Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants Salary
Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in Waterbury-Shelton, CT make a median of $54,900 a year, or about $26.4 an hour. The range runs from $52K at the entry level to $77K for experienced workers. Adjusted for local prices (RPP 99.78), that's roughly $55,021 in purchasing power. A 2-bedroom apartment runs $1,788/month, about 49.9% of take-home, which is tight.
So what does $55K get you in Waterbury-Shelton?
Groceries, utilities, transportation, and healthcare scaled from national averages by Waterbury-Shelton’s Regional Price Parity (99.78). Rent from HUD Fair Market Rents. Taxes estimated for single filer, standard deduction. * Healthcare is the employee-paid share only (premiums + out-of-pocket). Actual costs vary by coverage type: employer-sponsored, ACA marketplace, or uninsured.
About legal secretaries and administrative assistants
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What this looks like in Waterbury-Shelton
Legal secretaries and administrative assistants pay in Waterbury-Shelton tracks closely to the national median, $55K locally vs. $56K nationwide, a 1% difference. The catch: housing math doesn't keep up. A 2-bedroom at the HUD median rents for $1,788/month, which is 49.2% of the median worker's take-home, past the 30% guideline most planners use. Cost of living (RPP 99.78) is near the national average, so spending patterns here track the typical American budget fairly closely. Use the affordability calculator above to model your specific situation.
Compared to nearby metros
Median pay for legal secretaries and administrative assistants in metros near Waterbury-Shelton, adjusted for local cost of living.
| Metro | Median pay | COL-adjusted |
|---|---|---|
| Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford | $75K | $73K |
| Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury | $76K | $71K |
| New Haven | $67K | $64K |
| Kingston | $60K | $60K |
COL-adjusted = median salary ÷ (BEA Regional Price Parity ÷ 100). Expresses purchasing power in national-average dollars.
Compensation breakdown
Annual earnings by percentile, Waterbury-Shelton, CT
Entry-level legal secretaries and administrative assistants (10th percentile) start around $52K. Mid-career wages sit at $55K. Top earners bring in $77K or more, a $25K spread from bottom to top.
Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants pay across states
Median income ranked highest to lowest, compared to the national figure
View Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants salary in all states
| State | Median salary | vs. national | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | $99K | +79% | 1,940 |
| New York | $72K | +30% | 9,800 |
| Connecticut | $66K | +19% | 1,090 |
| Delaware | $66K | +19% | 980 |
| Minnesota | $63K | +14% | 2,410 |
| New Jersey | $63K | +14% | 4,160 |
| Rhode Island | $63K | +13% | 390 |
| California | $63K | +13% | 27,470 |
| Massachusetts | $62K | +12% | 4,020 |
| Maryland | $61K | +11% | 1,670 |
| Alaska | $61K | +10% | 660 |
| Oregon | $60K | +7% | 1,590 |
| Colorado | $59K | +7% | 2,030 |
| Washington | $58K | +5% | 3,950 |
| New Mexico | $58K | +4% | 1,400 |
| Michigan | $57K | +2% | 3,580 |
| Nevada | $56K | +2% | 1,430 |
| Wisconsin | $55K | -0% | 1,210 |
| Virginia | $55K | -0% | 2,380 |
| Arizona | $55K | -1% | 2,600 |
| North Dakota | $54K | -4% | 360 |
| Utah | $53K | -5% | 940 |
| South Carolina | $53K | -5% | 2,280 |
| Illinois | $53K | -5% | 8,030 |
| New Hampshire | $52K | -7% | 300 |
| Pennsylvania | $51K | -7% | 6,230 |
| Ohio | $51K | -8% | 4,360 |
| Hawaii | $49K | -11% | 680 |
| Vermont | $49K | -12% | N/A |
| Florida | $49K | -13% | 10,920 |
| Georgia | $48K | -13% | 3,260 |
| Louisiana | $48K | -14% | 2,460 |
| Maine | $48K | -14% | 860 |
| South Dakota | $48K | -14% | 560 |
| Indiana | $48K | -14% | 2,670 |
| Wyoming | $47K | -15% | 280 |
| West Virginia | $47K | -15% | 1,200 |
| Iowa | $47K | -16% | 1,120 |
| Oklahoma | $46K | -17% | 1,290 |
| Alabama | $46K | -17% | 1,840 |
| Texas | $46K | -17% | 13,380 |
| Nebraska | $46K | -18% | 1,310 |
| Tennessee | $45K | -18% | 2,980 |
| Mississippi | $45K | -19% | 820 |
| North Carolina | $44K | -21% | 3,780 |
| Idaho | $42K | -25% | 420 |
| Arkansas | $41K | -25% | 610 |
| Kentucky | $39K | -29% | 2,810 |
| Missouri | $39K | -31% | 3,310 |
| Kansas | $37K | -34% | 1,600 |
Showing 1–10 of 50 states with published data
BLS does not publish data for every state when sample sizes are too small
Track legal secretaries and administrative assistants salary changes
BLS updates this data quarterly. We'll email you when Waterbury-Shelton numbers change.
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Frequently asked questions
Can a legal secretaries and administrative assistant afford a 2BR apartment alone in Waterbury-Shelton?
It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $55K, rent takes 49.2% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,788/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $1,100/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.
What’s the entry-level salary for legal secretaries and administrative assistants in Waterbury-Shelton?
The 10th-percentile wage — what new legal secretaries and administrative assistants typically earn — is $52K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $3,101/month. At HUD’s $1,788/month FMR, rent would take 58% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.
Is legal secretaries and administrative assistant a high-paying job in Waterbury-Shelton?
Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $55K locally vs. $56K nationally, a 1% difference.
How does Waterbury-Shelton compare to the national average for legal secretaries and administrative assistants?
Waterbury-Shelton pays $55K median vs. the U.S. average of $56K — that’s -1%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 99.78), the purchasing-power equivalent is $55K — below the national median.
How much do legal secretaries and administrative assistants make in Waterbury-Shelton, CT?
The median is $54,900 a year, that works out to about $26 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $51,680, and experienced legal secretaries and administrative assistants can clear $76,710. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.
Is $55K enough to live in Waterbury-Shelton?
On that salary, you'd take home roughly $3,632/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,788/month, which eats 49.2% 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.
How far does a legal secretaries and administrative assistants salary go in Waterbury-Shelton?
Waterbury-Shelton has a Regional Price Parity of 99.78 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median legal secretaries and administrative assistants salary is worth about $55,021 in national-average purchasing power.
Where do legal secretaries and administrative assistants get paid the most?
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.