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The differences between mailroom assistants and administrative office assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an administrative office assistant has an average salary of $33,318, which is higher than the $29,118 average annual salary of a mailroom assistant.
The top three skills for a mailroom assistant include office equipment, data entry and HR. The most important skills for an administrative office assistant are customer service, data entry, and phone calls.
| Mailroom Assistant | Administrative Office Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $29,118 | $33,318 |
| Hourly rate | $14.00 | $16.02 |
| Growth rate | -5% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 13,048 | 81,528 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Average age | 45 | 50 |
| Years of experience | - | 2 |
Mailroom assistants receive incoming mail and then process, sort, and distribute it to the proper recipients. They may maintain mailroom supply inventories and sort office mail and messages. It is part of their responsibilities to check outgoing mail by preparing it for delivery, including distribution of packages and logging. Moreover, they usually operate mailroom tools such as envelope openers, postage meters, mail sorting machines, mail sealers, fold-and-insert machines, labeling machines, and scanners.
An administrative office assistant is responsible for performing administrative duties to assist in daily management operations. These duties include taking calls and responding to client and customers' inquiries and concerns, scheduling meetings and conferences, organizing files and submitting required documents, sorting invoices for release, processing travel arrangements, receiving emails, forwarding reports to the appropriate department, and coordinating with company's events. An administrative assistant must be detail-oriented, as well as having excellent time-management and multi-tasking skills to perform duties even under minimal supervision.
Mailroom assistants and administrative office assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Mailroom Assistant | Administrative Office Assistant | |
| Average salary | $29,118 | $33,318 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $35,000 | Between $25,000 And $43,000 |
| Highest paying City | Walnut Creek, CA | Sacramento, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | University of California | Buckley King |
| Best paying industry | Government | Government |
There are a few differences between a mailroom assistant and an administrative office assistant in terms of educational background:
| Mailroom Assistant | Administrative Office Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between mailroom assistants' and administrative office assistants' demographics:
| Mailroom Assistant | Administrative Office Assistant | |
| Average age | 45 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 54.1% Female, 45.9% | Male, 14.7% Female, 85.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 8.1% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 6% |