Administrative Assistant salary in Grand Forks, ND-MN

Pay in Grand Forks against North Dakota and the US

The middle half of administrative assistants in Grand Forks earns $41,180–$55,150. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $60,240, 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 $13,970 wide, between the figure for North Dakota ($13,610) and the US figure ($19,170).

What to budget for an administrative assistant here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $6,740 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $7,230, or about $9,329 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 Grand Forks, and the North Dakota statewide median of $47,480 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Grand Forks

At the $47,920 median, a local hire costs about $61,832 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $13,912 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 Grand Forks

Of the 14 roles we track in Grand Forks, this one ranks #10 by median pay, between paralegals ($49,290) and medical administrative assistants ($46,600). Project Coordinator is the highest at $90,140.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #4 of the 14 roles we track in Grand Forks (+0.8%), between payroll specialists (+1.3%) and bookkeepers (-0.8%). The typical role here is at -4.2%, so, measured against the US, administrative assistants cost more in Grand Forks than the area's general pay level would suggest. Administrative assistants hold 19.5% of the jobs in these 14 roles in Grand Forks, 17.3% across North Dakota and 11.0% 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. Of the 4 areas in North Dakota with more administrative assistants than Grand Forks, 3 pay less: Fargo, ND-MN ($47,060), Bismarck, ND ($47,580) and the East North Dakota nonmetro area ($46,110).

Grand Forks against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Grand Forks is #378 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 North Dakota, Appleton and Ithaca pay just above Grand Forks and Salt Lake City-Murray and Columbus just below. All four are within $70 a year of the median in Grand Forks. Of the three markets with about as many administrative assistants, none pays as much.

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Sources

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