Administrative Assistant salary in Lancaster, PA

Pay in Lancaster against Pennsylvania and the US

Administrative assistants at the 90th percentile earn $60,050, 1.9 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 2.0. The middle half of administrative assistants in Lancaster earns $37,690–$51,070. The mean ($45,570) 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 $13,380 wide, against $15,110 across Pennsylvania and $19,170 nationally: employers in Lancaster 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 $4,800 over it, while the 25th sits $8,580 below. Moving an offer from the median to the 75th percentile costs about $6,194 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 median and the 75th percentile in Lancaster, and the Pennsylvania statewide median of $46,270 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Lancaster

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 $13,433 to the $46,270 median and brings it to $59,703 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 Lancaster

Of the 17 roles we track in Lancaster, this one ranks #13 by median pay, between e-commerce order specialists ($47,050) and medical administrative assistants ($45,450). Project Coordinator is the highest at $95,820.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #5 of the 17 roles we track in Lancaster (-2.7%), between paralegals (-1.8%) and virtual receptionists (-3.3%). The typical role here is at -5.9%, so, measured against the US, administrative assistants cost more in Lancaster than the area's general pay level would suggest. Administrative assistants hold 13.6% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Lancaster, 11.4% across Pennsylvania and 10.8% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Pennsylvania

Across the 20 areas of Pennsylvania with data for this job, the median runs from $38,660 in Johnstown to $48,850 in Philadelphia-Camden, a gap of $10,190 a year. Of the 4 areas in Pennsylvania with more administrative assistants than Lancaster, 1 pays less: Pittsburgh, PA ($45,550).

Lancaster against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Lancaster is #98 of 520 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job, with pay near the middle of the US range. Outside Pennsylvania, Dayton-Kettering and Virginia Beach-Chesapeake pay just above Lancaster and Waterloo-Cedar Falls and St. Louis just below. All four are within $70 a year of the median in Lancaster. Of the three markets with about as many administrative assistants, two pay more.

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Sources

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