Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $43K, rent takes 59.7% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,735/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $900/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new legal secretaries and administrative assistants typically earn — is $34K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,069/month.

Local pay runs 22% below the national median — $43K here vs. $56K nationally.

Southeast Iowa nonmetropolitan area pays $43K median vs. the U.S. average of $56K — that’s -22%.

BLS reports a mean (average) wage of $43,420 a year for this occupation in Southeast Iowa nonmetropolitan area. The median is not published because wages exceed the BLS reportable ceiling. Entry-level workers start around $34,490. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $2,906/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,735/month, which eats 59.7% of your paycheck. That's above the 30% rule of thumb, housing will be a stretch at the median salary, though you can manage with roommates or a smaller place.

Southeast Iowa nonmetropolitan area has a Regional Price Parity of 100 (100 is the national average). That's right at the national average. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median legal secretaries and administrative assistants salary is worth about $43,420 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.