Administrative Assistant salary in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA

Pay in Kingsport-Bristol against Tennessee and the US

Administrative assistants at the 90th percentile earn $60,140, 2.0 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 2.0. The middle half of administrative assistants in Kingsport-Bristol earns $33,740–$49,390. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $15,650 wide, against $16,960 across Tennessee and $19,170 nationally: employers in Kingsport-Bristol pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an administrative assistant here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $9,540 over the median, the 25th only $6,110 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $12,310 a year in employer cost. 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 Kingsport-Bristol, and the Tennessee statewide median of $45,810 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Kingsport-Bristol

At the $39,850 median, a local hire costs about $51,419 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $11,569 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 Kingsport-Bristol

Of the 17 roles we track in Kingsport-Bristol, this one ranks #12 by median pay, between HR assistants ($45,660) and e-commerce order specialists ($38,050). Project Coordinator is the highest at $87,290.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #11 of the 17 roles we track in Kingsport-Bristol (-16.2%), between recruiters (-14.9%) and marketing specialists (-16.9%). The typical role here is at -14.9%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Administrative assistants hold 10.3% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Kingsport-Bristol, 9.5% across Tennessee and 10.8% nationally. That is close to the national mix.

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 8 areas in Tennessee with more administrative assistants than Kingsport-Bristol, 4 pay less, the largest of them the West Tennessee nonmetro area ($39,740), the North Central Tennessee nonmetro area ($39,270) and the East Tennessee nonmetro area ($39,440).

Kingsport-Bristol against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Kingsport-Bristol is #281 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, Terre Haute and Idaho Falls pay just above Kingsport-Bristol and Tallahassee and Anniston-Oxford just below. All four are within $60 a year of the median in Kingsport-Bristol. Of the three markets with about as many administrative assistants, two pay more.

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