Find a Job You Really Want In
Administrative Assistants are one of the most common jobs in America. Additionally, a significant number of people work as administrative assistants in every state in the union — it’s not like they are all just concentrated in California or the South.
Since administrative assistants are such a prominent occupation, we at Zippia wanted to look at where administrative assistants have it the best: where there are plenty of jobs to go around and people get paid what they deserve during every phase of their career.
To that end, we dove into the numbers from the BLS to figure out which states have the best opportunities for administrative assistants.
After all the numbers had been crunched, we were left with this list of the best of best for America’s administrative assistants:
So there you have it — Secretaries And Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, And Executive is the best of the best when it comes to being an administrative assistant.
How did Secretaries And Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, And Executive end up here and does it really deserve this ranking? Read on to see how we completed our research on the best states for administrative assistants and for more on the top ten states.
If youâre interested, you can read more about the job scene here:
How we determined the best states to be an administrative assistant
Here at Zippia, we talk to a lot of people of all different backgrounds looking for jobs. Our research has concluded that there are two common things people want in a job:
- Availability of jobs
- Higher Pay
So in order to find out the best states for administrative assistants in America we needed to figure out where the jobs are and how well administrative assistants get paid. This led to the following criteria taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Occupational Employment Statistics for 2016:
- Location quotient. A measure of how common a job is a given state.
- Average annual salary.
- Average annual salary for entry level work.
- Average annual salary for experienced professionals.
To make all the salary numbers more apples to apples across states, we compared the salary data relative to the state’s cost of living.
Applying this standardization allows us to account for that fact that it costs more to live in certain in states. For example, the average salary for administrative assistants in California is $41,240 and the average salary in Illinois is $36,010, but the Illinois salary actually goes further in paying for life’s essentials.
In order to develop and overall ranking, we ranked each state for each criteria from 1 to 50 where 1 was the best.
We then averaged all the rankings for a state into a Job Score with the state having the lowest overall Job Score earning the distinction of being the best state for administrative assistants in America.
So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each state so great for administrative assistants.
1. Alabama
Total Jobs: 45,760
Average Annual Salary: $34,350
Average Entry Level Salary: $22,700
Average Experienced Salary: $49,040
Location Quotient: 1.46
2. Wyoming
Total Jobs: 4,730
Average Annual Salary: $35,460
Average Entry Level Salary: $21,920
Average Experienced Salary: $49,900
Location Quotient: 1.05
3. Missouri
Total Jobs: 76,060
Average Annual Salary: $32,940
Average Entry Level Salary: $20,090
Average Experienced Salary: $48,470
Location Quotient: 1.69
4. North Dakota
Total Jobs: 7,570
Average Annual Salary: $38,050
Average Entry Level Salary: $26,320
Average Experienced Salary: $51,700
Location Quotient: 1.09
5. Delaware
Total Jobs: 7,120
Average Annual Salary: $38,540
Average Entry Level Salary: $26,940
Average Experienced Salary: $53,830
Location Quotient: 0.99
6. Michigan
Total Jobs: 59,710
Average Annual Salary: $34,670
Average Entry Level Salary: $21,270
Average Experienced Salary: $50,370
Location Quotient: 0.87
7. Georgia
Total Jobs: 60,320
Average Annual Salary: $35,060
Average Entry Level Salary: $21,580
Average Experienced Salary: $51,330
Location Quotient: 0.88
8. Washington
Total Jobs: 38,120
Average Annual Salary: $40,630
Average Entry Level Salary: $26,990
Average Experienced Salary: $56,890
Location Quotient: 0.76
9. Minnesota
Total Jobs: 29,860
Average Annual Salary: $39,130
Average Entry Level Salary: $25,860
Average Experienced Salary: $54,020
Location Quotient: 0.65
10. Mississippi
Total Jobs: 23,100
Average Annual Salary: $30,800
Average Entry Level Salary: $18,490
Average Experienced Salary: $46,020
Location Quotient: 1.26
There You Have It – The Best States To Be An Administrative Assistant
If you’re looking to start out your career as an administrative assistant these are the states that should be at the top of your list. You’ll find high pay, available jobs, and chances for career advancement.
If you’re curious, here are the worst states to be an administrative assistant in America:
Detailed List Of The Best States For administrative assistants
| Rank | State | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | $34,350 |
| 2 | Wyoming | $35,460 |
| 3 | Missouri | $32,940 |
| 4 | North Dakota | $38,050 |
| 5 | Delaware | $38,540 |
| 6 | Michigan | $34,670 |
| 7 | Georgia | $35,060 |
| 8 | Washington | $40,630 |
| 9 | Minnesota | $39,130 |
| 10 | Mississippi | $30,800 |
| 11 | Illinois | $36,010 |
| 12 | Texas | $33,910 |
| 13 | Kansas | $32,020 |
| 14 | Tennessee | $31,940 |
| 15 | Colorado | $37,240 |
| 16 | Utah | $32,570 |
| 17 | New Mexico | $33,190 |
| 18 | Ohio | $34,560 |
| 19 | North Carolina | $34,720 |
| 20 | Wisconsin | $36,750 |
| 21 | Nebraska | $32,770 |
| 22 | Virginia | $37,110 |
| 23 | Arizona | $34,660 |
| 24 | Iowa | $32,830 |
| 25 | Nevada | $37,390 |
| 26 | Indiana | $32,040 |
| 27 | Florida | $33,460 |
| 28 | Kentucky | $31,510 |
| 29 | Pennsylvania | $34,930 |
| 30 | Oklahoma | $30,610 |
| 31 | Arkansas | $29,650 |
| 32 | Connecticut | $43,460 |
| 33 | New Jersey | $41,500 |
| 34 | South Carolina | $32,270 |
| 35 | Idaho | $31,420 |
| 36 | Louisiana | $30,520 |
| 37 | Maryland | $39,300 |
| 38 | Maine | $34,490 |
| 39 | New York | $39,500 |
| 40 | Alaska | $39,440 |
| 41 | Vermont | $34,510 |
| 42 | Massachusetts | $45,130 |
| 43 | Montana | $32,080 |
| 44 | West Virginia | $30,550 |
| 45 | Oregon | $36,950 |
| 46 | New Hampshire | $34,770 |
| 47 | Rhode Island | $40,140 |
| 48 | California | $41,240 |
| 49 | Hawaii | $39,610 |
| 50 | South Dakota | $28,160 |
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
