Healthcare Support Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Above-baseline growth SOC 31-9092

Medical Assistants

Projected +13% employment change leads this card; pay sits next to Occupational Therapy Assistants, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers, Dental Assistants, Orderlies.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Medical Assistants: Occupational Therapy Assistants ($72K) , Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers ($38K) , Dental Assistants ($48K) , Orderlies ($38K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Medical Assistants publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 31-9092 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Interview patients to obtain medical information and measure their vital signs, weight, and height
  2. 2. Clean and sterilize instruments and dispose of contaminated supplies
  3. 3. Record patients' medical history, vital statistics, or information such as test results in medical records
  4. 4. Explain treatment procedures, medications, diets, or physicians' instructions to patients
  5. 5. Prepare treatment rooms for patient examinations, keeping the rooms neat and clean
  6. 6. Collect blood, tissue, or other laboratory specimens, log the specimens, and prepare them for testing
  7. 7. Show patients to examination rooms and prepare them for the physician
  8. 8. Help physicians examine and treat patients, handing them instruments or materials or performing such tasks as giving injections or removi…
  9. 9. Perform routine laboratory tests and sample analyses
  10. 10. Greet and log in patients arriving at office or clinic
  11. 11. Perform general office duties, such as answering telephones, taking dictation, or completing insurance forms
  12. 12. Prepare and administer medications as directed by a physician

Medical Assistants: O*NET ranks Social Perceptiveness first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 31-9092 - lead skill Social Perceptiveness at 4.0 ; lead knowledge English Language. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Social Perceptiveness 4.0
  2. 2. Active Listening 3.9
  3. 3. Speaking 3.9
  4. 4. Reading Comprehension 3.8
  5. 5. Critical Thinking 3.6
  6. 6. Monitoring 3.5
  7. 7. Coordination 3.5
  8. 8. Service Orientation 3.5

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. English Language 4.8
  2. 2. Customer and Personal Service 4.5
  3. 3. Medicine and Dentistry 4.3
  4. 4. Administrative 4.1
  5. 5. Computers and Electronics 3.8
  6. 6. Education and Training 3.5
Projected employment change 2024-2034
↑ +13%
much faster than average (3.1%)
National median $45,690/yr
$46K
National median
112,300
Annual openings
817,870
Estimated US jobs
Occupational Therapy Assistants
Highest-pay peer · $72K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Postsecondary nondegree award

Top Paying States for Medical Assistants

1. Oregon $50,410
2. Massachusetts $49,460
3. Washington $59,290
4. Hawaii $48,410
5. Colorado $48,400
6. Alaska $52,560
7. California $49,660
8. Minnesota $50,480
9. District of Columbia $51,050
10. Wisconsin $48,680

Other Healthcare Support Occupations titles

  1. 1. Dental Assistants $48,070
  2. 2. Orderlies $38,290
  3. 3. Psychiatric Aides $44,910
  4. 4. Occupational Therapy Aides $39,160
  5. 5. Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers $38,150
  6. 6. Occupational Therapy Assistants $72,300

BLS projects +13% employment change for Medical Assistants (2024-2034), much faster than average vs the all-occupations baseline of 3.1%. Published median pay is $45,690.

BLS assigns Postsecondary nondegree award as typical entry education. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal employer rules. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Oregon at $50,410. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Occupational Therapy Assistants at $72,300. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Medical Assistants pay-rank #7 in Healthcare Support Occupations

Medical Assistants sits at pay-rank #7 of 17 detailed Healthcare Support Occupations, the middle third of the major-group median table. ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.

Other mid-table titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

SOC 31-9092 · national median $45,690 · middle third of Healthcare Support Occupations (#7/17). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Medical Assistants salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 31-9092

Oregon · top state for Medical Assistants

$50K published median

Massachusetts · #2 state pay

$49K · behind Oregon

Occupational Therapy Assistants

Highest-pay peer vs Medical Assistants · $72K

Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers

Lower-pay peer beside Medical Assistants · $38K

Compare Medical Assistants

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Medical Assistants with another occupation →

Growth and outlook next reads

Fastest-Growing Rankings

National projection leaders

Highest-Paying Careers

Where growth meets pay

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Medical Assistants mid-table among Healthcare Support Occupations? ▼
Yes: pay-rank #7 of 17 detailed Healthcare Support Occupations, the middle third. Mid-table neighbors: Phlebotomists ($45K), Psychiatric Aides ($45K), Nursing Assistants ($42K), Medical Transcriptionists ($40K). ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.
What do medical assistants do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Medical Assistants. Leading ones include: Interview patients to obtain medical information and measure their vital signs, weight, and height; Clean and sterilize instruments and dispose of contaminated supplies; Record patients' medical history, vital statistics, or information such as test results in medical records; Explain treatment procedures, medications, diets, or physicians' instructions to patients. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for medical assistants? ▼
For SOC 31-9092, O*NET importance scores lead with Social Perceptiveness (4.0), Active Listening (3.9), Speaking (3.9), Reading Comprehension (3.8). Knowledge areas emphasize English Language, Customer and Personal Service, Medicine and Dentistry. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Medical Assistants? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $45,690 as the national median for Medical Assistants. The published 10th-90th range is $36,050 to $59,310. Beside Occupational Therapy Assistants ($72,300), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
How fast is Medical Assistants projected to grow? ▼
BLS Employment Projections put Medical Assistants at +13% change for 2024-2034, with about 112,300 annual openings. Versus the all-occupations baseline (3.1%): much faster than average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Medical Assistants? ▼
BLS assigns Postsecondary nondegree award as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Medical Assistants. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Medical Assistants? ▼
Oregon ($50,410), Massachusetts ($49,460), Washington ($59,290) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Medical Assistants card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 31-9092. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Medical Assistants. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics