Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants salary

SOC 43-6012 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$55,570

per year, nationally

Middle half

$44,450–$71,970

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

156,280

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-5.8%

19,600 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.

$36,500$91,730

10th: $36,500
25th: $44,450
Median: $55,570
75th: $71,970
90th: $91,730

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

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

Where legal secretaries and administrative 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	District of Columbia	$99,280	109.9	1,940	2.75×
2	New York	$72,230	107.9	9,800	1.01×
3	Connecticut	$66,220	103.6	1,090	0.64×
4	Delaware	$66,130	99.8	980	2.01×
5	Minnesota	$63,180	98.6	2,410	0.81×
6	New Jersey	$63,080	108.8	4,160	0.97×
7	Rhode Island	$63,020	102.3	390	0.77×
8	California	$62,860	110.7	27,470	1.50×
9	Massachusetts	$62,120	105.8	4,020	1.10×
10	Maryland	$61,440	105.0	1,670	0.60×
11	Alaska	$61,280	102.4	660	2.03×
12	Oregon	$59,610	103.4	1,590	0.80×
13	Colorado	$59,490	103.1	2,030	0.70×
14	Washington	$58,360	107.0	3,950	1.11×
15	New Mexico	$57,800	92.2	1,400	1.59×
16	Michigan	$56,870	96.2	3,580	0.81×
17	Nevada	$56,470	100.0	1,430	0.92×
18	Wisconsin	$55,410	94.1	1,210	0.41×
19	Virginia	$55,320	101.1	2,380	0.58×
20	Arizona	$55,120	100.7	2,600	0.80×
21	North Dakota	$53,540	89.0	360	0.83×
22	Utah	$52,860	98.9	940	0.54×
23	South Carolina	$52,840	93.7	2,280	0.98×
24	Illinois	$52,790	100.0	8,030	1.31×
25	New Hampshire	$51,830	104.2	300	0.44×
26	Pennsylvania	$51,430	97.6	6,230	1.02×
27	Ohio	$51,080	92.8	4,360	0.78×
28	Hawaii	$49,460	110.0	680	1.07×
29	Vermont	$49,090	98.0	—	—
30	Florida	$48,510	103.4	10,920	1.09×
31	Georgia	$48,460	96.3	3,260	0.66×
32	Louisiana	$48,050	88.2	2,460	1.26×
33	Maine	$48,040	97.0	860	1.33×
34	South Dakota	$47,790	88.6	560	1.21×
35	Indiana	$47,740	93.3	2,670	0.83×
36	West Virginia	$46,960	89.5	1,200	1.69×
37	Wyoming	$46,960	92.7	280	1.00×
38	Iowa	$46,590	87.8	1,120	0.71×
39	Alabama	$45,950	88.8	1,840	0.86×
40	Oklahoma	$45,950	87.8	1,290	0.75×
41	Texas	$45,940	97.1	13,380	0.95×
42	Nebraska	$45,800	90.1	1,310	1.28×
43	Tennessee	$45,340	91.9	2,980	0.90×
44	Mississippi	$45,140	87.0	820	0.70×
45	North Carolina	$43,720	94.3	3,780	0.76×
46	Idaho	$41,880	95.5	420	0.49×
47	Arkansas	$41,410	86.9	610	0.47×
48	Kentucky	$39,300	90.2	2,810	1.40×
49	Missouri	$38,560	90.8	3,310	1.12×
50	Kansas	$36,620	90.1	1,600	1.11×

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 legal secretaries and administrative assistants wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for legal secretaries and administrative 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	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$87,270	110.4	660	0.58×
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$79,410	115.6	2,740	1.15×
3	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$77,780	109.9	50	0.47×
4	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$77,220	108.9	2,970	0.94×
5	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$75,950	106.9	260	0.63×
6	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$75,920	112.6	9,580	1.00×
7	Salinas, CA	$75,150	109.0	80	0.45×
8	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$74,790	102.7	470	0.78×
9	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$74,360	108.8	160	0.79×
10	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$71,670	110.5	590	1.82×
11	Reno, NV	$71,130	101.0	70	0.27×
12	Lexington Park, MD	$70,660	100.8	30	0.45×
13	Manchester-Nashua, NH	$69,720	105.7	120	0.62×
14	Carson City, NV	$67,670	98.1	40	1.18×
15	Santa Fe, NM	$67,600	98.8	190	3.00×
16	New Haven, CT	$67,290	104.6	160	0.57×
17	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$65,790	104.8	2,010	1.03×
18	Vallejo, CA	$64,850	108.5	50	0.34×
19	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$64,480	100.3	1,860	0.97×
20	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$63,470	105.4	1,100	0.91×
21	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$62,950	105.6	100	1.10×
22	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$62,690	108.3	3,330	1.22×
23	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$62,620	113.6	14,930	2.37×
24	Duluth, MN-WI	$62,600	88.8	50	0.39×
25	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$62,330	104.5	850	0.62×
26	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$62,000	111.1	2,570	1.23×
27	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$61,880	107.8	220	1.06×
28	Bend, OR	$61,820	103.6	30	0.31×
29	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$61,780	111.9	3,420	2.22×
30	Worcester, MA	$61,730	102.5	260	0.73×
31	Ann Arbor, MI	$61,660	100.9	130	0.60×
32	Richmond, VA	$61,600	97.9	560	0.84×
33	Anchorage, AK	$61,280	105.4	480	2.70×
34	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	$61,030	92.6	—	—
35	Albuquerque, NM	$60,860	95.5	780	1.91×
36	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$60,730	95.7	1,150	1.03×
37	Rochester, MN	$60,610	90.8	30	0.26×
38	Columbus, OH	$60,420	95.5	690	0.62×
39	Kingston, NY	$60,280	100.7	—	—
40	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$60,230	101.8	510	0.71×

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 legal secretaries and administrative assistants wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where legal secretaries and administrative assistants earn the most

Best paying metro areas for legal secretaries and administrative assistants

Similar occupations

Compare