Medical Assistant Salaries by State (BLS May 2025 Data)

A medical assistant in Washington earns, on average, about $22,000 a year more than one in Louisiana for the same work. This guide ranks every state and the District of Columbia by what medical assistants actually earn, using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for May 2025, the newest state-level wage data the government publishes. Every figure is a BLS estimate for the medical assistant occupation (clinical and administrative MAs in physician offices, clinics and hospitals); nothing here is self-reported or blended from salary sites.

National estimates for medical assistants (May 2025)

The BLS counts 817,870 medical assistants employed in the United States. The mean annual wage is $46,120 ($22.17 an hour) and the median is $45,690 ($21.97 an hour). Half of medical assistants earn between $38,470 and $49,180; the top 10% earn more than $59,310.

Which states pay medical assistants the most?

Washington pays medical assistants the most, with a mean annual wage of $58,590: $12,470 above the national mean, and the only state whose typical medical assistant earns more than the national 75th percentile. Alaska, California and the District of Columbia follow, and every state in the top ten averages more than $49,000 a year, above the national 75th percentile. The ten highest-paying states:

1. Washington: $58,590 a year ($28.17 an hour)
2. Alaska: $56,630 a year ($27.23 an hour)
3. California: $55,100 a year ($26.49 an hour)
4. District of Columbia: $54,890 a year ($26.39 an hour)
5. Oregon: $52,400 a year ($25.19 an hour)
6. Massachusetts: $51,850 a year ($24.93 an hour)
7. Minnesota: $51,660 a year ($24.84 an hour)
8. Hawaii: $49,730 a year ($23.91 an hour)
9. Colorado: $49,490 a year ($23.80 an hour)
10. New Hampshire: $49,390 a year ($23.74 an hour)

Which states pay medical assistants the least?

At the other end, Louisiana has the lowest mean medical assistant wage at $36,180, just above the national 10th percentile. The five lowest-paying states, all in the South and Appalachia:

1. Louisiana: $36,180 a year ($17.40 an hour)
2. Mississippi: $36,240 a year ($17.42 an hour)
3. Alabama: $36,770 a year ($17.68 an hour)
4. West Virginia: $38,090 a year ($18.31 an hour)
5. Arkansas: $38,930 a year ($18.71 an hour)

These are means, not offers. A medical assistant with a decade in a hospital clinic in Alabama can out-earn a new certificate holder in Oregon, and housing in the highest-paying states eats into the gap (more on that below).

Medical assistant pay in all 50 states (and D.C.)

Ranked by mean annual wage. "Median" is the annual wage at the midpoint of the state's medical assistants, and "MAs employed" is the BLS employment estimate for the state. Each state's name links to our guide to healthcare jobs and pay in that state.

Only 21 states pay above the national mean, because California's 117,000 medical assistants pull the national average up. In 17 states, among them North Carolina, Nevada, Washington, Virginia, Indiana and Utah, the median sits above the mean, which means pay there is clustered near the top of the range rather than pulled up by a few high earners. In California, Alaska and the District of Columbia the opposite is true: a typical medical assistant earns $3,800 to $5,400 less than the mean, so the headline figures for those three overstate what most medical assistants there take home.

Where the medical assistant jobs are

Pay and headcount rarely line up. California is the only state that is both a top-five payer and a top-five employer, and New York is the only other top-15 payer with more than 40,000 medical assistants. The six states with the most medical assistants:

• California: 117,060 MAs, mean $55,100
• Texas: 75,340 MAs, mean $41,240
• Florida: 66,110 MAs, mean $43,290
• New York: 40,710 MAs, mean $48,750
• Ohio: 28,950 MAs, mean $42,610
• Georgia: 28,780 MAs, mean $42,590

Those six states employ about 357,000 medical assistants, more than two in five of the country's total. Texas and Florida, the second and third largest employers, both pay below the national mean. Relative to the size of the workforce, the job is most common in Maine, Kentucky, Florida, Arizona and Alaska, where the BLS counts more than 6.5 medical assistants per 1,000 jobs, against about 5.3 nationally. Browse the openings on our board for medical assistant jobs in California, Texas, Florida and New York, or every medical assistant job we list.

Top-paying industries for medical assistants

Setting matters as much as geography. National mean annual wages for medical assistants by industry, May 2025:

Physician offices employ more than half of all medical assistants and pay a little under the national mean. Hospitals, the second-largest employer, pay about $2,600 a year more than physician offices, and outpatient care centers, the third-largest, pay about $8,000 more. The offices of chiropractors, optometrists and other non-physician practitioners, where many medical assistants start, pay the least of the major settings.

Job outlook for medical assistants

The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook counts 833,900 medical assistant jobs in 2025 and projects employment to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, much faster than the average for all occupations, adding 107,600 jobs. Openings are the bigger number: the BLS projects about 109,700 openings a year over the decade, growth plus the replacement of workers who move into nursing or other roles, change occupations or retire. The typical entry-level education is a postsecondary nondegree award, such as a certificate from a community college or vocational program.

What the numbers don't tell you

• Cost of living. BLS wages are gross pay, not adjusted for housing or taxes. Washington, Alaska, California, the District of Columbia, Oregon and Massachusetts lead the pay table and are also among the most expensive places to live; Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Maine sit in the top 20 with cheaper housing. Compare what is left after rent, not the headline figure.
• Setting. The industry table above is national; the same spread between an outpatient center and a chiropractor's office exists inside every state. A medical assistant in a hospital-owned clinic in a mid-ranked state can land well above the state mean.
• Experience. The 10th-to-90th percentile spread at the national level is $36,050 to $59,310. Where you fall in that range depends more on years in the role, setting and whether you work the clinical or the front-office side than on the state line.
• Certification. Most states do not license medical assistants, so there is no state board exam to pass and nothing to transfer when you move. Employers set their own requirements, and many prefer or require a national certification, so a credential you hold in one state is worth the same in the next.
• The next step up. The gap between the national medical assistant median ($45,690) and the LPN median ($64,400) is the main reason MA-to-LPN and MA-to-RN bridge programs stay full, and the registered nurse median is more than double a medical assistant's. Some employers pay for the bridge, so ask before you enroll. For the other entry-level clinical role, see our CNA pay by state guide.

Sources

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 national and state estimates, Medical Assistants (31-9092), read 11 October 2026.
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, Medical Assistants (31-9092), read 11 October 2026.
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, Medical Assistants (31-9092), read 11 October 2026.
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Medical Assistants, 2025 pay and 2025-35 projections, read 11 October 2026.