Office clerk vs administrative office assistant

The differences between office clerks and administrative office assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an office clerk and an administrative office assistant. Additionally, an administrative office assistant has an average salary of $33,318, which is higher than the $30,927 average annual salary of an office clerk.

The top three skills for an office clerk include customer service, data entry and telephone calls. The most important skills for an administrative office assistant are customer service, data entry, and phone calls.

Office clerk vs administrative office assistant overview

	Office Clerk	Administrative Office Assistant
Yearly salary	$30,927	$33,318
Hourly rate	$14.87	$16.02
Growth rate	-5%	-8%
Number of jobs	106,497	81,528
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Average age	47	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does an office clerk do?

Office clerks are administrative employees who handle clerical activities for the organization. They are in charge of managing company records, organizing and storing documents, filing and sorting hard copies of documents, and liaising with other departments or external partners. They are also in charge of handling and scheduling meetings and appointments, managing the reservation of office meeting rooms, and manning telephone lines. Office clerks may also be in charge of ordering office supplies, preparing purchase requisitions for office needs, sending out and receiving official company documents, and other correspondences.

What does an administrative office assistant do?

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.

Office clerk vs administrative office assistant salary

Office clerks and administrative office assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Office Clerk	Administrative Office Assistant
Average salary	$30,927	$33,318
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $38,000	Between $25,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	Englewood, CO	Sacramento, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Hawaii
Best paying company	University of Massachusetts Boston	Buckley King
Best paying industry	Transportation	Government

Differences between office clerk and administrative office assistant education

There are a few differences between an office clerk and an administrative office assistant in terms of educational background:

	Office Clerk	Administrative Office Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Office clerk vs administrative office assistant demographics

Here are the differences between office clerks' and administrative office assistants' demographics:

	Office Clerk	Administrative Office Assistant
Average age	47	50
Gender ratio	Male, 23.3% Female, 76.7%	Male, 14.7% Female, 85.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 23.7% Asian, 7.9% White, 53.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	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	6%	6%

Differences between office clerk and administrative office assistant duties and responsibilities

Office clerk example responsibilities.

Complete medical records requests as specified under HIPAA regulations.
Scan EOB's and attach to payments in software system.
Perform electronic billing of Medicare, Medicaid, and HMO/PPO submissions.
Follow all HIPAA guidelines and safety rules as required within the healthcare policy.
Perform account analysis on credit balance accounts using insurance explanation of benefit information (EOB).
Provide information about establishment, such as location of departments or offices, employees within the organization, or services provide.

Administrative office assistant example responsibilities.

Develop and manage external financial relationships between clients and the IRS.
Manage the receptionist area, including greeting visitors and responding to telephone and in-person requests for information.
Establish and maintain effective communications and cohesive working relationships with company associates, telephone and walk-in customers, and site visitors.
Dust offices and clean windows and doors.
Update information in CATT database, as well as make appointments for therapists and psychiatrists in Sharepoint.
Create electronic filing system to alleviate paper copies and recruit fellow co-workers to get on board with SharePoint.

Office clerk vs administrative office assistant skills

Common office clerk skills

Customer Service, 21%
Data Entry, 18%
Telephone Calls, 7%
Payroll, 5%
Office Equipment, 4%
Office Machines, 3%

Common administrative office assistant skills

Customer Service, 14%
Data Entry, 13%
Phone Calls, 7%
Payroll, 5%
PowerPoint, 4%
Database Management, 4%

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Office Clerk
Office Clerk vs Administrative Office Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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