Administrative Assistant salary in the South Central Kentucky nonmetro area

Pay in the South Central Kentucky nonmetro area against Kentucky and the US

Administrative assistants at the 90th percentile earn $55,200, 1.9 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 2.0. The middle half of administrative assistants in the South Central Kentucky nonmetro area earns $31,600–$45,110. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $13,510 wide, against $14,400 across Kentucky and $19,170 nationally: employers in the South Central Kentucky 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 $6,480 a year in pay and about $8,361 in employer cost. Going down to the 25th percentile saves $7,030 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 75th and 90th percentiles in the South Central Kentucky nonmetro area, and the Kentucky statewide median of $44,200 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 Central Kentucky nonmetro area

At the $38,630 median, a local hire costs about $49,845 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $11,215 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 South Central Kentucky nonmetro area

Of the 17 roles we track in the South Central Kentucky nonmetro area, this one ranks #13 by median pay, between e-commerce order specialists ($38,840) and customer support specialists ($36,890). Project Coordinator is the highest at $73,850.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #8 of the 17 roles we track in the South Central Kentucky nonmetro area (-18.7%), between bookkeepers (-18.4%) and medical administrative assistants (-20.1%). The typical role here is at -20.1%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Administrative assistants hold 10.1% of the jobs in these 17 roles in the South Central Kentucky nonmetro area, 9.2% across Kentucky and 10.8% nationally. That is close to the national mix.

Other areas in Kentucky

Across the 10 areas of Kentucky with data for this job, the median runs from $38,280 in the East Kentucky nonmetro area to $47,790 in Lexington-Fayette, a gap of $9,510 a year. All 3 areas in Kentucky with more administrative assistants than the South Central Kentucky nonmetro area also pay more, among them Louisville, KY-IN ($47,090) and the Central Kentucky nonmetro area ($44,720).

the South Central Kentucky nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the South Central Kentucky nonmetro area is #201 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 Kentucky, Johnstown and Amarillo pay just above the South Central Kentucky nonmetro area and Cheyenne and Jacksonville just below. All four are within $40 a year of the median in the South Central Kentucky nonmetro area. Of the three markets with about as many administrative assistants, all three pay more.

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