Administrative Assistant salary in the North Central Tennessee nonmetro area

Pay in the North Central Tennessee nonmetro area against Tennessee and the US

Pay is more spread out here than nationally: the top tenth earns $56,530 or more, 2.2 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 the North Central Tennessee nonmetro area earns $33,710–$48,380. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $14,670 wide, against $16,960 across Tennessee and $19,170 nationally: employers in the North Central Tennessee nonmetro area 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 $9,110 over the median, the 25th only $5,560 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $11,755 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 the North Central Tennessee nonmetro area, and the Tennessee statewide median of $45,810 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in the North Central Tennessee nonmetro area

At the $39,270 median, a local hire costs about $50,671 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $11,401 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 the North Central Tennessee nonmetro area

Of the 17 roles we track in the North Central Tennessee nonmetro area, this one ranks #12 by median pay, between bookkeepers ($44,610) and customer support specialists ($38,780). Project Coordinator is the highest at $78,470.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #8 of the 17 roles we track in the North Central Tennessee nonmetro area (-17.4%), between data entry specialists (-16.1%) and medical administrative assistants (-18.9%). The typical role here is at -18.9%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Administrative assistants hold 13.1% of the jobs in these 17 roles in the North Central Tennessee nonmetro area, 9.5% across Tennessee and 10.8% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

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. All 5 areas in Tennessee with more administrative assistants than the North Central Tennessee nonmetro area also pay more, among them Nashville-Murfreesboro, TN ($49,000) and Memphis, TN-MS ($45,960).

the North Central Tennessee nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the North Central Tennessee nonmetro area is #246 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, El Paso and Gainesville pay just above the North Central Tennessee nonmetro area and Twin Falls and Hinesville just below. All four are within $50 a year of the median in the North Central Tennessee nonmetro area. Of the three markets with about as many administrative assistants, all three pay more.

Questions

Sources

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