Administrative Assistant salary in the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area

Pay in the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area against Minnesota and the US

The middle half of administrative assistants in the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area earns $43,750–$58,770. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $63,500, 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 only $15,020 wide, against $15,680 across Minnesota and $19,170 nationally: employers in the Southeast Minnesota 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 $9,130 over the median, the 25th only $5,890 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $11,781 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 25th percentile and the median in the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area, and the Minnesota statewide median of $51,400 falls between the median and the 75th percentile.

What a hire really costs in the Southeast Minnesota 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 $14,412 to the $49,640 median and brings it to $64,052 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 Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area

Of the 17 roles we track in the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area, this one ranks #10 by median pay, between payroll specialists ($58,410) and bookkeepers ($49,620). Project Coordinator is the highest at $92,570.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #4 of the 17 roles we track in the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area (+4.4%), between medical administrative assistants (+4.7%) and customer support specialists (+1.8%). The typical role here is at -1.4%, so, measured against the US, administrative assistants cost more in the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area than the area's general pay level would suggest. Administrative assistants hold 15.6% of the jobs in these 17 roles in the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area, 10.7% across Minnesota and 10.8% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Minnesota

Across the 9 areas of Minnesota with data for this job, the median runs from $46,640 in the Northeast Minnesota nonmetro area to $54,080 in Minneapolis-St. Paul, a gap of $7,440 a year. Of the 2 areas in Minnesota with more administrative assistants than the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area, 1 pays less: the Northwest Minnesota nonmetro area ($48,880).

the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area is #183 of 520 US areas for this job. It is a mid-sized market, and its pay is in the top quarter of US areas. Outside Minnesota, Denver-Aurora and Chico pay just above the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area and Spokane-Spokane Valley and Albany-Schenectady just below. All four are within $310 a year of the median in the Southeast Minnesota nonmetro area. Of the three markets with about as many administrative assistants, none pays as much.

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