What is an Assistant?

Assistants can find job possibilities in almost every corner of the job market. All you have to do is search high and low. Since there are an unlimited number of opportunities for assistants, your day-to-day roles will vary.

Some assistants will find themselves planning meetings and events. Others will be put in charge of social media. And just a few may be tasked with getting everyone's coffee order. Whatever your role, make sure you take some notes along the way.

What Does an Assistant Do

There are certain skills that many assistants have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed writing skills, interpersonal skills and organizational skills.

Learn more about what an Assistant does

How To Become an Assistant

If you're interested in becoming an assistant, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 49.5% of assistants have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 5.4% of assistants have master's degrees. Even though most assistants have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become an Assistant

Assistant Job Description

Assistants are in charge of accomplishing a variety of activities for their immediate superior to alleviate the effort needed to accomplish tasks for the company. They may have to handle schedules, carry out administrative or clerical activities, or liaise with other departments to ensure smooth operations.

Learn more about Assistant Job Description
Top Assistant Jobs Near You

Assistant Career Paths

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of specialist you might progress to a role such as team leader eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title assistant general manager.

Assistant

Average Salary for an Assistant

Assistants in America make an average salary of $37,363 per year or $18 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $82,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $16,000 per year.
Average Assistant Salary
$37,363 Yearly
$17.96 hourly
See More Salary Information

What Am I Worth?

salary-calculator

States With The Most Assistant Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active assistant jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where assistants earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Assistant Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California19,415$31,407
2Florida15,814$40,902
3Texas15,674$26,162
4New York12,828$76,802
5Pennsylvania9,385$62,121
6Ohio8,886$52,966
7North Carolina8,523$54,455
8Massachusetts8,500$86,498
9Illinois8,370$48,421
10Georgia7,820$40,049
11Michigan7,580$50,672
12Minnesota7,038$37,629
13Virginia6,559$60,720
14Indiana6,267$52,971
15New Jersey6,184$66,919
16Washington5,666$32,884
17Wisconsin5,563$45,095
18Maryland5,148$66,629
19Colorado5,148$27,643
20Arizona5,104$26,834
21Missouri4,850$30,329
22Tennessee4,687$38,467
23South Carolina3,574$46,017
24Kentucky3,436$49,448
25Alabama3,185$34,026
26Oregon3,063$29,978
27Connecticut2,970$69,913
28Iowa2,961$34,456
29Louisiana2,878$26,447
30Oklahoma2,468$24,573
31Kansas2,434$26,041
32Utah2,180$25,014
33New Hampshire2,052$66,664
34Mississippi1,865$25,486
35Arkansas1,844$24,917
36West Virginia1,723$57,569
37Nebraska1,720$26,115
38New Mexico1,619$25,652
39Maine1,545$68,164
40Nevada1,423$26,430
41Idaho1,196$25,449
42Montana1,008$26,312
43Rhode Island833$70,045
44Alaska820$27,904
45Delaware805$54,922
46North Dakota749$28,551
47Hawaii657$35,484
48South Dakota647$24,353
49Vermont547$74,465
50Wyoming469$25,636

Assistant Education

Assistant Majors

Business
20.8 %
Psychology
9.1 %
Criminal Justice
6.0 %

Assistant Degrees

Bachelors

49.5 %

High School Diploma

18.8 %

Associate

16.9 %

Top Colleges for Assistants

1. Western Carolina University

Cullowhee, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$3,926

Enrollment

9,835

2. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

3. Ball State University

Muncie, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,896

Enrollment

15,529

4. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

5. Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green, OH • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,105

Enrollment

13,729

6. Cedar Crest College

Allentown, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$39,216

Enrollment

1,303

7. Morgan State University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,900

Enrollment

6,404

8. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

9. Siena Heights University

Adrian, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$27,124

Enrollment

2,035

10. University of Akron

Akron, OH • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,463

Enrollment

13,676

Top Skills For an Assistant

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 26.6% of assistants listed patients on their resume, but soft skills such as writing skills and interpersonal skills are important as well.

  • Patients, 26.6%
  • Customer Service, 12.7%
  • Patient Care, 8.0%
  • CPR, 5.5%
  • Sales Floor, 5.4%
  • Other Skills, 41.8%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Assistant Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Assistant templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Assistant resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Assistant diversity

Assistant Gender Distribution

Female
Female
59%
Male
Male
41%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among assistants, 59.3% of them are women, while 40.7% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among assistants is White, which makes up 65.7% of all assistants.

  • The most common foreign language among assistants is Spanish at 53.5%.

Online Courses For Assistant That You May Like

Advertising Disclosure  

1. Essentials of Palliative Care

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This course starts you on your journey of integrating primary palliative care into your daily lives. You will learn what palliative care is, how to communicate with patients, show empathy, and practice difficult conversations. You will learn how to screen for distress and provide psychosocial support. You will learn about goals of care and advance care planning and how to improve your success with having these conversations with patients. Finally, you will explore important cultural...

2. Foundations for Assisting in Home Care

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This course is intended as a self-study course for those interested in exploring a career as a Home Health Aide or Personal Care Aide...

3. Fun food safety and sanitation course

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4.5
(411)

The food safety course will help prepare you for safely working in a kitchen and food handler tests like Servesafe...

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Best States For an Assistant

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an assistant. The best states for people in this position are Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, and Rhode Island. Assistants make the most in Massachusetts with an average salary of $86,498. Whereas in New York and Vermont, they would average $76,802 and $74,465, respectively. While assistants would only make an average of $70,045 in Rhode Island, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Massachusetts

Total Assistant Jobs: 8,500
Highest 10% Earn:
$186,000
Location Quotient:
1.12

$86,498

Avg. Salary

View 8,500 Assistant Jobs In MA

2. New York

Total Assistant Jobs: 12,828
Highest 10% Earn:
$171,000
Location Quotient:
1.21

$76,802

Avg. Salary

View 12,828 Assistant Jobs In NY

3. Maine

Total Assistant Jobs: 1,545
Highest 10% Earn:
$158,000
Location Quotient:
1.41

$68,164

Avg. Salary

View 1,545 Assistant Jobs In ME
Full List Of Best States For Assistants

How Do Assistants Rate Their Jobs?

Working as an Assistant? Share your experience anonymously.
Overall Rating*
Career Growth
Work/Life balance
Pay/Salary

Top Assistant Employers

Most Common Employers For Assistant

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center$199,120$95.73116
2Marshall University$198,115$95.2561
3Massachusetts General Hospital$174,362$83.83216
4University of Florida$43,777$21.0557
5Farmers Insurance$35,401$17.0275
6Allstate$35,321$16.9880
7Costco Wholesale$33,688$16.2055
8Amazon$33,334$16.0384
9Kelly Services$32,409$15.5863
10ManpowerGroup$31,825$15.3075
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Becoming an Assistant FAQs

How Long Does It Take To Become An Assistant?

It takes 2 years of professional experience to become an assistant. That is the time it takes to learn specific assistant skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education. If you include the normal education requirements to complete a college degree, then it takes 5 to 7 years years to become an assistant.

How Do I Get A Job As An Assistant?

To get a job as an assistant, you need to choose an area of work and prepare yourself to work for a professional in that field. Many professionals need assistants; therefore, the preparation to work under a professional depends on the chosen field of work.

How Much Do Assistants Make?

Assistants make anywhere from $32,000 to $65,000 per year. The salary of an assistant is strongly tied to the specific field of work that they are engaged in.

While the title assistant can be applied to nearly any profession, there are certain occupations that utilize assistants regularly. Although these professions are very different from one another, the average salary for many types of assistants is similar.

Is Personal Assistant A Good Career?

Yes, being a personal assistant is a good career that provides an adequate salary and ample opportunities but is not considered a career field.

Because the role of personal assistant varies depending on the specific employer, the range of duties can be very broad. The responsibilities of a personal assistant can range from scheduling appointments to running personal errands.

What Qualifications Do You Need To Be A Personal Assistant?

The qualifications you need to be a personal assistant are to be skilled in a number of diverse areas. From technology to communication, a personal assistant must be qualified to perform many tasks.

Have more questions? See all answers to common office and administrative questions.

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Updated April 6, 2023