Office and Administrative Support Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages High openings flow SOC 43-6013

Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

About 85,900 projected annual openings shape how to read Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants against Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants, Public Safety Telecommunicators, Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Postal Service Mail Carriers.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants: Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants ($77K) , Public Safety Telecommunicators ($53K) , Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants ($56K) , Postal Service Mail Carriers ($61K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 43-6013 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Answer telephones and direct calls to appropriate staff
  2. 2. Transcribe recorded messages or practitioners' diagnoses or recommendations into patients' medical records
  3. 3. Compile and record medical charts, reports, or correspondence, using typewriter or personal computer
  4. 4. Schedule and confirm patient diagnostic appointments, surgeries, or medical consultations
  5. 5. Complete insurance or other claim forms
  6. 6. Greet visitors, ascertain purpose of visit, and direct them to appropriate staff
  7. 7. Transmit correspondence or medical records by mail, e-mail, or fax
  8. 8. Maintain medical records, technical library, or correspondence files
  9. 9. Receive and route messages or documents, such as laboratory results, to appropriate staff
  10. 10. Interview patients to complete documents, case histories, or forms, such as intake or insurance forms
  11. 11. Operate office equipment, such as voice mail messaging systems, and use word processing, spreadsheet, or other software applications to p…
  12. 12. Schedule tests or procedures for patients, such as lab work or x-rays, based on physician orders

Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants: O*NET ranks Speaking first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 43-6013 - lead skill Speaking at 4.0 ; lead knowledge Customer and Personal Service. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Speaking 4.0
  2. 2. Active Listening 3.9
  3. 3. Service Orientation 3.6
  4. 4. Reading Comprehension 3.5
  5. 5. Writing 3.1
  6. 6. Critical Thinking 3.1
  7. 7. Coordination 3.1
  8. 8. Complex Problem Solving 3.1

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Customer and Personal Service 4.4
  2. 2. English Language 4.3
  3. 3. Administrative 3.9
  4. 4. Medicine and Dentistry 3.6
  5. 5. Personnel and Human Resources 3.4
  6. 6. Computers and Electronics 3.4
Projected annual openings
85,900
growth + transfers + exits
National median $45,930/yr
$46K
National median
↑ +4%
Growth 2024-2034
961,610
Estimated US jobs
Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants
Highest-pay peer · $77K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education High school diploma or equivalent

Top Paying States for Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

1. District of Columbia $49,180
2. California $54,490
3. Oregon $50,130
4. New Hampshire $48,410
5. Washington $58,100
6. Minnesota $50,030
7. Massachusetts $50,290
8. New Jersey $48,660
9. Connecticut $48,500
10. Hawaii $49,920

Other Office and Administrative Support Occupations titles

  1. 1. Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants $55,570
  2. 2. Postal Service Mail Carriers $60,550
  3. 3. Postal Service Clerks $62,130
  4. 4. Desktop Publishers $55,290
  5. 5. Public Safety Telecommunicators $53,040
  6. 6. Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants $76,590

Roughly 85,900 projected annual openings (growth, transfers, exits) are the scale signal for Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants. Median pay is $45,930 in Office and Administrative Support Occupations.

Employment Projections expect +4% change between 2024 and 2034 (about as fast as average vs baseline 3.1%). BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent as typical education needed for entry. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. 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: District of Columbia at $49,180. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants at $76,590. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants pay-rank #36 in Office and Administrative Support Occupations

Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants sits at pay-rank #36 of 54 detailed Office and Administrative 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 43-6013 · national median $45,930 · middle third of Office and Administrative Support Occupations (#36/54). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 43-6013

District of Columbia · top state for Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

$49K published median

California · #2 state pay

$54K · behind District of Columbia

Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants

Highest-pay peer vs Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants · $77K

Public Safety Telecommunicators

Lower-pay peer beside Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants · $53K

Compare Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

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Openings and labor-flow next reads

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants mid-table among Office and Administrative Support Occupations? ▼
Yes: pay-rank #36 of 54 detailed Office and Administrative Support Occupations, the middle third. Mid-table neighbors: Order Clerks ($46K), Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, Recordkeeping ($46K), Correspondence Clerks ($47K), Bill and Account Collectors ($47K). ROW_NUMBER on median; title breaks ties.
What do medical secretaries and administrative assistants do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants. Leading ones include: Answer telephones and direct calls to appropriate staff; Transcribe recorded messages or practitioners' diagnoses or recommendations into patients' medical records; Compile and record medical charts, reports, or correspondence, using typewriter or personal computer; Schedule and confirm patient diagnostic appointments, surgeries, or medical consultations. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for medical secretaries and administrative assistants? ▼
For SOC 43-6013, O*NET importance scores lead with Speaking (4.0), Active Listening (3.9), Service Orientation (3.6), Reading Comprehension (3.5). Knowledge areas emphasize Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Administrative. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $45,930 as the national median for Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants. The published 10th-90th range is $35,930 to $60,530. Beside Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants ($76,590), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
What employment change does BLS publish for Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants is +4%. Projected annual openings: about 85,900. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: about as fast as average.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants? ▼
District of Columbia ($49,180), California ($54,490), Oregon ($50,130) 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 Secretaries and Administrative Assistants card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 43-6013. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Medical Secretaries and Administrative 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