Administrative Assistant salary in Bellingham, WA

Pay in Bellingham against Washington and the US

The middle half of administrative assistants in Bellingham earns $47,740–$61,080. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $64,890, only 1.6 times the bottom tenth, against 2.0 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $13,340 wide, against $15,780 across Washington and $19,170 nationally: employers in Bellingham pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an administrative assistant here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $6,080 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $7,260, or about $9,368 once benefits are added. These percentiles describe what people in the job earn locally, not experience levels, so place your offer by the tasks and seniority you need.

For scale, the US median of $47,540 falls between the 10th and 25th percentiles in Bellingham, and the Washington statewide median of $57,330 falls between the median and the 75th percentile. An offer at the national rate would be lower than what three quarters of local administrative assistants earn.

What a hire really costs in Bellingham

Pay is only part of it. Benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², which adds about $15,625 to the $53,820 median and brings it to $69,445 a year. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

We place executive assistants, customer support and e-commerce staff today; for administrative assistants we answer within one business day whether we can help. Enter the monthly pay you have in mind to compare it with a local hire. The fee field shows our standard fee³; Deel's contractor plan is the default payroll tool⁴.

Other roles in Bellingham

Of the 16 roles we track in Bellingham, this one ranks #12 by median pay, between medical administrative assistants ($55,670) and HR assistants ($52,910). Project Coordinator is the highest at $103,400.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #3 of the 16 roles we track in Bellingham (+13.2%), between virtual receptionists (+14.2%) and bookkeepers (+12.5%). The typical role here is at +4.7%, so, measured against the US, administrative assistants cost more in Bellingham than the area's general pay level would suggest. Administrative assistants hold 10.3% of the jobs in these 16 roles in Bellingham, 9.3% across Washington and 10.8% nationally. That is close to the national mix.

Other areas in Washington

Across the 13 areas of Washington with data for this job, the median runs from $49,550 in Spokane-Spokane Valley to $60,230 in Seattle-Tacoma, a gap of $10,680 a year. Of the 7 areas in Washington with more administrative assistants than Bellingham, 5 pay less, the largest of them Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA ($49,550), the Western Washington nonmetro area ($52,040) and Kennewick-Richland, WA ($53,140).

Bellingham against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Bellingham is #355 of 520 US areas for this job. It is a mid-sized market, and its pay is in the top quarter of US areas. Outside Washington, Trenton-Princeton and Minneapolis-St. Paul pay just above Bellingham and Stockton-Lodi and Washington-Arlington just below. All four are within $260 a year of the median in Bellingham. Of the three markets with about as many administrative assistants, none pays as much.

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How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.