Medical Administrative Assistant salary in the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area

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

The middle half of medical administrative assistants in the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area earns $36,680–$44,350. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $47,210, only 1.4 times the bottom tenth, against 1.7 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $7,670 wide, against $9,420 across Iowa and $12,010 nationally: employers in the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a medical administrative assistant here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $6,060 over the median, the 25th only $1,610 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $7,819 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 $45,930 falls between the 75th and 90th percentiles in the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area, and the Iowa statewide median of $40,980 falls between the median and the 75th percentile. An offer at the national rate would beat what three quarters of local medical administrative assistants earn.

What a hire really costs in the Southeast Iowa 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 $11,116 to the $38,290 median and brings it to $49,406 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 medical 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 Iowa nonmetro area

Of the 17 roles we track in the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area, this one ranks #16 by median pay, between data entry specialists ($40,250) and virtual receptionists ($36,330). Project Coordinator is the highest at $84,430.

Measured against the US median, medical administrative assistants rank #13 of the 17 roles we track in the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area (-16.6%), between recruiters (-13.8%) and project coordinators (-17.5%). The typical role here is at -10.2%, so, measured against the US, medical administrative assistants cost less in the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area than the area's general pay level would suggest. Medical administrative assistants hold 8.8% of the jobs in these 17 roles in the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area, 7.7% across Iowa and 6.1% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Iowa

Across the 12 areas of Iowa with data for this job, the median runs from $38,290 in the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area to $50,130 in Iowa City, a gap of $11,840 a year. All 2 areas in Iowa with more medical administrative assistants than the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area also pay more, among them Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA ($42,160) and Iowa City, IA ($50,130).

the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area is #140 of 514 US areas for this job. It is a mid-sized market, and its pay is in the bottom quarter of US areas. Outside Iowa, Deltona-Daytona Beach and Terre Haute pay just above the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area and Baton Rouge and Albany just below. All four are within $50 a year of the median in the Southeast Iowa nonmetro area. Of the three markets with about as many medical administrative assistants, all three pay more.

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