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Salary · Medical Assistant · United States

Medical Assistant salary: $45,690 median, and how to negotiate yours.

The full pay range by percentile, every state, the top-paying metro areas and similar roles, from the latest BLS survey. Place your own offer on the range.

Updated Oct 24, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025
Annual wage range · U.S. · BLS May 2025
$45,690median ($21.97/hr)

Quick answer

The median annual wage for medical assistants in the United States was $45,690 in May 2025 (BLS). The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $36,050 and the top 10% earned more than $59,310. That median is 0.9 times the $50,980 median for all occupations. The highest-paying state was Washington ($59,290).

10th percentile
$36,050
lowest-paid 10% earn less
25th percentile
$38,470
a quarter earn less
75th percentile
$49,180
a quarter earn more
90th percentile
$59,310
top 10% earn more
Pay by state

Medical Assistant salary in every state

Data BLS state estimates, May 2025. 51 states and DC published a median for this occupation. Sort by pay or by number employed.

Highest median pay
  1. Washington$59,290
  2. Alaska$52,560
  3. District of Columbia$51,050
  4. Minnesota$50,480
  5. Oregon$50,410
Most people employed
  1. California117,060
  2. Texas75,340
  3. Florida66,110
  4. New York40,710
  5. Ohio28,950
Median annual wage by state
State10th–90th percentile
Washington$59,290$46,540–$74,20019,500
Alaska$52,560$46,060–$65,0402,140
District of Columbia$51,050$39,620–$76,9002,260
Minnesota$50,480$40,110–$60,10010,580
Oregon$50,410$43,760–$62,16011,840
California$49,660$39,290–$77,300117,060
Massachusetts$49,460$43,280–$61,87014,880
Wisconsin$48,680$39,480–$57,99013,810
Hawaii$48,410$38,580–$60,0303,890
Colorado$48,400$39,130–$59,76013,160
New Hampshire$48,020$39,640–$60,1003,000
New York$48,000$37,280–$59,48040,710
Maine$47,580$40,220–$59,2204,480
Connecticut$47,430$38,480–$59,53010,250
Nebraska$47,370$37,940–$59,4502,380
Vermont$47,250$40,570–$58,4201,140
New Jersey$47,210$37,010–$58,07020,330
Rhode Island$47,190$39,280–$56,8403,210
Montana$46,820$38,670–$56,7702,460
Maryland$46,410$36,930–$57,25016,390
Illinois$46,090$36,400–$56,59020,260
North Dakota$45,980$37,650–$58,230600
Arizona$45,940$38,100–$51,31021,460
Iowa$45,480$36,730–$54,9605,990
Utah$45,360$35,890–$56,2609,990
Nevada$45,200$37,400–$55,1207,760
North Carolina$45,140$36,010–$50,85023,650
Indiana$45,110$37,060–$50,48019,630
Virginia$44,740$37,090–$52,00016,650
Idaho$44,700$35,500–$56,7405,250
Delaware$44,490$36,540–$57,2802,880
Pennsylvania$43,920$36,810–$48,50023,050
Florida$43,680$35,880–$49,04066,110
Ohio$42,810$36,050–$48,56028,950
South Dakota$41,870$35,980–$48,9601,340
Georgia$41,600$34,270–$51,43028,780
South Carolina$41,160$34,730–$49,11012,110
Wyoming$40,920$31,200–$51,8401,040
Missouri$40,440$35,810–$48,36013,050
Michigan$39,870$35,000–$48,33027,810
Tennessee$39,570$34,840–$48,54019,180
Texas$39,520$31,200–$49,26075,340
Kansas$39,510$35,140–$48,3005,510
Kentucky$39,270$32,950–$47,94013,440
New Mexico$39,230$34,600–$47,8505,400
Oklahoma$38,750$31,880–$47,64010,510
Arkansas$37,760$30,840–$46,0605,150
West Virginia$37,180$30,890–$45,3504,540
Louisiana$36,320$28,970–$44,46012,310
Alabama$36,100$29,630–$45,04013,300
Mississippi$35,360$29,210–$45,0703,340
Top-paying metro areas

Where the median is highest

Data Metropolitan areas with at least 100 people employed in the occupation, BLS May 2025.

  1. Vallejo, CA$77,410
  2. Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA$64,820
  3. Napa, CA$62,050
  4. Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA$61,970
  5. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA$61,940
  6. Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA$61,870
  7. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA$61,500
  8. Longview-Kelso, WA$61,480
  9. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA$59,790
  10. Bellingham, WA$57,410
Similar roles

How the pay compares

Data National medians for related occupations (O*NET related roles, BLS pay).

  1. Physician Assistant$135,880
  2. Nurse Practitioner$132,300
  3. Registered Nurse$97,550
  4. LPN$64,400
  5. Paramedic$60,600
  6. Medical Assistant$45,690
  7. CNA$42,260
Negotiation script builder

Ask for more, calmly and in writing

Advice Uses only what you type. Replace anything in brackets with something true.

Our view If you cite market data, cite this page's source: the BLS median for your state and the percentile your offer sits at. A specific, sourced number is easier to agree to than a feeling.

Method

How this page is built

Wages are BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics estimates for May 2025 (national, state and metropolitan area), for the occupation shown. OEWS wages are straight-time gross pay: they include base pay, commissions, production bonuses and tips, and exclude overtime, shift differentials, non-production bonuses and benefits. Percentiles describe all workers in the occupation, not entry or senior levels.

What this page can't tell you
  • Pay at a specific employer, or for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Experience level: percentiles are not seniority bands.
  • Equity, bonuses outside OEWS's definition, and benefits.
Sources
  1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
  2. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
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