Medical Assistant Salary + How to Become a Medical Assistant

What do medical assistants do and what does a medical assistant salary look like?

They might be the first person you see when you walk in, welcoming you and keeping your records up to date. They might be the person you see when you walk into an exam room, taking your temperature and blood pressure and asking you questions about your medical history or your current symptoms.

They might be the person working side-by-side with the doctor, providing certain medications, or taking care of an injury. 

In short: medical assistants wear many hats—and they’re an invaluable part of the healthcare industry. 

How Medical Assistant Roles Differ From Other Healthcare Jobs

Medical assistantships are different from a lot of other medical roles in that they may require less education than, say, a general family doctor or a nurse.

In fact, a medical assistantship is one of the only roles in the medical field that often doesn’t require a bachelor’s degree. If you’re interested in something that requires less schooling but still allows you to interface with patients, this may be just the position for you.

Let’s talk about what exactly it is that medical assistants do. Spoiler alert: it’s a lot. 

Medical Assistant Job Description

Medical assistants do a unique combination of administrative and clinical work. This means that they might be answering the phone and scheduling appointments one minute and then taking a patient’s blood pressure the next. As you can imagine, this requires someone who is flexible, quick on her feet, and not afraid to get up close and personal with the public. 

This job also requires someone who is detail-oriented, organized, efficient, and able to multitask—in addition to being empathetic and compassionate. After all, you’re often seeing patients when they’re at their worst or most vulnerable. 

The American Association of Medical Assistants (AMAA) lists out the main tasks that medical assistants typically do. These include: 

• Interviewing patients about their medical histories
• Managing prescription refills
• Minor Injury and wound care
• Taking vital signs and drawing blood
• Working alongside doctors and nurses during certain procedures and examinations
• Discussing post-treatment steps with patients 
• Handling certain lab tests
• Giving certain medicines and injections
• Managing patient records and files
• Working as a front desk administrator
• Managing the health insurance process 
• Scheduling patient appointments 

How to Become a Medical Assistant 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the job outlook for medical assistants is great. At a projected 18% from 2020 to 2030, it’s growing “much faster than average,” making it a secure role to pursue.

While medical assistantships don’t typically require a four-year degree, they do usually require a high school degree and a degree from a medical assisting program. Many positions also require that you pass the AMAA certification exam. 

Here are the steps to take if you’re looking to become a medical assistant. 

1. Complete Education Requirements 

The first step is to earn a high school diploma—and bonus points for taking classes that can apply to a medical profession, like chemistry, biology, anatomy and physiology, or even nursing courses. The more you’re exposed to this background knowledge, the better. 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that while some employers will allow you to train on the job, most offices of physicians have educational requirements that include the completion of a medical assisting program or associate degree. 

There’s an important caveat here: you’ll want to choose a program that is accredited by either the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs or the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools. This is because if you were to decide to become a certified medical assistant through the AAMA, they require that you graduate from a program accredited by one of these two organizations in order to take their exam. Many employers require that you graduate from an accredited school and receive your certification, so it’s definitely better to be safe than sorry.

Medical assistant programs vary—some are completed in roughly a year and broken into trimesters. Others may take two or three years to complete.

To find an accredited medical assistantship program, you can use the Commission of Allied Health Education Programs’ website or the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education School’s website. 

2. Get Medical Assistance Certifications

This step is optional but highly encouraged by most employers. Once you finish your medical assistantship program, you’ll want to take the certification exam from the AAMA. This will allow you to become a certified medical assistant, which can make it easier to secure a role you want as well as potentially allow you to make more money in that role. 

To read more about the exam, visit the AAMA’s exam prep page. They have sample tests, an FAQ question, and more to guide you through what to expect and how to prepare. 

Once you’ve graduated from a medical assistantship program (and hopefully passed a test to become a certified medical assistant), you’ll be well on your way to landing a job. 

What Is the Average Salary of a Medical Assistant?

Of course, your place of work, location, years of experience, and cost of living will play an important role in determining your medical assistant salary. But how much does a medical assistant make?

We combed through the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to pull together the average medical assistant salary.

According to the BLS, the average annual salary of a medical assistant is $37,190 per year. They also list the highest 10% and lowest 10% of salaries for this role. As you can see, there’s not a huge range: 

• High Salary – $48,170 (Top 10%)
• Average Salary – $37,190 (50%)
• Low Salary – $29,070 (Bottom 10%)

The above are average numbers from every state combined. Wondering about specific states? The states below have the highest employment levels for medical assistant roles (and we listed their average salaries beside them as well). If you’re in these states, medical assistant roles are in super high demand.

• California – $44,780
• New York – $42,100
• Florida – $35,480
• Georgia – $35,470
• Texas – $34,660

Live in Washington and want to become a medical assistant? Lucky you—Washington is the highest paying state for medical assistants nationwide. On the flip side, West Virginia is the lowest paying state at $31,230. Here are the others with the highest average pay for medical assistants.

• Washington – $47,320
• Washington, DC – $46,690
• Alaska – $46,390
• California – $44,780
• Massachusetts – $44,200

Real Salaries from The Salary Project

We took to The Salary Project to find some real medical assistant salaries from professionals across the United States. The lowest salary we found was $22,152, while the highest was $66,560. Here are some real numbers. 

• Louisville, Kentucky – $22,152
• Macomb, Michigan – $23,296
• Prattville, Alabama – $24,960
• Janesville, Wisconsin – $28,288
• Tulsa, Oklahoma – $31,200
• Pageland, South Carolina – $32,000
• West Chester, Pennsylvania – $35,360
• Asheville, North Carolina – $36,920
• Eastlake, Ohio – $38,000
• Dallas, Texas – $45,760
• Newport Beach, California – $55,000
• Scarsdale, New York – $55,036
• Glen Burnie, Maryland – $66,560

How to Increase Your Compensation as a Medical Assistant

We all want to watch our skills—and salaries—grow. There are a number of ways to make more money as a medical assistant. While earning certifications doesn’t guarantee that you’ll increase your salary, it certainly doesn’t hurt to grow your skills and your resume. 

1. Take the CMA Exam

We touched on this above, but the first step to increasing your earning potential (and ability to land the job you want) is to pass the CMA exam and become a certified medical assistant.

This is one of the main certifications available to medical assistants, and you can take it right when you finish your education or at almost any point during your career. This certification requires continuing education in order to keep it active. You’ll be consistently working to ensure you know the latest and greatest tools and techniques when it comes to medical assisting. (You already know how much we emphasize growth.)

2. The Registered Medical Assistant Exam

While the RMA certification is a little less recognized than the CMA certification, it’s still a great one to add to your resume. It also requires that you take and pass an exam, but the material is said to be similar to that of the CMA exam. Study hard and take both exams to get more bang for your buck.

3. The National Certified Medical Assistant Exam

You guessed—there’s another exam you can take to earn the NCMA certification. While the other main certifications focus on both clinical and administrative knowledge, the NCMA leans more toward the medical side. If you enjoy that aspect of the career the most, this might be a good fit for you. 

4. Attend Medical Conferences

We know the importance of networking, and medical assistant conferences let you talk shop with colleagues, not just your patients. Here are a few of the main medical assistant conferences to look out for.

The AMAA has a popular annual conference, where you can go to learn more about your field, participate in continuing education courses, and simply network with other medical professionals. 

While there are few nationwide conferences for medical assistants, there are quite a number of conferences divided by state. For example, here’s one hosted by the Virginia Society of Medical Assistants. Check to see if your state has a medical assistant organization and consider joining for the all-important networking it offers. 

5. Find a Specialty

Another way to potentially increase your pay and your hire-ability is to specialize in a particular area of interest—especially if you work in a more niche medical facility.

Indeed notes that medical assistants that have a specialty in radiology, for example, can increase their pay by about 24%. If there’s an area you particularly like, consider more professional development in it. It may just pay off. 

How to Find a High-Paying Medical Assistant Job

Like most medical roles that require in-person work, you’ll first want to connect to your community in order to find a medical assistant role.

Since all kinds of physicians’ offices, healthcare facilities, and clinics require medical assistants, it’s good practice to keep a pulse on the local industry to stay abreast of job opportunities. This might mean attending local networking events, keeping in touch with your professors and classmates from medical assistant school, or letting your network know that you’re on the job hunt. Sometimes word of mouth is the best way to land the job you want. 

Consider subscribing to newsletters like the AMAA’s e-newsletter, which lists medical assistant job openings, and sign up for alerts on job boards like Indeed and LinkedIn for your location and field. 

This article was written by The Salary Project writer, Michele Lando.