Administrative Assistant salary in the Western North Carolina nonmetro area

Pay in the Western North Carolina nonmetro area against North Carolina and the US

The middle half of administrative assistants in the Western North Carolina nonmetro area earns $36,650–$48,330. The top tenth earns $56,430 or more, 1.9 times the bottom tenth, close to the US pattern of 2.0 times. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $11,680 wide, against $13,770 across North Carolina and $19,170 nationally: employers in the Western North Carolina 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 $4,760 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $6,920, or about $8,929 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 median and the 75th percentile in the Western North Carolina nonmetro area, and the North Carolina statewide median of $45,790 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in the Western North Carolina 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 $12,022 to the $41,410 median and brings it to $53,432 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 Western North Carolina nonmetro area

Of the 17 roles we track in the Western North Carolina nonmetro area, this one ranks #13 by median pay, between e-commerce order specialists ($43,610) and medical administrative assistants ($38,750). Project Coordinator is the highest at $91,200.

Measured against the US median, administrative assistants rank #8 of the 17 roles we track in the Western North Carolina nonmetro area (-12.9%), between bookkeepers (-11.3%) and medical administrative assistants (-15.6%). The typical role here is at -15.6%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Administrative assistants hold 13.6% of the jobs in these 17 roles in the Western North Carolina nonmetro area, 8.3% across North Carolina and 10.8% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in North Carolina

Across the 18 areas of North Carolina with data for this job, the median runs from $38,590 in Jacksonville to $48,500 in Raleigh-Cary, a gap of $9,910 a year. All 4 areas in North Carolina with more administrative assistants than the Western North Carolina nonmetro area also pay more, among them Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC ($46,800) and Raleigh-Cary, NC ($48,500).

the Western North Carolina nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the Western North Carolina nonmetro area is #103 of 520 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job, with pay near the middle of the US range. Outside North Carolina, Wichita and Lynchburg pay just above the Western North Carolina nonmetro area and Lake Havasu City-Kingman and Morristown just below. All four are within $370 a year of the median in the Western North Carolina nonmetro area. Of the three markets with about as many administrative assistants, two pay more.

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