What does it cost to hire an administrative assistant in Durham?

Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role and never by salary or location. A contingency firm billing 20 to 30% of this role's $47,840 median wage in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would charge roughly $9,568 to $14,352 on the first year salary alone.

What should an offer for an administrative assistant in Durham look like?

Employers in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC area pay secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive a median of $47,840, with the middle half of the market between $41,460 and $56,540 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $41,460 competes for the bottom quarter of that market.

Hiring an administrative assistant in Durham, NC

Employers in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC area pay secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive a median of $47,840 a year, with the middle half of the market between $41,460 and $56,540 (BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 43-6014). Filling it through recruitlocalpros runs Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role rather than by salary or location, and our vetted recruiting partner handles sourcing, screening and placement end to end.

Do Durham residents in office and administrative support work earn more than employers in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC area pay?

Durham residents working in office and administrative support occupations earn a median of $42,116 (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011), against $47,665 as the median of the 36 wages BLS publishes for that same occupation group in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC area (BLS OEWS, May 2025), a difference of 12%, with the employers figure the higher of the two.

Both sides of that figure describe the whole office and administrative support group, not this one role. In the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC area the group covers 36 occupations BLS publishes a wage for, from hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks at $30,960 to first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers at $68,450 (BLS OEWS, May 2025), with secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive at $47,840 inside it.

That comparison is between two different measures, not a pay gap. The two weight the same occupation group differently: the Census figure is the midpoint across the people who actually hold those jobs, so a group carrying a few very well paid occupations is pulled toward them, while the BLS figure is the midpoint across the 36 published occupation wages, which counts each of those occupations once whatever its headcount. Census also counts where people live and BLS counts where the jobs are, and the two cover different populations, Census the civilian employed population 16 and over, BLS wage-and-salary jobs only. Read the number against other cities, where the same definitional difference applies on both sides, rather than as a shortfall.

Published wages across this group in the metro run above what Durham residents in it earn, which usually means employers here draw this talent from beyond the city line rather than from inside it.

What does an administrative assistant earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid to secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive by employers in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC area. BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 43-6014.
25th percentile	$41,460
Median	$47,840
75th percentile	$56,540

Half of secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive in this area earn between $41,460 and $56,540 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $41,460 competes for the bottom quarter of the market. Occupation detail for SOC 43-6014 at O*NET OnLine.

Place of residence

What Durham residents earn

$42,116

Median annual earnings of Durham residents working in office and administrative support occupations, 13,713 people (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011). An occupation group rather than this one role, and where people live rather than where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.

What does the role actually involve?

Core tasks

Answer telephones and give information to callers, take messages, or transfer calls to appropriate individuals.
Greet visitors or callers and handle their inquiries or direct them to the appropriate persons according to their needs.
Create, maintain, and enter information into databases.
Use computers for various applications, such as database management or word processing.
Operate office equipment, such as fax machines, copiers, or phone systems and arrange for repairs when equipment malfunctions.

Task statements for SOC 43-6014, O*NET OnLine 29.1.

Tools and technologies in demand

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe Illustrator.

Flagged in demand or hot for SOC 43-6014 by O*NET OnLine 29.1. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.

Is the talent actually in Durham?

This is a job zone two: some preparation needed occupation. These occupations usually require a high school diploma. O*NET OnLine, SOC 43-6014.

It does not require a degree, which widens the pool considerably. For context, 55.7% of Durham adults hold one. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501, residents of Durham aged 25 and over.

The average Durham commute runs 22.7 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 20.6% of Durham workers already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that. Census ACS 5-year 2023, place-level commuting characteristics for Durham.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In Durham County, administrative and support services employs 13,973 and turns over 16.5% a quarter, with 4,419 hires against 4,121 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $4,460 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 56.

That figure covers every occupation in the industry, not this role alone, so read it as the local churn rate rather than as a number about secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a high-churn market, where speed matters more than a perfect fit.

What does the search cost?

The fee is set by the seniority of the role, never by salary and never by location. Across all six tiers it runs $6,240 to $54,340 per search. A contingency firm hiring at this role's $47,840 median in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would bill roughly $9,568 to $14,352 on the first year salary alone.

One owner runs the search from market map to signed offer. Searches typically fill in 23 to 35 days, which is a typical window rather than a promise, and the replacement guarantee runs 45 days at 50% off.

Questions employers ask about hiring an administrative assistant in Durham

What does it cost to hire an administrative assistant in Durham?: Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role and never by salary or location. A contingency firm billing 20 to 30% of this role's $47,840 median wage in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would charge roughly $9,568 to $14,352 on the first year salary alone.
What should an offer for an administrative assistant in Durham look like?: Employers in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC area pay secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive a median of $47,840, with the middle half of the market between $41,460 and $56,540 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $41,460 competes for the bottom quarter of that market.
Do Durham residents in office and administrative support work earn more than employers in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC area pay?: Durham residents working in office and administrative support occupations earn a median of $42,116 (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011), against $47,665 as the median of the 36 wages BLS publishes for that same occupation group in the Durham-Chapel Hill, NC area (BLS OEWS, May 2025), a difference of 12%. Both figures cover the whole occupation group rather than this one role, and one counts where people live while the other counts where the jobs are, so the percentage is not a pay gap.
Is the talent for this role already in Durham?: This is a job zone 2 occupation and does not require a degree, which widens the pool considerably. For context, 55.7% of Durham adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher (Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501).

Price this search

Eight questions about the role. Your tier range appears on screen.

Hiring an administrative assistant somewhere else?

Same role, different market. The wage band moves with the metro.

Other office and administrative support roles in Durham

Durham is the 4th largest of 6 North Carolina cities in this dataset.