Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive

Median salary

$47,540

Average salary

$49,350

Employment

1,706,790

Projected growth

1.6% decline

Annual openings

202,800

Typical entry education

High school diploma or equivalent

What Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive Do

Perform routine administrative functions such as drafting correspondence, scheduling appointments, organizing and maintaining paper and electronic files, or providing information to callers.

See full salary breakdown & percentiles →

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 2024–2034.

Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training
Self-employed: 1.9%

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

How Much Preparation Does This Take?

Job Zone 2 of 5

Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed

Experience: Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience.
Education: Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Job training: Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.

Source: O*NET Job Zones.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

Administrativeimportance 4.5/5
English Languageimportance 4.3/5
Computers and Electronicsimportance 3.8/5
Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.8/5
Administration and Managementimportance 3.4/5
Mathematicsimportance 2.9/5
Communications and Mediaimportance 2.8/5
Economics and Accountingimportance 2.8/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

Telephone Conversations4.9/5
Contact With Others4.9/5
E-Mail4.8/5
Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.7/5
Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team4.6/5
Spend Time Sitting4.6/5

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants97% skill match
Library Assistants, Clerical97% skill match
Court, Municipal, and License Clerks96% skill match
Gambling Managers96% skill match
Recreation Workers96% skill match
Loan Officers96% skill match
Dermatologists96% skill match
Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers96% skill match

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

Service Orientationimportance 3.5/5
Time Managementimportance 3.5/5
Coordinationimportance 3.1/5
Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.0/5
Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.0/5
Complex Problem Solvingimportance 2.9/5
Management of Personnel Resourcesimportance 2.6/5
Negotiationimportance 2.4/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Hot Technologies

Other Software Used

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

Dependability
Attention to Detail
Cooperation
Social Orientation
Integrity
Self-Control
Optimism

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

ConventionalHigh
EnterprisingMedium
SocialMedium
RealisticLow
InvestigativeLow
ArtisticLow

This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).