Administrative Assistant salary in the Southwest Maine nonmetro area

Pay in the Southwest Maine nonmetro area against Maine and the US

The middle half of administrative assistants in the Southwest Maine nonmetro area earns $42,610–$54,140. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $61,470, only 1.6 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 $11,530 wide, against $12,820 across Maine and $19,170 nationally: employers in the Southwest Maine 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 $5,180 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $6,350, or about $8,194 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 25th percentile and the median in the Southwest Maine nonmetro area, and the Maine statewide median of $49,820 falls between the median and the 75th percentile.

What a hire really costs in the Southwest Maine nonmetro area

At the $47,790 median, a local hire costs about $61,665 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $13,875 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 Southwest Maine nonmetro area

Of the 16 roles we track in the Southwest Maine nonmetro area, this one ranks #11 by median pay, between bookkeepers ($48,360) and sales development representatives ($47,260). Project Coordinator is the highest at $94,320.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #4 of the 16 roles we track in the Southwest Maine nonmetro area (+0.5%), between medical administrative assistants (+2.6%) and payroll specialists (-2.1%). The typical role here is at -5.2%, so, measured against the US, administrative assistants cost more in the Southwest Maine nonmetro area than the area's general pay level would suggest. Administrative assistants hold 14.2% of the jobs in these 16 roles in the Southwest Maine nonmetro area, 12.3% across Maine and 10.8% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Maine

Across the 5 areas of Maine with data for this job, the median runs from $47,220 in the Northeast Maine nonmetro area to $52,000 in Portland-South Portland, a gap of $4,780 a year. The one area in Maine with more administrative assistants, Portland-South Portland, ME ($52,000), also pays more.

the Southwest Maine nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the Southwest Maine nonmetro area is #196 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 Maine, Lexington-Fayette and Lewiston pay just above the Southwest Maine nonmetro area and Omaha and Charleston-North Charleston just below. All four are within $40 a year of the median in the Southwest Maine nonmetro area. Of the three markets with about as many administrative assistants, one pays more.

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Sources

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