Administrative Assistant salary in Lake Charles, LA

Pay in Lake Charles against Louisiana and the US

Pay is more spread out here than nationally: the top tenth earns $60,290 or more, 2.4 times the bottom tenth, against 2.0 times across the US. Two offers for the same title can sit far apart. The middle half of administrative assistants in Lake Charles earns $32,430–$45,550. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $13,120 wide, against $14,870 across Louisiana and $19,170 nationally: employers in Lake Charles pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an administrative assistant here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $7,830 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $5,290, or about $6,826 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 75th and 90th percentiles in Lake Charles, and the Louisiana statewide median of $38,790 falls between the 25th percentile and the median. An offer at the national rate would beat what three quarters of local administrative assistants earn.

What a hire really costs in Lake Charles

At the $40,260 median, a local hire costs about $51,948 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $11,688 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 Lake Charles

Of the 14 roles we track in Lake Charles, this one ranks #10 by median pay, between bookkeepers ($44,550) and medical administrative assistants ($36,400). Project Coordinator is the highest at $92,770.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #4 of the 14 roles we track in Lake Charles (-15.3%), between payroll specialists (-13.9%) and recruiters (-15.6%). The typical role here is at -18.1%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Administrative assistants hold 19.6% of the jobs in these 14 roles in Lake Charles, 17.4% across Louisiana and 11.2% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Louisiana

Across the 13 areas of Louisiana with data for this job, the median runs from $33,860 in the Central Louisiana nonmetro area to $42,830 in New Orleans-Metairie, a gap of $8,970 a year. Of the 6 areas in Louisiana with more administrative assistants than Lake Charles, 4 pay less, the largest of them Lafayette, LA ($38,060), Shreveport-Bossier City, LA ($38,580) and the Southwest Louisiana nonmetro area ($36,410).

Lake Charles against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Lake Charles is #235 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 Louisiana, San Angelo and Ocala pay just above Lake Charles and Montgomery and Sierra Vista-Douglas just below. All four are within $110 a year of the median in Lake Charles. Of the three markets with about as many administrative assistants, all three pay more.

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Sources

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