Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive Salary - BLS OEWS Wage Benchmarks
SOC 43-6014 · National · May 2025 OEWS Data
Median Annual Salary
$47,549
$22.86/hr
Verified BLS OEWS data · Updated May 18, 2026
Source: BLS OEWS · Published May 15, 2026
Next refresh: May 2027
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The national median salary for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive is $47,549 per year ($22.86/hr) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. The middle 50% of earners make between $38,834 and $58,011 annually. Top earners at the 90th percentile reach $66,352 per year. There are approximately 1,706,790 secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive employed in the United States.
About This Role
BLS Standard Occupational Classification 2018
Perform routine administrative functions such as drafting correspondence, scheduling appointments, organizing and maintaining paper and electronic files, or providing information to callers.
Career Outlook
BLS Employment Projections · 2024-2034
10-year growth
-1.6%
Slower than average
Annual openings
203K
per year, on avg
Workforce today
1.9M
as of 2024
Why those openings exist
0% from new growth100% from people leaving the role
Most openings come from replacement, not growth. Retention matters more than recruiting here.
Typical entry requirements
Education
High school diploma or equivalent
Experience
None
On-the-job training
Short-term on-the-job training
Industry Wage Breakdown
Top 5 industries by employment · median annual wage, sector-specific
Industry
Workforce
Median Pay
Elementary and Secondary Schools
NAICS 611100
217K
$47,050
Local Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)
NAICS 999300
118K
$50,170
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools
NAICS 611300
87K
$48,760
State Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)
NAICS 999200
57K
$47,390
Real Estate
NAICS 531000
52K
$46,910
Wage Percentiles
Hourly & annualized (2,080 hours)
Percentile
Hourly Rate
Annual Salary
P10
$16.00
$33,280
P25
$18.67
$38,834
P50MEDIAN
$22.86
$47,549
P75
$27.89
$58,011
P90
$31.90
$66,352
Market Context Signal
JOLTS · other sector
Active
Openings Rate
3.4%
Quits Rate
2.0%
The labor market rebounded in March: hires jumped to 5.6M (+655K) and separations rose to 5.4M (+356K), both more than offsetting February's drop. Job openings held at 6.9M. Quits ticked to 2.0%.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive salary?
The national median salary for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive is $47,549 per year ($22.86/hr) according to BLS OEWS May 2025 data. The middle 50% earn between $38,834 and $58,011 annually.
How much do top-earning secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive make?
The 90th percentile salary for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive is $66,352 per year ($31.90/hr). The 75th percentile is $58,011 per year.
What is the entry-level salary for secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive?
Entry-level Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive (10th percentile) earn approximately $33,280 per year ($16.00/hr). The 25th percentile is $38,834 per year.
Wage figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025 release. OEWS surveys roughly 1.1 million establishments annually. It is the most comprehensive employer-reported wage dataset in the United States.
P10 through P90 percentiles represent the wage distribution across all surveyed employers (not self-reported by workers). Geographic adjustments use BLS-derived cost multipliers calibrated from regional wage variation.
Wages are estimates. Individual compensation depends on experience, education, employer size, industry, and negotiation. Use this as benchmark context, not absolute ground truth.
CompSignal is a free labor market intelligence tool built for HR, compensation, and talent acquisition teams. We make BLS data, the same primary source Mercer and Radford cross-reference in their paid surveys, searchable and actionable without an enterprise subscription.
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