Administrative Assistant salary in the South Arkansas nonmetro area

Pay in the South Arkansas nonmetro area against Arkansas and the US

The middle half of administrative assistants in the South Arkansas nonmetro area earns $30,270–$41,320. The top tenth earns $53,090 or more, 1.9 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 $11,050 wide, against $14,490 across Arkansas and $19,170 nationally: employers in the South Arkansas nonmetro area pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an administrative assistant here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $5,250 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $5,800, or about $7,484 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 the South Arkansas nonmetro area, and the Arkansas statewide median of $37,630 falls between the median and the 75th percentile. An offer at the national rate would beat what three quarters of local administrative assistants earn.

What a hire really costs in the South Arkansas 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 $10,312 to the $35,520 median and brings it to $45,832 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 the South Arkansas nonmetro area

Of the 14 roles we track in the South Arkansas nonmetro area, this one ranks #13 by median pay, between medical administrative assistants ($36,240) and virtual receptionists ($32,130). Project Coordinator is the highest at $72,030.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #7 of the 14 roles we track in the South Arkansas nonmetro area (-25.3%), between payroll specialists (-25.0%) and office managers (-26.5%). The typical role here is at -25.9%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Administrative assistants hold 13.7% of the jobs in these 14 roles in the South Arkansas nonmetro area, 8.2% across Arkansas and 11.1% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Arkansas

Across the 9 areas of Arkansas with data for this job, the median runs from $34,250 in the East Arkansas nonmetro area to $41,550 in Fayetteville-Springdale, a gap of $7,300 a year. All 2 areas in Arkansas with more administrative assistants than the South Arkansas nonmetro area also pay more, among them Little Rock-North Little Rock, AR ($38,850) and Fayetteville-Springdale, AR ($41,550).

the South Arkansas nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the South Arkansas nonmetro area is #343 of 520 US areas for this job. It is a mid-sized market, and its pay is in the bottom quarter of US areas. No metro area outside Arkansas pays administrative assistants less than the South Arkansas nonmetro area; the table shows the next lowest outside Arkansas. 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.