Medical Assistant Salary: What MAs Earn by State, Setting, and Certification
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Medical assistants earn a national median of $45,690 a year, which works out to $21.97 an hour or about $3,808 a month, based on May 2025 federal wage data. That figure is the midpoint, so half earn more and half earn less, with the top 10 percent earning more than $59,310 and the highest-paying metros running higher still. What a medical assistant actually takes home depends heavily on three things: the state you work in, the industry that employs you, and whether you hold a credential such as the CMA (AAMA). Each one can move your pay by thousands of dollars a year.
Medical Assisting - Carrington College Portland Campus
- Format: Hybrid
- Clinical, administrative, and externship components
- Portland, Oregon; Oregon ranks fifth among states at $50,410
Medical Assisting - Carrington College Sacramento Campus
- Format: Hybrid
- Clinical, administrative, and externship components
- Sacramento, California; the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom metro median is $61,970
Medical Assisting - Carrington College San Jose Campus
- Format: Hybrid
- Clinical, administrative, and externship components
- San Jose, California; the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro median is $61,940
Compare these and other medical assistant programs on Dreambound to find the format and credential that match your goals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do medical assistants get paid the most?
Washington, at a $59,290 median, is the highest-paying state, followed by Alaska and the District of Columbia. By metro area, the top of the list sits in California and Washington, where several markets clear $61,000 a year, and the Vallejo, California area leads the country at $77,410. Pay in those areas tracks a higher cost of living, so compare the wage against local expenses before you move for the number alone.
Can a medical assistant make $30 an hour?
Yes, though it is above the national median of $21.97 an hour and sits near the top of the pay range. The top 10 percent of medical assistants earn about $28.52 an hour or more, and two California metros, Vallejo at $37.22 and Santa Rosa-Petaluma at $31.16, have medians above $30. Getting there usually takes some combination of certification, experience, a specialty, and a high-paying location rather than any one of them alone.
What pays more, EMT or medical assistant?
It depends which emergency role you mean. Medical assistants earn a median of $45,690 a year, a little more than EMTs at about $44,470. Paramedics, the advanced role that requires more training, earn considerably more, around $60,600 a year. So a medical assistant out-earns a basic EMT but not a paramedic. The EMT versus medical assistant comparison breaks down the training and the day-to-day of each.
Who gets paid more, a medical assistant or a CNA?
Medical assistants earned a median of $45,690 in May 2025, compared with $42,260 for nursing assistants, according to BLS wage data. That is a gap of $3,430 at the median, and the nursing assistant figure covers nursing assistants alone, not orderlies. The CNA vs medical assistant comparison covers the training and daily work of each role.
What is the highest pay for a medical assistant?
Nationally, the top 10 percent of medical assistants earn more than $59,310 a year, according to May 2025 BLS data. The highest-paying metro area, Vallejo, California, has a median of $77,410, and Washington has the highest state median at $59,290.
What a Medical Assistant Salary Really Means
The number that matters most is not the national median but where you land relative to it. The lowest-paid 10 percent earn under $36,050, while the median in the Vallejo, California area is $77,410. Location and work setting are the two factors the federal wage data measures directly, and the AAMA survey puts the CMA (AAMA) gap at $2,484 a year.
That is the real value of knowing the numbers: they show you the levers. Dreambound lists medical assistant programs by format, length, and the certification each one prepares for.
