Medical administrative assistants are one of the least happy careers in the United States.

At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, medical administrative assistants rate their career happiness 2.8 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 15% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy medical administrative assistants are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:

Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers

Career Satisfaction Avg Salary
Psychiatric technician
2.8
$23k
Family social worker
2.8
$28k
Licensed practical nurse
2.8
$41k
Medical laboratory technologist
2.8
$65k
Pharmacy technician
2.8
$18k
Medical administrative assistant
2.8
$19k
Neurodiagnostic technologist
2.8
$63k
Clinical nurse specialist
2.8
$83k
Healthcare social worker
2.8
$47k
Medical billing and coding technician
2.7
$40k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are medical administrative assistants happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do medical administrative assistants find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as medical administrative assistants?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are medical administrative assistant’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are medical administrative assistants making the best use of their abilities?

Are medical administrative assistants happy with their salary?

Medical administrative assistants rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.8/5. Medical administrative assistants tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

We asked medical administrative assistants how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.8 out of 5 stars

1304 medical administrative assistants

5 Star
10%

10% of medical administrative assistants rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
21%

21% of medical administrative assistants rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
29%

29% of medical administrative assistants rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
22%

22% of medical administrative assistants rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
18%

18% of medical administrative assistants rated their compensation 1 stars

Do medical administrative assistants find their jobs meaningful?

On average, medical administrative assistants rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.5/5. The majority of medical administrative assistants struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.

We asked medical administrative assistants how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

2.5 out of 5 stars

1309 medical administrative assistants

5 Star
9%

9% of medical administrative assistants rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
14%

14% of medical administrative assistants rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
24%

24% of medical administrative assistants rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
25%

25% of medical administrative assistants rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
27%

27% of medical administrative assistants rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as medical administrative assistants?

Medical administrative assistants rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.7/5. The majority of medical administrative assistants find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked medical administrative assistants how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

3.7 out of 5 stars

1396 medical administrative assistants

5 Star
29%

29% of medical administrative assistants rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
34%

34% of medical administrative assistants rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of medical administrative assistants rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
8%

8% of medical administrative assistants rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
6%

6% of medical administrative assistants rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a medical administrative assistant’s work environment?

As a whole, medical administrative assistants rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.4/5. A solid majority of medical administrative assistants enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a medical administrative assistant.

We asked medical administrative assistants how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.4 out of 5 stars

1389 medical administrative assistants

5 Star
20%

20% of medical administrative assistants rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
30%

30% of medical administrative assistants rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
29%

29% of medical administrative assistants rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
12%

12% of medical administrative assistants rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
9%

9% of medical administrative assistants rated their work environment 1 stars

Are medical administrative assistants making the best use of their abilities?

Former medical administrative assistants on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.6/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a medical administrative assistant.

We asked medical administrative assistants how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

2.6 out of 5 stars

1395 medical administrative assistants

5 Star
11%

11% of medical administrative assistants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
15%

15% of medical administrative assistants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
21%

21% of medical administrative assistants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
28%

28% of medical administrative assistants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
24%

24% of medical administrative assistants rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars