Find a Job You Really Want In
Office Assistants are one of the most common jobs in America. Additionally, a significant number of people work as office assistants in every state in the union — it’s not like they are all just concentrated in California or the South.
Since office assistants are such a prominent occupation, we at Zippia wanted to look at where office 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 office assistants.
After all the numbers had been crunched, we were left with this list of the best of best for America’s office assistants:
So there you have it — Office Clerks, General is the best of the best when it comes to being an office assistant.
How did Office Clerks, General end up here and does it really deserve this ranking? Read on to see how we completed our research on the best states for office assistants and for more on the top ten states.
If youâre interested, you can read more about the job scene here:
- 10 Best Companies to Work For in Saginaw, MI
- These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In Detroit
- These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In Warren
How we determined the best states to be an office 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 office assistants in America we needed to figure out where the jobs are and how well office 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 office assistants in California is $35,270 and the average salary in Illinois is $35,660, 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 office assistants in America.
So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each state so great for office assistants.
1. Michigan
Total Jobs: 102,910
Average Annual Salary: $34,150
Average Entry Level Salary: $19,340
Average Experienced Salary: $52,030
Location Quotient: 1.16
2. Texas
Total Jobs: 363,020
Average Annual Salary: $34,380
Average Entry Level Salary: $18,660
Average Experienced Salary: $54,430
Location Quotient: 1.47
3. Illinois
Total Jobs: 140,700
Average Annual Salary: $35,660
Average Entry Level Salary: $19,870
Average Experienced Salary: $55,880
Location Quotient: 1.13
4. Wyoming
Total Jobs: 6,560
Average Annual Salary: $34,080
Average Entry Level Salary: $20,220
Average Experienced Salary: $50,130
Location Quotient: 1.13
5. Alaska
Total Jobs: 6,810
Average Annual Salary: $47,130
Average Entry Level Salary: $32,440
Average Experienced Salary: $65,070
Location Quotient: 1.0
6. Wisconsin
Total Jobs: 84,250
Average Annual Salary: $33,520
Average Entry Level Salary: $19,840
Average Experienced Salary: $48,830
Location Quotient: 1.43
7. Iowa
Total Jobs: 29,880
Average Annual Salary: $33,420
Average Entry Level Salary: $19,220
Average Experienced Salary: $49,830
Location Quotient: 0.92
8. Washington
Total Jobs: 61,810
Average Annual Salary: $36,380
Average Entry Level Salary: $23,570
Average Experienced Salary: $51,680
Location Quotient: 0.96
9. Nevada
Total Jobs: 27,320
Average Annual Salary: $35,700
Average Entry Level Salary: $20,960
Average Experienced Salary: $52,700
Location Quotient: 1.02
10. Indiana
Total Jobs: 57,280
Average Annual Salary: $31,120
Average Entry Level Salary: $18,930
Average Experienced Salary: $45,820
Location Quotient: 0.91
There You Have It – The Best States To Be An Office Assistant
If you’re looking to start out your career as an office 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 office assistant in America:
For more reading, check out:
Detailed List Of The Best States For office assistants
| Rank | State | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michigan | $34,150 |
| 2 | Texas | $34,380 |
| 3 | Illinois | $35,660 |
| 4 | Wyoming | $34,080 |
| 5 | Alaska | $47,130 |
| 6 | Wisconsin | $33,520 |
| 7 | Iowa | $33,420 |
| 8 | Washington | $36,380 |
| 9 | Nevada | $35,700 |
| 10 | Indiana | $31,120 |
| 11 | Tennessee | $32,210 |
| 12 | Arizona | $34,380 |
| 13 | Minnesota | $35,370 |
| 14 | Colorado | $38,570 |
| 15 | Idaho | $29,890 |
| 16 | Virginia | $33,530 |
| 17 | Pennsylvania | $32,710 |
| 18 | New Hampshire | $37,210 |
| 19 | Missouri | $30,530 |
| 20 | Arkansas | $26,380 |
| 21 | West Virginia | $27,750 |
| 22 | Ohio | $31,300 |
| 23 | Georgia | $28,820 |
| 24 | Kentucky | $29,830 |
| 25 | North Carolina | $29,810 |
| 26 | Montana | $30,630 |
| 27 | Utah | $29,610 |
| 28 | Kansas | $29,280 |
| 29 | Oklahoma | $27,920 |
| 30 | Nebraska | $28,480 |
| 31 | Florida | $29,630 |
| 32 | North Dakota | $30,210 |
| 33 | Mississippi | $26,770 |
| 34 | Rhode Island | $35,050 |
| 35 | Connecticut | $37,870 |
| 36 | Oregon | $34,470 |
| 37 | Louisiana | $25,280 |
| 38 | New Jersey | $34,890 |
| 39 | Maine | $31,410 |
| 40 | Massachusetts | $37,940 |
| 41 | Delaware | $29,280 |
| 42 | California | $35,270 |
| 43 | New York | $33,090 |
| 44 | Alabama | $24,900 |
| 45 | Maryland | $33,960 |
| 46 | South Carolina | $27,830 |
| 47 | Hawaii | $33,670 |
| 48 | New Mexico | $25,900 |
| 49 | South Dakota | $25,030 |
| 50 | Vermont | $31,700 |
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.
