Administrative support staff vs administrative professional

The differences between administrative support staff and administrative professionals 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 professional takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, an administrative professional has an average salary of $39,486, 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 professional are customer service, powerpoint, and data entry.

Administrative support staff vs administrative professional overview

	Administrative Support Staff	Administrative Professional
Yearly salary	$33,602	$39,486
Hourly rate	$16.15	$18.98
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	162,436	87,372
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age	47	50
Years of experience	6	2

Administrative support staff vs administrative professional salary

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

	Administrative Support Staff	Administrative Professional
Average salary	$33,602	$39,486
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $41,000	Between $23,000 And $65,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	Connecticut
Best paying company	-	HomeOwners Advantage
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between administrative support staff and administrative professional education

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

	Administrative Support Staff	Administrative Professional
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	California State University - Bakersfield	Western Carolina University

Administrative support staff vs administrative professional demographics

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

	Administrative Support Staff	Administrative Professional
Average age	47	50
Gender ratio	Male, 24.5% Female, 75.5%	Male, 17.4% Female, 82.6%
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 professional 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 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 support staff vs administrative professional 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 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 Support Staff
Administrative Support Staff vs Administrative Professional

Updated January 8, 2025

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