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Job outlook for media center assistants in the United States
Are media center assistant jobs in demand?
Media center assistant job and salary trends over time
Media center assistant jobs over time
Media center assistant job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 3,051 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 3,092 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 3,406 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 3,618 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 3,768 | 0.00% |
Average media center assistant salary over time
Media center assistant salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $31,047 | $14.93 | +3.1% |
| 2024 | $30,120 | $14.48 | +2.9% |
| 2023 | $29,273 | $14.07 | +2.9% |
| 2022 | $28,442 | $13.67 | +2.2% |
| 2021 | $27,827 | $13.38 | +2.7% |
Media center assistant jobs by state
Most common states for media center assistants
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 154 | 27% |
| 2 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 164 | 24% |
| 3 | Kansas | 2,913,123 | 614 | 21% |
| 4 | Alaska | 739,795 | 142 | 19% |
| 5 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 970 | 17% |
| 6 | Idaho | 1,716,943 | 284 | 17% |
| 7 | Missouri | 6,113,532 | 893 | 15% |
| 8 | Delaware | 961,939 | 146 | 15% |
| 9 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 1,215 | 14% |
| 10 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 283 | 14% |
| 11 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 1,609 | 13% |
| 12 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 133 | 13% |
| 13 | Vermont | 623,657 | 81 | 13% |
| 14 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 1,545 | 12% |
| 15 | Ohio | 11,658,609 | 1,453 | 12% |
| 16 | Oklahoma | 3,930,864 | 476 | 12% |
| 17 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 162 | 12% |
| 18 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 787 | 11% |
| 19 | Alabama | 4,874,747 | 537 | 11% |
| 20 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 354 | 11% |
Most common cities for media center assistants
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fairbanks | 1 | 3% | $27,512 |
| 2 | Kaneohe | 1 | 3% | $39,811 |
| 3 | Lexington | 1 | 3% | $35,072 |
| 4 | Alpharetta | 1 | 2% | $25,716 |
| 5 | Greenwood | 1 | 2% | $21,919 |
| 6 | Minneapolis | 4 | 1% | $30,740 |
| 7 | Ann Arbor | 1 | 1% | $23,801 |
| 8 | Bossier City | 1 | 1% | $25,233 |
| 9 | Edmond | 1 | 1% | $22,457 |
| 10 | Flagstaff | 1 | 1% | $25,396 |
| 11 | Gary | 1 | 1% | $22,573 |
| 12 | Los Angeles | 2 | 0% | $39,265 |
| 13 | Atlanta | 1 | 0% | $25,708 |
| 14 | Chicago | 1 | 0% | $29,158 |
| 15 | Dallas | 1 | 0% | $24,033 |
| 16 | Detroit | 1 | 0% | $24,003 |
| 17 | Miami | 1 | 0% | $24,839 |
Media Center Assistant job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of media center assistant experts
Missouri University of Science & Technology
Ohio University - Lancaster Campus
College of Charleston
Christi Patton Luks
Professor (NTT) and Associate Chair for Academic AffairsMissouri University of Science & Technology
Linda & Bipin Doshi Department of Chemical & Biochemical Engineering
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Media Center Assistant job market given the pandemic?
Christi Patton Luks: I think that the pandemic has proven to everyone that online education can work. I think this will increase the number of undergraduates that want to take a course or two online while they are working on internship or co-op positions and professionals returning to school virtually for additional credentials and training. Some engineering jobs have been moved to work-from-home successfully, but many still need to be on site. Flexibility will continue, however.
What's a good job out of college for Media Center Assistants?
Christi Patton Luks: A good job out of college is one that can be adapted to the individual's skills and interests and encourages them to stretch. Frequently, students think they want to work in a particular type of job. Once they have it, they discover that it was not what they thought it would be. Many companies rotate new employees through a variety of positions. Those are great for helping people find their own hidden talents. I know that I have discovered abilities that I would not have even attempted when I was 20.
Brandy Bailey
Career CoachOhio University - Lancaster Campus
Student Services, Career Services
What soft skills should all Media Center Assistants possess?
Brandy Bailey: Soft skills may vary depending on the employer, industry, and personal opinions. My biggest ones are communication skills, adaptability, self-awareness, teamwork, problem-solving, intercultural competency, creativity or innovation, and time management.
What type of skills will young Media Center Assistants need?
Jacob Craig Ph.D.: In school, students are often taught to work by themselves. In some cases, they are even penalized for working with others. In some rare cases, students are asked to do a little group work but only for a short amount of time, at the end of their learning in a class.
The first thing that graduates need to know is that the workplace is nearly opposite from school. Employees, especially professional, technical, and content writer jobs, are more often than not collaborative and teams-based. The added wrinkle is that office culture is unlikely to go back to pre-pandemic occupancy rates.
So graduates need to know is that odds are good that at least part of their job will be remote. And that might be the case for at least part of the time. Announcements from tech, finance, and insurance about their latest work-from-home policies keep making the news. So not only are the chances good that they'll be working in teams, their team members and co-workers won't be in the same room with them. They'll be working collaboratively through writing. This is good news for English graduates. Much of the writing someone in a professional, technical, or content writing job are products meant for public readership. Like press releases that are sent to news outlets. But all of that writing is built on a network of notes, memos, policies, and text threads meant for co-workers. Remote work just means that co-workers will be writing each other more and more often. English graduates who can make texts for public audiences and write effectively to co-workers are positioned to do well.
The second thing that students need to know is how to start and stop writing in the context of someone else's draft. They will rarely begin with a blank screen and end with a finished text.
The third thing is that it's likely small businesses will take some time to bounce back. In those workplace settings, it is likely that an employee will need to have a range of knowledge and skills because their job will combine parts multiple roles. So a copywriter in a small marketing firm might need to also know something about SEO and social analytics and visual design. In larger offices, however, jobs tend to be much more specialized and team-based. So graduates need to be comfortable working in teams where they have an assigned role, and they need to be able to receive work in-process, complete their assigned part, and hand that work off still in-process.
And finally, students need to learn how to learn new technologies. Learn just through documentation, without a human tutorial. Even if employees are exclusively using the Microsoft Suite, it will be used for writing, editing, project management. It will be used to collaborate and present. Depending on where a student studies and what classes they take, those digital pieces might not be a part of their coursework. So, at the very least, students need to know that the workforce will constantly ask them to learn new technologies and new uses for familiar technologies.