Administrative Assistant salary in the East South Dakota nonmetro area

Pay in the East South Dakota nonmetro area against South Dakota and the US

The middle half of administrative assistants in the East South Dakota nonmetro area earns $36,860–$46,380. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $49,780, 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 $9,520 wide, against $11,390 across South Dakota and $19,170 nationally: employers in the East South Dakota nonmetro area pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an administrative assistant here

An offer at the 75th percentile instead of the median adds $4,680 a year in pay and about $6,039 in employer cost. Going down to the 25th percentile saves $4,840 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 75th and 90th percentiles in the East South Dakota nonmetro area, and the South Dakota statewide median of $41,700 falls between the median and the 75th percentile. An offer at the national rate would beat what three quarters of local administrative assistants earn.

What a hire really costs in the East South Dakota nonmetro area

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 $12,106 to the $41,700 median and brings it to $53,806 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 the East South Dakota nonmetro area

Of the 15 roles we track in the East South Dakota nonmetro area, this one ranks #13 by median pay, between bookkeepers ($45,140) and customer support specialists ($40,050). Project Coordinator is the highest at $82,850.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #9 of the 15 roles we track in the East South Dakota nonmetro area (-12.3%), between office managers (-12.3%) and recruiters (-14.2%). The typical role here is at -12.3%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Administrative assistants hold 16.7% of the jobs in these 15 roles in the East South Dakota nonmetro area, 14.1% across South Dakota and 11.5% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in South Dakota

Across the 4 areas of South Dakota with data for this job, the median runs from $41,120 in the West South Dakota nonmetro area to $42,560 in Sioux Falls, a gap of $1,440 a year. The one area in South Dakota with more administrative assistants, Sioux Falls, SD-MN ($42,560), also pays more.

the East South Dakota nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the East South Dakota nonmetro area is #166 of 520 US areas for this job. Both its size and its pay sit in the middle half of US areas. Outside South Dakota, Hickory-Lenoir and Lakeland-Winter Haven pay just above the East South Dakota nonmetro area and Augusta-Richmond County and Youngstown-Warren just below. All four are within $120 a year of the median in the East South Dakota nonmetro area. Of the three markets with about as many administrative assistants, one pays more.

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