Administrative Assistant salary in Bismarck, ND

Pay in Bismarck against North Dakota and the US

The middle half of administrative assistants in Bismarck earns $42,290–$54,710. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $61,230, only 1.7 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 $12,420 wide, against $13,610 across North Dakota and $19,170 nationally: employers in Bismarck pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an administrative assistant here

An offer at the 75th percentile instead of the median adds $7,130 a year in pay and about $9,200 in employer cost. Going down to the 25th percentile saves $5,290 in pay. 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 25th percentile and the median in Bismarck, and the North Dakota statewide median of $47,480 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Bismarck

At the $47,580 median, a local hire costs about $61,394 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $13,814 here. 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 Bismarck

Of the 15 roles we track in Bismarck, this one ranks #12 by median pay, between bookkeepers ($49,310) and medical administrative assistants ($46,710). Project Coordinator is the highest at $88,650.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #7 of the 15 roles we track in Bismarck (+0.1%), between medical administrative assistants (+1.7%) and recruiters (+0.1%). The typical role here is at +0.1%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Administrative assistants hold 19.2% of the jobs in these 15 roles in Bismarck, 17.2% across North Dakota and 10.9% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in North Dakota

Across the 6 areas of North Dakota with data for this job, the median runs from $46,110 in the East North Dakota nonmetro area to $50,020 in the West North Dakota nonmetro area, a gap of $3,910 a year. The one area in North Dakota with more administrative assistants, Fargo, ND-MN ($47,060), pays less: a bigger pool at a lower median.

Bismarck against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Bismarck is #284 of 520 US areas for this job. Both its size and its pay sit in the middle half of US areas. Outside North Dakota, Albany and Helena pay just above Bismarck and Binghamton and Sheboygan just below. All four are within $90 a year of the median in Bismarck. Of the three markets with about as many administrative assistants, two pay more.

Questions

Sources

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