Administrative Assistant salary in Helena, MT

Pay in Helena against Montana and the US

The middle half of administrative assistants in Helena earns $39,580–$47,970. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $60,390, only 1.8 times the bottom tenth, against 2.0 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. The mean ($45,870) 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 only $8,390 wide, against $11,240 across Montana and $19,170 nationally: employers in Helena pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an administrative assistant here

Local pay is bunched just above the median: the 75th percentile is only $300 over it, while the 25th sits $8,090 below. Moving an offer from the median to the 75th percentile costs about $387 more a year with benefits. 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 Helena, and the Montana statewide median of $43,940 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Helena

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 $13,840 to the $47,670 median and brings it to $61,510 a year. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

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Other roles in Helena

Of the 14 roles we track in Helena, this one ranks #10 by median pay, between data entry specialists ($49,850) and customer support specialists ($46,680). Project Coordinator is the highest at $102,970.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #7 of the 14 roles we track in Helena (+0.3%), between project coordinators (+0.6%) and medical administrative assistants (-5.1%). The typical role here is at -2.4%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Administrative assistants hold 11.8% of the jobs in these 14 roles in Helena, 11.0% across Montana and 11.0% nationally. That is close to the national mix.

Other areas in Montana

Across the 8 areas of Montana with data for this job, the median runs from $40,060 in the East-Central Montana nonmetro area to $47,670 in Helena, a gap of $7,610 a year. All 4 areas in Montana with more administrative assistants than Helena pay less, among them the West Montana nonmetro area ($40,340) and the East-Central Montana nonmetro area ($40,060).

Helena against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Helena is #468 of 520 US areas for this job. The market is small, and its pay sits near the middle of the US range. Outside Montana, State College and Duluth pay just above Helena and Albany and Bismarck just below. All four are within $90 a year of the median in Helena. 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.