Administrative Assistant salary in the Massachusetts nonmetro area

Pay in the Massachusetts nonmetro area against Massachusetts and the US

The middle half of administrative assistants in the Massachusetts nonmetro area earns $48,040–$63,050. The top tenth earns $74,220 or more, 1.8 times the bottom tenth, close to the US pattern of 2.0 times. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $15,010 wide, against $16,090 across Massachusetts and $19,170 nationally: employers in the Massachusetts nonmetro area pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an administrative assistant here

An offer at the 75th percentile instead of the median adds $6,710 a year in pay and about $8,658 in employer cost. Going down to the 25th percentile saves $8,300 in pay. 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 10th and 25th percentiles in the Massachusetts nonmetro area, and the Massachusetts statewide median of $57,940 falls between the median and the 75th percentile. An offer at the national rate would be lower than what three quarters of local administrative assistants earn.

What a hire really costs in the Massachusetts nonmetro area

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 $16,357 to the $56,340 median and brings it to $72,697 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 the Massachusetts nonmetro area

Of the 14 roles we track in the Massachusetts nonmetro area, this one ranks #11 by median pay, between bookkeepers ($61,770) and medical administrative assistants ($51,470). Project Coordinator is the highest at $96,270.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #2 of the 14 roles we track in the Massachusetts nonmetro area (+18.5%), between bookkeepers (+21.9%) and virtual receptionists (+18.2%). The typical role here is at +7.4%, so, measured against the US, administrative assistants cost more in the Massachusetts nonmetro area than the area's general pay level would suggest. Administrative assistants hold 16.3% of the jobs in these 14 roles in the Massachusetts nonmetro area, 9.8% across Massachusetts and 11.0% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Massachusetts

Across the 7 areas of Massachusetts with data for this job, the median runs from $49,990 in Pittsfield to $59,330 in Boston-Cambridge, a gap of $9,340 a year. Of the 6 areas in Massachusetts with more administrative assistants than the Massachusetts nonmetro area, 5 pay less, the largest of them Worcester, MA ($52,450), Springfield, MA ($51,460) and Amherst Town-Northampton, MA ($51,100).

the Massachusetts nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the Massachusetts nonmetro area is #438 of 520 US areas for this job. The market is small, but its pay is in the top quarter of US areas. Outside Massachusetts, Mount Vernon-Anacortes and Salinas pay just above the Massachusetts nonmetro area and Vallejo and Hartford-West Hartford just below. All four are within $1,000 a year of the median in the Massachusetts nonmetro area. Of the three markets with about as many administrative assistants, none pays as much.

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