21.50 an hour, from 2,957 US job postings by 1,480 employers that state pay. That is about $47,000 a year at 2,080 hours.
Advertised pay in 2,957 US administrative assistant job postings: median $47,000 a year ($21.50 an hour), middle half $40,000 to $56,000.
- Median: $47,000 ($21.50/hr)
- 25th percentile: $40,000
- 75th percentile: $56,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $10K–$20K | 0.3% |
| $20K–$30K | 4.2% |
| $30K–$40K | 21.3% |
| $40K–$50K | 36.3% |
| $50K–$60K | 18.0% |
| $60K–$70K | 8.0% |
| $70K–$80K | 4.7% |
| $80K–$90K | 2.1% |
| $90K–$100K | 1.4% |
| $100K–$110K | 1.0% |
| $110K–$120K | 0.8% |
| $120K–$130K | 0.5% |
| $130K–$140K | 0.1% |
| $140K–$150K | 0.3% |
| $150K–$160K | 0.1% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | Most common titles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an hourly rate | $21.50 | $18.50–$24.50 | 2,097 | Administrative Assistant, Office Assistant, Office Coordinator |
| Postings that state an annual salary | $59,000 | $50K–$79K | 608 | Administrative Assistant, Scheduler, Office Coordinator |
| All pay postings, annualised | $47,000 | $40K–$56K | 2,957 | – |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive (43-6014) at $48,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for an administrative assistant?
Postings that ask for up to 1 year of experience advertise a median of $22.50 an hour (534 postings).
| Experience asked | Median advertised pay | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1 years | $22.50/hr | 534 |
| 2-4 years | $24.21/hr | 921 |
| 5+ years | withheld | 172 |
Administrative assistant levels and pay
Levels as they appear in job titles, ordered by the median experience asked. Senior administrative assistants have a median advertised pay of $31.25 an hour.
| Level in title | Share of postings | Median experience asked | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| No level in title | 86.5% | 2 years | $22.00/hr |
| Level II | 4.4% | 2 years | $24.13/hr |
| Senior | 3.0% | 3 years | $31.25/hr |
Highest-paying administrative assistant jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative Assistant (general) | $23.00/hr | 1,601 | 885 |
| Office Assistant | $20.00/hr | 529 | 348 |
Administrative assistant pay by state
Single-location US postings; states with at least 100 postings that state pay. States with pay-transparency laws (such as California, Colorado, New York and Washington) are over-represented among postings that state pay.
| State | Median pay | Middle 50% | Postings with pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $25.00/hr | $21.00–$29.53 | 292 | 8.6% |
| California | $24.95/hr | $21.48–$32.79 | 366 | 11.9% |
| Massachusetts | $24.00/hr | $21.93–$28.85 | 113 | 3.5% |
| Washington | $22.25/hr | $21.31–$24.91 | 144 | 3.3% |
| Texas | $20.00/hr | $16.50–$23.00 | 138 | 8.3% |
| Pennsylvania | $20.00/hr | $16.91–$23.90 | 100 | 3.8% |
Skills employers ask for in administrative assistant job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 47% |
| Excel | 41% |
| Organizational skills | 38% |
| Microsoft Office | 36% |
| Attention to detail | 31% |
| Word | 28% |
| Outlook | 23% |
| Powerpoint | 20% |
| Customer service | 19% |
| Interpersonal skills | 17% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set administrative assistants apart
- Excel4× as often as in all postings · 41%
- Microsoft Office4.1× as often as in all postings · 36%
- Word4.9× as often as in all postings · 28%
- Outlook5.8× as often as in all postings · 23%
- Powerpoint5.4× as often as in all postings · 20%
- Discretion8.2× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Microsoft word5.5× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Accuracy5.2× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Maintain confidentiality7.8× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Organized3.1× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Confidentiality4.4× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Multitask3.6× as often as in all postings · 7%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a administrative assistant job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does an administrative assistant do?
Employers post these jobs as Office Assistant, Office Coordinator, Scheduling Coordinator, Administrative Specialist, Administrative Assistant II and other titles. The largest specializations are Office Assistant (17%), Scheduler (6%), Administrative Support Specialist (7%), School Secretary (3%), Secretary (3%), Virtual Assistant (3%).
The closest official occupation is Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive (43-6014.00). Its most important tasks:
- Answer telephones and give information to callers, take messages, or transfer calls to appropriate individuals.
- Greet visitors or callers and handle their inquiries or direct them to the appropriate persons according to their needs.
- Create, maintain, and enter information into databases.
- Use computers for various applications, such as database management or word processing.
- Operate office equipment, such as fax machines, copiers, or phone systems and arrange for repairs when equipment malfunctions.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be an administrative assistant?
Among 4,093 postings that state a minimum, the median is 2 years. 2% say 0 years and 30% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 4,093 US administrative assistant job postings: median 2 years, and 30% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 3% |
| 1 yr | 27% |
| 2 yrs | 33% |
| 3-4 yrs | 25% |
| 5-7 yrs | 11% |
| 8-9 yrs | under 1% |
| 10+ yrs | 1% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Full-time 71%, Part-time 29% of the 1,753 postings that state working hours.
Other names for an administrative assistant: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Administrative Assistant | 2,791 (44.5%) |
| Office Assistant | 603 (9.6%) |
| Office Coordinator | 355 (5.7%) |
| Scheduling Coordinator | 256 (4.1%) |
| Administrative Specialist | 208 (3.3%) |
| Administrative Assistant II | 176 (2.8%) |
| Administrative Support | 154 (2.5%) |
| Scheduler | 146 (2.3%) |
| Administrative Assistant I | 138 (2.2%) |
| Senior Administrative Assistant | 129 (2.1%) |
| Office Support | 97 (1.6%) |
| Administrative Support Specialist | 90 (1.4%) |
| Administrative Assistant III | 81 (1.3%) |
| Office Clerk | 77 (1.2%) |
| Office Admin | 69 (1.1%) |
| Substitute Secretary | 56 (0.9%) |
| Secretary | 52 (0.8%) |
| Virtual Assistant | 49 (0.8%) |
| Admin Assistant | 48 (0.8%) |
| School Secretary | 48 (0.8%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Administrative assistant job titles compared
The titles people search for most, from the US job postings that use each exact title (October 2026).
| Job title | Open postings | Employers | Median pay | Median experience | Skills named most |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduler | 249 | 146 | – | – | communication, Microsoft Office, Excel |
| Office Coordinator | 505 | 355 | – | – | communication, organizational skills, Microsoft Office |
| Office Assistant | 908 | 603 | – | – | communication, organizational skills, Excel |
| Administrative Specialist | 405 | 208 | – | – | communication, organizational skills, Microsoft Office |
Administrative Assistant compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative Assistant | $21.50/hr | 2 years | 14,117 | – |
| Office Manager | $23.31/hr | 2 years | 4,611 | 22 |
| Executive Assistant | $83K | 4 years | 3,396 | 18 |
| Office Clerk | $20.73/hr | 2 years | 8,223 | 20 |
| Paralegal | $78K | 3 years | 4,474 | 20 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Office Manager | 22 | $23.31/hr |
| Executive Assistant | 18 | $83K |
| Office Clerk | 20 | $20.73/hr |
| Paralegal | 20 | $78K |
| Dispatcher | 18 | $22.21/hr |
| Customer Service Representative | 19 | $19.00/hr |
Applying for administrative assistant jobs?
- Administrative assistant resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find administrative assistant jobs: search open postings
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 19 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.