Administrative Assistant salary in Trenton-Princeton, NJ

Pay in Trenton-Princeton against New Jersey and the US

Administrative assistants at the 90th percentile earn $75,710, 2.0 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 2.0. The middle half of administrative assistants in Trenton-Princeton earns $45,450–$63,860. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is $18,410 wide, between the figure for New Jersey ($18,170) and the US figure ($19,170).

What to budget for an administrative assistant here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $8,600 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $9,810, or about $12,658 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 Trenton-Princeton, and the New Jersey statewide median of $50,260 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Trenton-Princeton

At the $54,050 median, a local hire costs about $69,742 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $15,692 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 Trenton-Princeton

Of the 17 roles we track in Trenton-Princeton, this one ranks #11 by median pay, between payroll specialists ($54,870) and e-commerce order specialists ($53,290). Project Coordinator is the highest at $113,750.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #6 of the 17 roles we track in Trenton-Princeton (+13.7%), between office managers (+14.3%) and project coordinators (+11.2%). The typical role here is at +7.1%, so, measured against the US, administrative assistants cost more in Trenton-Princeton than the area's general pay level would suggest. Administrative assistants hold 14.3% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Trenton-Princeton, 13.7% across New Jersey and 10.8% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in New Jersey

Across the 3 areas of New Jersey with data for this job, the median runs from $47,210 in Vineland to $54,050 in Trenton-Princeton, a gap of $6,840 a year. No other area in New Jersey has as many administrative assistants, and both others pay less.

Trenton-Princeton against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Trenton-Princeton is #78 of 520 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job and one of the better-paying ones. Outside New Jersey, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Oxnard-Thousand Oaks pay just above Trenton-Princeton and Bellingham and Stockton-Lodi just below. All four are within $280 a year of the median in Trenton-Princeton. Of the three markets with about as many administrative assistants, none pays as much.

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Sources

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