Administrative clerk vs administrative professional

The differences between administrative clerks 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 clerk and an administrative professional. Additionally, an administrative professional has an average salary of $39,486, which is higher than the $32,327 average annual salary of an administrative clerk.

The top three skills for an administrative clerk include customer service, data entry and patients. The most important skills for an administrative professional are customer service, powerpoint, and data entry.

Administrative clerk vs administrative professional overview

	Administrative Clerk	Administrative Professional
Yearly salary	$32,327	$39,486
Hourly rate	$15.54	$18.98
Growth rate	-5%	-8%
Number of jobs	137,639	87,372
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age	47	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does an administrative clerk do?

An administrative clerk provides support to staff and does clerical works. These clerical duties include answering and making phone calls, typing documents, compiling and filing records, and scheduling appointments. The clerks often set up office meetings and invite reliable speakers. Also, they do research and prepare reports or presentations. Candidates for the job must be organized, detail-oriented, and can manage their time well. They must be tech-savvy and have a basic knowledge of bookkeeping. The salary depends on their experience, industry, and location of the job.

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 clerk vs administrative professional salary

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

	Administrative Clerk	Administrative Professional
Average salary	$32,327	$39,486
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $40,000	Between $23,000 And $65,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	Connecticut
Best paying company	Columbia University in the City of New York	HomeOwners Advantage
Best paying industry	Finance	-

Differences between administrative clerk and administrative professional education

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

	Administrative Clerk	Administrative Professional
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Administrative clerk vs administrative professional demographics

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

	Administrative Clerk	Administrative Professional
Average age	47	50
Gender ratio	Male, 27.9% Female, 72.1%	Male, 17.4% Female, 82.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 21.9% Asian, 8.3% White, 53.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	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 clerk and administrative professional duties and responsibilities

Administrative clerk example responsibilities.

Orchestrate special events and reservations; manage customer relations and provide exemplary service to all customers.
Assist teachers with GED packets for students.
Ship orders via customers freight line request (ex.
Schedule and administer the GED exam upon the completion of the inmate's profile.
Enter data in spreadsheets for reports, auction items, payroll and monthly utility accounts.
Process all DMV registration, titles, title flips and plates using CVR and TriVin programs.

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 clerk vs administrative professional skills

Common administrative clerk skills

Customer Service, 17%
Data Entry, 16%
Patients, 9%
Word Processing, 6%
Payroll Data, 5%
Database Systems, 4%

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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Administrative Clerk
Administrative Clerk vs Administrative Professional

Updated January 8, 2025

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