Medical Assistants Career, Salary and Skills
Medical Assistants have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $45,690 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 817,870. Wage data is published for 443 locations.
Occupation description
Perform administrative and certain clinical duties under the direction of a physician. Administrative duties may include scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding information for insurance purposes. Clinical duties may include taking and recording vital signs and medical histories, preparing patients for examination, drawing blood, and administering medications as directed by physician.
O*NET code
31-9092.00
Job zone
3
Typical education
Post-Secondary Certificate
Experience
Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year
National salary and employment
Median annual
$45,690
Hourly median
$21.97
Employment
817,870
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Social Perceptiveness | 4.00 | 3.88 |
| Speaking | 3.88 | 4.00 |
| Active Listening | 3.88 | 3.88 |
| Reading Comprehension | 3.75 | 4.00 |
| Critical Thinking | 3.62 | 3.62 |
| Monitoring | 3.50 | 3.50 |
| Coordination | 3.50 | 3.12 |
| Service Orientation | 3.50 | 3.25 |
| Writing | 3.38 | 3.25 |
| Active Learning | 3.25 | 3.38 |
Typical tasks
- Interview patients to obtain medical information and measure their vital signs, weight, and height.
- Record patients' medical history, vital statistics, or information such as test results in medical records.
- Explain treatment procedures, medications, diets, or physicians' instructions to patients.
- Prepare treatment rooms for patient examinations, keeping the rooms neat and clean.
- Collect blood, tissue, or other laboratory specimens, log the specimens, and prepare them for testing.
- Show patients to examination rooms and prepare them for the physician.
- Help physicians examine and treat patients, handing them instruments or materials or performing such tasks as giving injections or removing sutures.
- Clean and sterilize instruments and dispose of contaminated supplies.
Technology
- Appointment scheduling software
- Billing software
- Bookkeeping software
- Business software applications
- Data entry software
- Database software
- Diagnostic and procedural coding software
- eClinicalWorks EHR software
- Electronic medical record EMR software
- Email software
- Epic Systems
- GE Healthcare Centricity EMR
- Healthcare common procedure coding system HCPCS
- IDX Systems Patient Chart Tracking
Medical Assistants salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Medical Assistants Salary in CAMedian $49,660 · Employment 117,060
- Medical Assistants Salary in TXMedian $39,520 · Employment 75,340
- Medical Assistants Salary in FLMedian $43,680 · Employment 66,110
- Medical Assistants Salary in New York, NYMedian $48,370 · Employment 44,060
- Medical Assistants Salary in NYMedian $48,000 · Employment 40,710
- Medical Assistants Salary in Los Angeles, CAMedian $47,760 · Employment 39,770
- Medical Assistants Salary in OHMedian $42,810 · Employment 28,950
- Medical Assistants Salary in GAMedian $41,600 · Employment 28,780
- Medical Assistants Salary in MIMedian $39,870 · Employment 27,810
- Medical Assistants Salary in NCMedian $45,140 · Employment 23,650
- Medical Assistants Salary in PAMedian $43,920 · Employment 23,050
- Medical Assistants Salary in AZMedian $45,940 · Employment 21,460
Related careers
- Ophthalmologists, Except PediatricNational median $300,080
- Nurse PractitionersNational median $132,300
- ParamedicsNational median $60,600
- Family Medicine PhysiciansNational median $244,180
- General Internal Medicine PhysiciansNational median $256,560
- Emergency Medicine PhysiciansNational median $335,550
- Physician AssistantsNational median $135,880
- CardiologistsNational median $496,010
Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.