Office and Administrative Jobs: Every Major Occupation’s Pay, Ranked (May 2025 BLS Data)
- The median annual wage for office and administrative support occupations was $47,450 in May 2025, below the $50,980 median for all U.S. jobs.
- The group employed about 17,753,430 people nationwide.
- Its best-paid occupation with at least 10,000 jobs was executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants ($76,590); the lowest-paid was hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks ($35,070).
BLS sorts every job in the country into 22 major occupational groups. This one, “Office and Administrative Support Occupations” (SOC 43-0000), covers the occupations below. All pay and job counts come from the BLS OEWS national data, May 2025; the typical entry education for each job comes from BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35. Use the tables to see where your job sits in its field and which nearby jobs pay more.
Highest-paying jobs in the group
Occupations with at least 10,000 U.S. jobs, ranked by median annual wage:
| Occupation | Median annual wage | Hourly median | U.S. jobs | Typical entry education |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants | $76,590 | $36.82 | 459,910 | High school diploma or equivalent |
| First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers | $69,500 | $33.41 | 1,436,680 | High school diploma or equivalent |
| Brokerage Clerks | $65,750 | $31.61 | 35,940 | High school diploma or equivalent |
| Postal Service Clerks | $62,130 | $29.87 | 73,720 | No formal educational credential |
| Postal Service Mail Carriers | $60,550 | $29.11 | 328,820 | No formal educational credential |
| Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks | $59,650 | $28.68 | 390,160 | High school diploma or equivalent |
| Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators | $58,470 | $28.11 | 105,200 | No formal educational credential |
| Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks | $58,260 | $28.01 | 153,140 | High school diploma or equivalent |
| Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants | $55,570 | $26.72 | 156,280 | High school diploma or equivalent |
| Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs | $54,210 | $26.06 | 154,800 | High school diploma or equivalent |
| Public Safety Telecommunicators | $53,040 | $25.50 | 102,500 | High school diploma or equivalent |
| Cargo and Freight Agents | $52,260 | $25.13 | 97,670 | High school diploma or equivalent |
Lowest-paying jobs in the group
| Occupation | Median annual wage | U.S. jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks | $35,070 | 261,420 |
| Library Assistants, Clerical | $36,910 | 85,520 |
| Gambling Cage Workers | $37,580 | 14,430 |
| Receptionists and Information Clerks | $38,010 | 910,180 |
| Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service | $38,630 | 34,280 |
The most common jobs in the group
These are the occupations most people in this field actually hold:
| Occupation | U.S. jobs | 10th percentile | Median | 90th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Service Representatives | 2,595,750 | $31,750 | $44,770 | $63,590 |
| Office Clerks, General | 2,464,940 | $30,310 | $45,010 | $64,680 |
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive | 1,706,790 | $33,280 | $47,540 | $66,350 |
| First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers | 1,436,680 | $45,610 | $69,500 | $104,710 |
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | 1,373,680 | $36,000 | $50,670 | $74,550 |
| Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants | 961,610 | $35,930 | $45,930 | $60,530 |
| Receptionists and Information Clerks | 910,180 | $28,760 | $38,010 | $49,950 |
| Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks | 816,870 | $34,650 | $45,260 | $62,190 |
Where office and administrative support jobs pay the most
States with the highest median wage for the whole group (BLS OEWS state data, May 2025):
| State | Group median wage | Jobs in the group |
|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | $60,660 | 53,960 |
| Washington | $56,660 | 372,400 |
| Massachusetts | $54,990 | 360,720 |
| California | $54,900 | 1,878,550 |
| Connecticut | $53,600 | 193,920 |
The lowest group medians were in Mississippi ($38,210), West Virginia ($39,090), Arkansas ($39,500). Part of the gap reflects living costs and part reflects which jobs in the group are common in each state.
No bachelor’s degree? The best-paid job in this group with a typical entry requirement below a four-year degree was executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants, at a median of $76,590 (high school diploma or equivalent typically needed).
How to use this for a raise or a move
- Benchmark inside your field. Find your occupation in the tables and compare your pay with its median and with the 10th and 90th percentiles.
- Look one step over. The best-paid jobs in a group often use the same skills as the common ones. A certificate or license can move you up a row.
- Location matters. The state table shows how much the same kind of work pays in different places.
- Base pay only. OEWS wages exclude overtime, tips and most bonuses.
Published October 29, 2026. Sources are linked in the text.
Header image: original chart by JobPayRaise.com using BLS OEWS May 2025 data.
Comments (1)
One more data point: the state where office and administrative support jobs make up the largest share of local employment is Tennessee, with a location quotient of 1.14 (426,040 jobs at a group median of $45,370). A location quotient above 1 means the group is a bigger share of the state’s jobs than it is nationally. Source: BLS OEWS state data, May 2025; location quotients are explained in the BLS OEWS overview.
— JobPayRaise Data Desk