Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive · SOC 43-6014
Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executives
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas
Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked (1 such areas are excluded here). Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.
Top 25 of 392 metro areas
| # | Metro area | Median annual | Employment | Per 1,000 jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Haven, CT | $63,800 | 4,780 | 17.0 |
| 2 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $62,940 | 7,970 | 7.0 |
| 3 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $62,110 | 20,270 | 8.5 |
| 4 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $60,230 | 15,780 | 7.6 |
| 5 | Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA | $59,510 | 830 | 8.9 |
| 6 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $59,330 | 28,540 | 10.6 |
| 7 | Napa, CA | $58,810 | 630 | 8.1 |
| 8 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $57,720 | 2,150 | 10.5 |
| 9 | Longview-Kelso, WA | $57,580 | 430 | 10.6 |
| 10 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | $57,510 | 960 | 9.7 |
| 11 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT | $57,440 | 5,800 | 14.4 |
| 12 | Salinas, CA | $57,340 | 1,500 | 8.0 |
| 13 | Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA | $56,980 | 510 | 9.6 |
| 14 | Vallejo, CA | $56,270 | 1,110 | 7.7 |
| 15 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT | $55,940 | 6,980 | 11.6 |
| 16 | Salem, OR | $55,660 | 3,220 | 17.0 |
| 17 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $55,380 | 12,070 | 7.8 |
| 18 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | $55,360 | 13,510 | 11.2 |
| 19 | Modesto, CA | $55,140 | 1,830 | 9.4 |
| 20 | Barnstable Town, MA | $55,040 | 990 | 10.5 |
| 21 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $55,020 | 8,450 | 7.8 |
| 22 | Kahului-Wailuku, HI | $54,820 | 790 | 10.7 |
| 23 | Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT | $54,340 | 1,410 | 11.1 |
| 24 | Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA | $54,320 | 2,110 | 16.2 |
| 25 | Hanford-Corcoran, CA | $54,170 | 300 | 6.1 |
Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive overview.
About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.