Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2005

43-6013 Medical Secretaries

Perform secretarial duties utilizing specific knowledge of medical terminology and hospital, clinic, or laboratory procedures. Duties include scheduling appointments, billing patients, and compiling and recording medical charts, reports, and correspondence.

National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
State profile for this occupation
Metropolitan area profile for this occupation

National estimates for this occupation: Top

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1) Employment
RSE (3)
Mean hourly
wage
Mean annual
wage (2)
Wage RSE (3)
381,020 1.4 % $13.65 $28,390 0.5 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median)
75% 90%
Hourly Wage $9.23 $10.89 $13.13 $16.04 $19.25
Annual Wage (2) $19,190 $22,650 $27,320 $33,350 $40,040

Industry profile for this occupation: Top

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage
Offices of physicians 162,690 $13.33 $27,730
General medical and surgical hospitals 89,730 $13.24 $27,540
Offices of dentists 52,560 $16.07 $33,430
Offices of other health practitioners 28,730 $12.49 $25,970
Outpatient care centers 10,550 $13.35 $27,780

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage
Professional and similar organizations (8) $17.35 $36,080
Pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing 140 $17.13 $35,640
Offices of dentists 52,560 $16.07 $33,430
State government (OES designation) 230 $15.70 $32,660
Insurance carriers 310 $15.68 $32,620

State profile for this occupation: Top

States with the highest published employment concentrations and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all States with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment
New Jersey 34,510 $14.43 $30,020 0.881%
Rhode Island 3,260 $14.39 $29,930 0.679%
Washington 17,400 $15.28 $31,780 0.656%
Massachusetts 19,960 $15.81 $32,880 0.635%
Ohio 30,330 $12.44 $25,870 0.568%

Top paying States for this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment
Connecticut 4,920 $15.93 $33,140 0.299%
Massachusetts 19,960 $15.81 $32,880 0.635%
Hawaii 1,390 $15.76 $32,790 0.238%
Washington 17,400 $15.28 $31,780 0.656%
California 42,360 $15.06 $31,320 0.288%

Metropolitan area profile for this occupation: Top

Metropolitan areas with the highest published employment concentrations and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all Metropolitan areas with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
Rochester, MN 1,880 $16.24 $33,780 1.882%
Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, MA-NH NECTA Division 560 $15.97 $33,220 0.967%
Newark-Union, NJ-PA Metropolitan Division 9,410 $14.96 $31,110 0.947%
Trenton-Ewing, NJ 1,970 $13.54 $28,160 0.893%
Atlantic City, NJ 1,310 $12.79 $26,590 0.891%

Top paying Metropolitan areas for this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metropolitan Division 2,110 $18.75 $39,000 0.222%
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA (8) $18.09 $37,620 (8)
Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA Metropolitan Division 2,280 $17.90 $37,230 0.226%
Danbury, CT 340 $17.89 $37,220 0.489%
Portsmouth, NH-ME 260 $17.86 $37,150 0.474%

About May 2005 National, State, and Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in every State and the District of Columbia. The top five employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable Excel files (XLS).

Percentile wage estimates show the percentage of workers in an occupation that earn less than a given wage and the percentage that earn more. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.


(1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

(8) Estimate not released.

Other OES estimates and related information:

May 2005 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2005 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2005 Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2005 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

List of Occupations in SOC Code Number Order

List of Occupations in Alphabetical Order

Download May 2005 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates in Zipped Excel files

Technical notes

 

Last Modified Date: May 24, 2006