Administrative support staff vs administrative associate

The differences between administrative support staff and administrative associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become an administrative support staff, becoming an administrative associate takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, an administrative associate has an average salary of $34,873, which is higher than the $33,602 average annual salary of an administrative support staff.

The top three skills for an administrative support staff include excellent interpersonal, data entry and customer service. The most important skills for an administrative associate are administrative tasks, purchase orders, and customer service.

Administrative support staff vs administrative associate overview

	Administrative Support Staff	Administrative Associate
Yearly salary	$33,602	$34,873
Hourly rate	$16.15	$16.77
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	162,436	54,499
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 57%
Average age	47	50
Years of experience	6	2

Administrative support staff vs administrative associate salary

Administrative support staff and administrative associates have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Administrative Support Staff	Administrative Associate
Average salary	$33,602	$34,873
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $41,000	Between $23,000 And $51,000
Highest paying City	-	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	-	New York
Best paying company	-	Lord Abbett
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between administrative support staff and administrative associate education

There are a few differences between an administrative support staff and an administrative associate in terms of educational background:

	Administrative Support Staff	Administrative Associate
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 57%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	California State University - Bakersfield	Western Carolina University

Administrative support staff vs administrative associate demographics

Here are the differences between administrative support staff' and administrative associates' demographics:

	Administrative Support Staff	Administrative Associate
Average age	47	50
Gender ratio	Male, 24.5% Female, 75.5%	Male, 21.6% Female, 78.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.6% Asian, 5.2% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	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	8%	6%

Differences between administrative support staff and administrative associate duties and responsibilities

Administrative support staff example responsibilities.

Create PowerPoint presentations, manage spreadsheet information/graphs and provide reports as necessary.
Maintain SharePoint site for SEDD branch.
Prepare and release medical records in accordance with HIPAA policy.
Process submission of employee's retirement contributions, payroll and insurance benefits.
Assist project and event coordinators with the logistics and operations of various projects.
Monitor client payments, enter and adjust payroll, and create credit and billing invoices.

Administrative associate example responsibilities.

Manage consultants' calendar, arrange travel, paid bills via QuickBooks software.
Support medical doctors, manage sensitive and confidential records pertaining to high risk patients with emphasis on accuracy.
Enter invoices in QuickBooks and P2P.
Fulfill medical record requests from patients, providers and insurance companies in a HIPAA compliant way.
Prepare PowerPoint presentations and address day to day general operations and office procedures.
Prepare PowerPoint & other digital media for presentations that are distributed to upper management.

Administrative support staff vs administrative associate skills

Common administrative support staff skills

Excellent Interpersonal, 20%
Data Entry, 14%
Customer Service, 10%
Word Processing, 7%
Scheduling Appointments, 6%
Personnel Data, 6%

Common administrative associate skills

Administrative Tasks, 12%
Purchase Orders, 10%
Customer Service, 10%
Telephone Calls, 9%
Travel Arrangements, 9%
Patients, 8%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Administrative Support Staff
Administrative Support Staff vs Administrative Associate

Updated January 8, 2025

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