Medical Assistants salary

SOC 31-9092 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$45,690

per year, nationally

Middle half

$38,470–$49,180

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

817,870

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+12.5%

112,300 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$36,050$59,310

10th: $36,050
25th: $38,470
Median: $45,690
75th: $49,180
90th: $59,310

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Postsecondary nondegree award
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where medical assistants earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Washington	$59,290	107.0	19,500	1.04×
2	Alaska	$52,560	102.4	2,140	1.25×
3	District of Columbia	$51,050	109.9	2,260	0.61×
4	Minnesota	$50,480	98.6	10,580	0.68×
5	Oregon	$50,410	103.4	11,840	1.14×
6	California	$49,660	110.7	117,060	1.22×
7	Massachusetts	$49,460	105.8	14,880	0.78×
8	Wisconsin	$48,680	94.1	13,810	0.89×
9	Hawaii	$48,410	110.0	3,890	1.18×
10	Colorado	$48,400	103.1	13,160	0.87×
11	New Hampshire	$48,020	104.2	3,000	0.83×
12	New York	$48,000	107.9	40,710	0.80×
13	Maine	$47,580	97.0	4,480	1.33×
14	Connecticut	$47,430	103.6	10,250	1.15×
15	Nebraska	$47,370	90.1	2,380	0.44×
16	Vermont	$47,250	98.0	1,140	0.72×
17	New Jersey	$47,210	108.8	20,330	0.90×
18	Rhode Island	$47,190	102.3	3,210	1.22×
19	Montana	$46,820	94.6	2,460	0.92×
20	Maryland	$46,410	105.0	16,390	1.13×
21	Illinois	$46,090	100.0	20,260	0.63×
22	North Dakota	$45,980	89.0	600	0.27×
23	Arizona	$45,940	100.7	21,460	1.26×
24	Iowa	$45,480	87.8	5,990	0.73×
25	Utah	$45,360	98.9	9,990	1.09×
26	Nevada	$45,200	100.0	7,760	0.95×
27	North Carolina	$45,140	94.3	23,650	0.91×
28	Indiana	$45,110	93.3	19,630	1.17×
29	Virginia	$44,740	101.1	16,650	0.77×
30	Idaho	$44,700	95.5	5,250	1.16×
31	Delaware	$44,490	99.8	2,880	1.13×
32	Pennsylvania	$43,920	97.6	23,050	0.72×
33	Florida	$43,680	103.4	66,110	1.27×
34	Ohio	$42,810	92.8	28,950	0.99×
35	South Dakota	$41,870	88.6	1,340	0.56×
36	Georgia	$41,600	96.3	28,780	1.12×
37	South Carolina	$41,160	93.7	12,110	1.00×
38	Wyoming	$40,920	92.7	1,040	0.70×
39	Missouri	$40,440	90.8	13,050	0.85×
40	Michigan	$39,870	96.2	27,810	1.20×
41	Tennessee	$39,570	91.9	19,180	1.11×
42	Texas	$39,520	97.1	75,340	1.02×
43	Kansas	$39,510	90.1	5,510	0.73×
44	Kentucky	$39,270	90.2	13,440	1.28×
45	New Mexico	$39,230	92.2	5,400	1.18×
46	Oklahoma	$38,750	87.8	10,510	1.17×
47	Arkansas	$37,760	86.9	5,150	0.75×
48	West Virginia	$37,180	89.5	4,540	1.23×
49	Louisiana	$36,320	88.2	12,310	1.21×
50	Alabama	$36,100	88.8	13,300	1.20×
51	Mississippi	$35,360	87.0	3,340	0.55×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where medical assistants wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for medical assistants

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Vallejo, CA	$77,410	108.5	1,360	1.80×
2	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$64,820	107.8	1,550	1.44×
3	Napa, CA	$62,050	112.6	320	0.78×
4	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$61,970	106.7	7,410	1.30×
5	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$61,940	110.4	6,400	1.07×
6	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$61,870	102.4	210	0.76×
7	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$61,500	111.1	10,210	0.93×
8	Longview-Kelso, WA	$61,480	97.5	250	1.14×
9	Ponce, PR	$59,990	—	—	—
10	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$59,790	115.6	14,320	1.15×
11	Bellingham, WA	$57,410	103.3	510	1.06×
12	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$56,240	105.4	6,390	1.01×
13	Walla Walla, WA	$56,020	98.5	140	1.02×
14	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$55,700	103.7	580	0.84×
15	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$55,680	105.6	610	1.23×
16	Ithaca, NY	$53,760	103.3	390	1.54×
17	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$52,570	104.8	7,390	0.72×
18	Fairbanks-College, AK	$52,140	103.2	180	0.94×
19	Anchorage, AK	$51,930	105.4	1,370	1.47×
20	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$51,720	100.3	2,090	1.56×
21	Lewiston-Auburn, ME	$51,460	94.7	380	1.50×
22	Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$51,200	109.4	410	1.06×
23	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$50,820	100.1	850	1.24×
24	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$50,740	108.3	10,750	0.76×
25	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$50,680	110.5	2,020	1.19×
26	Albany, OR	$50,480	102.1	200	0.80×
27	Salem, OR	$50,240	103.6	1,090	1.10×
28	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$50,090	109.9	960	1.85×
29	Bend, OR	$50,080	103.6	840	1.47×
30	Modesto, CA	$49,990	104.1	1,870	1.82×
31	Eugene-Springfield, OR	$49,980	101.6	1,040	1.25×
32	Barnstable Town, MA	$49,900	98.4	380	0.77×
33	Rochester, MN	$49,830	90.8	440	0.69×
34	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$49,700	105.8	6,440	0.76×
35	Kenosha, WI	$49,620	101.1	340	0.84×
36	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$49,590	96.9	4,170	0.97×
37	Sheboygan, WI	$49,560	94.0	370	1.15×
38	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$49,520	108.6	850	1.32×
39	Hanford-Corcoran, CA	$49,510	101.6	480	1.86×
40	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$49,500	108.8	1,660	1.57×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where medical assistants wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Dental Assistants$48,070
Phlebotomists$45,230
Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers$38,150
Healthcare Support Workers, All Other$48,430
Massage Therapists$58,450
Medical Equipment Preparers$47,700
Medical Transcriptionists$40,410
Pharmacy Aides$37,680