Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,391
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$8,789
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,113
Virginia costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Virginia — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$46,180
Kept after tax
$37,391
Worth in national money
$37,113
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Virginia sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $46,180, ranking 21 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Virginia, this sits in the middle: 359 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $46,180 the take-home is $37,391, which is worth about $37,113 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $46,500, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Virginia occupies the middle band for medical secretaries and administrative assistants: a median of $46,180, ranking 21 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Medical secretaries and administrative assistants ranks 359 of 489 occupations in Virginia by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Virginia's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for medical secretaries and administrative assistants on its $46,180 median: $37,391 retained after tax becomes $37,113 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $46,500 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,180 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,350 |
| This salary | $46,180 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Virginia | $37,391 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,286 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,315 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $43,822 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,009 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of medical secretaries and administrative assistants in Virginia earn under $46,180 and half over. The published range runs $37,180 at the tenth percentile to $58,350 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Virginia's $37,391, worked from $46,180. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 359 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $37,113, the adjusted value of that $46,180 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 359 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for medical secretaries and administrative assistants in Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,180 to $58,350; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Virginia take-home of $37,391, on $46,180 for work ranking 359 of 489 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 359 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $37,113 — the adjusted value of that $46,180 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 359 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $37,180 at the tenth percentile, $58,350 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Virginia run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $37,113 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Virginia's own levy, $37,391 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($37,180 to $58,350) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Virginia rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Virginia's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $37,113 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $37,391 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Virginia income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.