Administrative aide vs administrative professional

The differences between administrative aides and administrative professionals can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an administrative aide and an administrative professional. Additionally, an administrative professional has an average salary of $39,486, which is higher than the $38,714 average annual salary of an administrative aide.

The top three skills for an administrative aide include customer service, word processing and proofreading. The most important skills for an administrative professional are customer service, powerpoint, and data entry.

Administrative aide vs administrative professional overview

	Administrative Aide	Administrative Professional
Yearly salary	$38,714	$39,486
Hourly rate	$18.61	$18.98
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	96,883	87,372
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does an administrative aide do?

An administrative aide performs daily administrative support tasks in an office, helping to keep the workflow smooth and efficient. Their duties typically include organizing and disseminating documents, answering calls and correspondence, forwarding messages, greeting visitors and answering inquiries, and preparing and processing files. They may also participate in monitoring the inventory of office supplies, handling procurement requests when necessary. Furthermore, an administrative aide may also serve as the record-keeper of the office, updating databases in adherence to the company's policies and regulations.

What does an administrative professional do?

An administrative professional specializes in performing administrative support and clerical tasks in a company or office, ensuring accuracy and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities typically revolve around managing schedules, arranging appointments and meetings, producing progress reports and presentations, delegating tasks, and attending meetings on behalf of executives or staff. There are also instances when an administrative assistant must answer calls and correspondence, respond to inquiries and concerns, welcome guests, relay messages, and provide staff with any support tasks or documents.

Administrative aide vs administrative professional salary

Administrative aides and administrative professionals have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Administrative Aide	Administrative Professional
Average salary	$38,714	$39,486
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $48,000	Between $23,000 And $65,000
Highest paying City	Windsor, CT	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Connecticut	Connecticut
Best paying company	Columbia University in the City of New York	HomeOwners Advantage
Best paying industry	Utilities	-

Differences between administrative aide and administrative professional education

There are a few differences between an administrative aide and an administrative professional in terms of educational background:

	Administrative Aide	Administrative Professional
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Administrative aide vs administrative professional demographics

Here are the differences between administrative aides' and administrative professionals' demographics:

	Administrative Aide	Administrative Professional
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 22.0% Female, 78.0%	Male, 17.4% Female, 82.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between administrative aide and administrative professional duties and responsibilities

Administrative aide example responsibilities.

Support medical doctors, manage sensitive and confidential records pertaining to high risk patients with emphasis on accuracy.
Job costing (normal), A/R.
Design charts for GBR-P and UEWR manuals using Powerpoint for the radar group.
Reconcile A/R and A/P; contact vendors and customers to resolve account discrepancies.
Design and prepare PowerPoint presentations.
Process payroll for the department maintaining accuracy on all documentation.

Administrative professional example responsibilities.

Manage documentation, folder structures and user permissions in SharePoint.
Participate in committee meetings by preparing minutes and presentation summaries, planning meeting agendas, and organizing and managing meeting logistics.
Keep vendors accounts up to date, process payroll, collect on accounts receivable, keep accounts payable up to date.
Create document libraries for several hospital initiatives in SharePoint.
Receive and distribute payroll garnishment/bankruptcy notification letters to employees.
Develop and maintain relevant organizational charts, facilitating retrieval of staff data in PowerPoint format.

Administrative aide vs administrative professional skills

Common administrative aide skills

Customer Service, 15%
Word Processing, 14%
Proofreading, 13%
Data Entry, 10%
Clerical Support, 6%
Database Management, 5%

Common administrative professional skills

Customer Service, 16%
PowerPoint, 12%
Data Entry, 11%
Travel Arrangements, 7%
Administrative Tasks, 3%
Office Equipment, 3%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Administrative Aide
Administrative Aide vs Administrative Professional

Updated January 8, 2025

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