Administrative Assistant salary in the South Illinois nonmetro area

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

The middle half of administrative assistants in the South Illinois nonmetro area earns $31,200–$46,880. The top tenth earns $56,870 or more, 1.8 times the bottom tenth, close to the US pattern of 2.0 times. The mean ($40,660) is 10% over the median, so a group of high earners pulls the average up; price a typical hire from the median. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $15,680 wide, against $22,130 across Illinois and $19,170 nationally: employers in the South Illinois 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 $9,840 over the median, the 25th only $5,840 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $12,697 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 75th and 90th percentiles in the South Illinois nonmetro area, and the Illinois statewide median of $48,310 falls there too. An offer at the national rate would beat what three quarters of local administrative assistants earn.

What a hire really costs in the South Illinois 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 $10,754 to the $37,040 median and brings it to $47,794 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 Illinois nonmetro area

Of the 16 roles we track in the South Illinois nonmetro area, this one ranks #15 by median pay, between customer support specialists ($39,260) and virtual receptionists ($36,790). Project Coordinator is the highest at $91,680.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #13 of the 16 roles we track in the South Illinois nonmetro area (-22.1%), between paralegals (-21.8%) and marketing specialists (-23.1%). The typical role here is at -16.6%, so, measured against the US, administrative assistants cost less in the South Illinois nonmetro area than the area's general pay level would suggest. Administrative assistants hold 25.0% of the jobs in the 15 of these roles with a job count in the South Illinois nonmetro area, 12.5% across Illinois and 11.1% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Illinois

Across the 12 areas of Illinois with data for this job, the median runs from $37,040 in the South Illinois nonmetro area to $51,880 in Bloomington, a gap of $14,840 a year. The one area in Illinois with more administrative assistants, Chicago-Naperville, IL-IN ($50,440), also pays more.

the South Illinois nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the South Illinois nonmetro area is #108 of 520 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job, yet its pay sits in the bottom quarter of US areas. Outside Illinois, Laredo and Lawton pay just above the South Illinois nonmetro area and Houma-Bayou Cane and Brunswick-St. Simons just below. All four are within $570 a year of the median in the South Illinois 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.