KC Hall

Kansas City, Kan. - According to the International Association of Administrative Professionals' Web site, April 25, 2012 marks the 60th anniversary of Administrative Professionals Day®. Salaries for administrative professionals remained stagnate between 2009 and 2010, as companies worked to regain financial stability following the recession. Now, many salaries appear to be on the rise. The 2011 BenchmarkPro survey results found executive assistants earn an average base rate of $51,600 per year. That’s up from $50,200 in 2010.

Administrative assistants are earning $36,400 per year, reflecting a two percent increase since 2010. The salary for executive secretaries has increased from $45,000 in 2010 to $46,100 in 2011, a 2.4 percent increase. Receptionist salaries increased 2.6 percent between 2010 and 2011, to $27,900.

Salaries differ by region as secretaries in the West earn $35,200 per year. Companies in the Northeast pay secretaries an average of $34,400. Organizations in the Southeast pay $31,300, while those in the Midwest offer $30,600. The average base salary for secretaries in the South Central region of the country is $28,800, which is 22 percent less than their counterparts in the West.

Variations are also seen among industries as executive assistants in utilities earn an average $57,200 per year. Services organizations pay $54,100 per year, while executive assistants in banking & finance earn $51,800. Healthcare executive assistants receive an average base rate of $49,900 each year. Companies in hospitality pay their executive assistants the least, $45,500 per year.

"Although salaries for many administrative professionals increased in 2011, the rate of increase for most of these jobs was less than the 2011 average rate of inflation reported in the Consumer Price Index of 3.2 percent," said Amy Kaminski, director of marketing for Compdata Surveys, the nation's leading pay and benefits survey data provider. "The economy continues to be a front burner topic for presidential candidates with each having a very different approach to promoting economic growth. It will be interesting to see how their policies are received during the course of the campaign and ultimately, the influence these policies will have on salaries over the next few years."

About the Survey
BenchmarkPro 2011 contains cross-industry data on over 300 benchmark job titles. Data was collected from nearly 3,700 employers reporting for more than 18,000 locations across the country. The results provide a comprehensive summary of pay data and pay practices with an effective date of March 1, 2011.

Compdata Surveys is the nation's leading compensation and benefits survey data provider. Thousands of U.S. organizations provide data each year ensuring the reliability of our results. Compdata Surveys has been providing comprehensive data at affordable prices to organizations from coast to coast since 1988. For further information about their compensation and benefits surveys, contact Michelle Willis at (800) 300-9570.

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