Administrative Assistant salary in Charleston-North Charleston, SC

Pay in Charleston-North Charleston against South Carolina and the US

The middle half of administrative assistants in Charleston-North Charleston earns $38,690–$55,640. The top tenth earns $62,820 or more, 2.1 times the bottom tenth, close to the US pattern of 2.0 times. The mean ($47,380) is no higher than the median, so few high earners skew the figures here. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is $16,950 wide, between the figure for South Carolina ($15,540) and the US figure ($19,170).

What to budget for an administrative assistant here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $9,060 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $7,890, or about $10,181 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 25th percentile and the median in Charleston-North Charleston, and the South Carolina statewide median of $44,880 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Charleston-North Charleston

At the $47,750 median, a local hire costs about $61,613 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $13,863 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 Charleston-North Charleston

Of the 17 roles we track in Charleston-North Charleston, this one ranks #12 by median pay, between HR assistants ($47,840) and e-commerce order specialists ($45,300). Project Coordinator is the highest at $94,730.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #2 of the 17 roles we track in Charleston-North Charleston (+0.4%), between data entry specialists (+0.5%) and bookkeepers (-0.5%). The typical role here is at -5.2%, so, measured against the US, administrative assistants cost more in Charleston-North Charleston than the area's general pay level would suggest. Administrative assistants hold 10.3% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Charleston-North Charleston, 12.1% across South Carolina and 10.8% nationally. That is close to the national mix.

Other areas in South Carolina

Across the 11 areas of South Carolina with data for this job, the median runs from $38,480 in the Northeastern South Carolina nonmetro area to $47,750 in Charleston-North Charleston, a gap of $9,270 a year. All 2 areas in South Carolina with more administrative assistants than Charleston-North Charleston pay less, among them Columbia, SC ($45,620) and Greenville-Anderson, SC ($46,120).

Charleston-North Charleston against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Charleston-North Charleston is #69 of 520 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job and one of the better-paying ones. Outside South Carolina, Omaha and Lexington-Fayette pay just above Charleston-North Charleston and Duluth and State College just below. All four are within $50 a year of the median in Charleston-North Charleston. Of the three markets with about as many administrative assistants, one pays more.

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Sources

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