Administrative Assistant salary in the East Tennessee nonmetro area

Pay in the East Tennessee nonmetro area against Tennessee and the US

The middle half of administrative assistants in the East Tennessee nonmetro area earns $31,510–$48,100. The top tenth earns $56,870 or more, 2.2 times the bottom tenth, close to the US pattern of 2.0 times. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $16,590 wide, against $16,960 across Tennessee and $19,170 nationally: employers in the East Tennessee nonmetro area pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an administrative assistant here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $7,930 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $8,660, or about $11,174 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 median and the 75th percentile in the East Tennessee nonmetro area, and the Tennessee statewide median of $45,810 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in the East Tennessee 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 $11,450 to the $39,440 median and brings it to $50,890 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 Tennessee nonmetro area

Of the 17 roles we track in the East Tennessee nonmetro area, this one ranks #12 by median pay, between e-commerce order specialists ($40,420) and sales development representatives ($37,870). Project Coordinator is the highest at $88,910.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #9 of the 17 roles we track in the East Tennessee nonmetro area (-17.0%), between data entry specialists (-16.1%) and accountants (-17.8%). The typical role here is at -17.0%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Administrative assistants hold 15.2% of the jobs in the 16 of these roles with a job count in the East Tennessee nonmetro area, 11.0% across Tennessee and 11.8% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Tennessee

Across the 14 areas of Tennessee with data for this job, the median runs from $38,230 in the South Central Tennessee nonmetro area to $49,000 in Nashville-Murfreesboro, a gap of $10,770 a year. Of the 6 areas in Tennessee with more administrative assistants than the East Tennessee nonmetro area, 1 pays less: the North Central Tennessee nonmetro area ($39,270).

the East Tennessee nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the East Tennessee nonmetro area is #255 of 520 US areas for this job. It is a mid-sized market, and its pay is in the bottom quarter of US areas. Outside Tennessee, Topeka and Dothan pay just above the East Tennessee nonmetro area and Sebring and Abilene just below. All four are within $80 a year of the median in the East Tennessee nonmetro area. Of the three markets with about as many administrative assistants, one pays more.

Questions

Sources

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