Administrative Assistant salary in Rapid City, SD

Pay in Rapid City against South Dakota and the US

The middle half of administrative assistants in Rapid City earns $36,540–$48,320. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $53,040, only 1.7 times the bottom tenth, against 2.0 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is $11,780 wide, between the figure for South Dakota ($11,390) and the US figure ($19,170).

What to budget for an administrative assistant here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $5,180 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $6,600, or about $8,516 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 median and the 75th percentile in Rapid City, and the South Dakota statewide median of $41,700 falls between the 25th percentile and the median.

What a hire really costs in Rapid City

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 $12,112 to the $41,720 median and brings it to $53,832 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 Rapid City

Of the 14 roles we track in Rapid City, this one ranks #12 by median pay, between payroll specialists ($46,060) and customer support specialists ($38,520). Accountant is the highest at $79,270.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #7 of the 14 roles we track in Rapid City (-12.2%), between paralegals (-9.8%) and office managers (-12.7%). The typical role here is at -12.5%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Administrative assistants hold 13.3% of the jobs in these 14 roles in Rapid City, 14.2% across South Dakota and 11.6% nationally. That is close to the national mix.

Other areas in South Dakota

Across the 4 areas of South Dakota with data for this job, the median runs from $41,120 in the West South Dakota nonmetro area to $42,560 in Sioux Falls, a gap of $1,440 a year. Of the 3 areas in South Dakota with more administrative assistants than Rapid City, 2 pay less: the East South Dakota nonmetro area ($41,700) and the West South Dakota nonmetro area ($41,120).

Rapid City against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Rapid City is #325 of 520 US areas for this job. Both its size and its pay sit in the middle half of US areas. Outside South Dakota, Lakeland-Winter Haven and Tyler pay just above Rapid City and Hickory-Lenoir and Augusta-Richmond County just below. All four are within $120 a year of the median in Rapid City. 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.