Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants: Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA vs San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA pay

Percentile	Published wages	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
10th	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA$38,510San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA$52,770	$38,510	$52,770
25th	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA$38,750San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA$61,850

Place	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Employment RSE
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	400Jobs per 1,000: 1 Location quotient: 1	1	1	21.8%
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	660Jobs per 1,000: 0.58 Location quotient: 0.58	0.58	0.58	12.2%

Median	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA$47,430San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA$87,270	$47,430	$87,270

75th	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA$63,900San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA$99,940	$63,900	$99,940

90th	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA$71,910San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA$126,880	$71,910	$126,880

Start with the answer

Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants pay in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants is $47,430 per year in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA. It is $87,270 per year in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA is 45.7% below San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA on the published median.

Both rows use SOC 43-6012 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.

BLS lists 400 wage and salary jobs in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA and 660 in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.

Pay range

Compare the full Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants wage ladder

A median can hide a wide range. The 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentile points show more of each area's spread. A percentile is a rank point. It is not a career stage. The 10th point does not mean new-worker pay. The 90th point does not mean a wage that comes after a set number of years.

The lower half can differ from the upper half. One area can lead at the median and trail at another point. Read each field against the same field in the other area. Do not compare one area's 75th percentile with the other area's median. That would answer a different question.

A posted job range can sit below, across, or above these marks. That does not make the post wrong. A listing can differ by employer, level, hours, field, or work rules. Keep the listing tied to that employer. Keep the BLS range tied to the whole role-place row.

10th percentile: Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA is $38,510 per year; San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA is $52,770 per year. Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA is 27.0% below San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA at this point.
25th percentile: Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA is $38,750 per year; San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA is $61,850 per year. Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA is 37.3% below San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA at this point.
Median: Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA is $47,430 per year; San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA is $87,270 per year. Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA is 45.7% below San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA at this point.
75th percentile: Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA is $63,900 per year; San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA is $99,940 per year. Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA is 36.1% below San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA at this point.
90th percentile: Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA is $71,910 per year; San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA is $126,880 per year. Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA is 43.3% below San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA at this point.

Shape of pay

Mean and median tell two parts of the Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants story

Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA has a mean of $52,040 per year and a median of $47,430. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA has a mean of $90,530 per year and a median of $87,270. Mean adds all wage values and splits the total by the number of jobs behind the estimate.

Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA's mean is 9.7% above its median on the same published median. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA's mean is 3.7% above its median on the same published median. The gaps show that each wage spread has a shape. They do not explain why the shape differs.

Use median for the middle. Use mean to see how the full set pulls. Use percentiles to see more of the spread. None of the three is a pay promise. A person, team, or listing can sit far from all three for reasons that are outside these BLS rows.

Job scale

How the two Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants job bases differ

Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA has 400 estimated Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants jobs. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA has 660. The larger count shows a larger covered job base in this source. It does not show more open roles, faster hiring, or a better chance for one applicant.

Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA has 1 Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants jobs per 1,000 local jobs. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA has 0.58 per 1,000. This rate helps compare places of different size. It is not a job-post rate and does not use the MeritLog catalog.

The employment RSE is 21.8% in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA and 12.2% in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. RSE means relative standard error. It is a survey precision flag. It is not the chance that the job count or one person's pay is right.

Local share

Where Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants takes a larger share of jobs

The location quotient is 1 in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA and 0.58 in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. A value of 1 means the role has the same share of local jobs as it has across the nation. A value above 1 means the local share is larger. A value below 1 means it is smaller.

Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA's quotient is 72.4% above San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA's. That gap is about the job mix. It is not a wage gap, a job-count gap, or a growth claim.

Read location quotient with employment. A small place can have a high share and few jobs. A large place can have many jobs and a share near the national mark. Then read pay as its own field. The three measures do not form one score.

BEA price view

How price levels differ between Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

BEA's 2024 all-items price index is 91.7 in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA and 110.4 in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. The U.S. level is 100. A higher number means the broad local price level is higher than the national mark. It does not say a place is good or bad.

Housing is 84.7 in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA and 211.9 in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. Goods are 93.7 and 105.2. Utilities are 84.6 and 156.7. Other services are 92.9 and 100.3. The parts can move in different ways.

The wage period is May 2025. The price period is 2024. WageScope keeps those clocks visible. It uses the all-items index for one clear proxy. It does not mix BEA prices into the BLS source row, and it does not claim the two releases describe the exact same month.

Price-level proxy

Compare the medians in national-price dollars

In Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA, we start with the $47,430 median. We divide it by 91.7 divided by 100. The result is $51,722 per year. In San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, we start with $87,270. We divide it by 110.4 divided by 100. That result is $79,032 per year.

Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA's proxy is 34.6% below San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA's. The nominal gap is 45.7%. The order can stay the same or change after the price-level step. Both results must keep their labels.

The proxy is a narrow math tool. It is not take-home pay. It does not add taxes, benefits, household size, debt, commute, schools, safety, climate, or taste. It does not set a wage target. Use it to see how one broad price index changes the wage view, then check your own costs outside WageScope.

Same-proxy pay

What equal price-level pay would look like in the other place

$47,430 per year in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA has the same value after this price check as $57,113 per year in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. We keep the result for Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA fixed. Then we apply the overall price index for San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA.

$87,270 per year in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA has the same proxy as $72,474 per year in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA. This reverse view is useful because the answer depends on which wage you start with. It is not a claim about an offer in either place.

Equivalent nominal pay uses one broad price measure. It does not know what a person buys. It does not know rent, family size, debt, taxes, travel, benefits, or savings. Treat the result as a clean source-backed comparison, not a full move plan or a number an employer must match.

Data care

Check the survey marks before you use the gap

The mean-wage RSE is 8.2% in Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA and 5.8% in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. The employment RSE is 21.8% and 12.2%. RSE is a precision flag for the field it sits beside. It is not a score for the whole page.

BLS does not publish the same RSE field for the median and each percentile. WageScope does not move a mean RSE to the median. It does not use an employment RSE as a wage care mark. Each value stays tied to its source field. Missing or top-coded values also keep their source state.

New BLS or BEA data can change the result. We check the source dates before release. If a full new release is waiting for review, we cannot call these data current. Each job card has its own check date. New job posts do not make the government data newer.

Use the result

A short check list for Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

Start with the same Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants wage field. Then read the full percentile spread. Check job count, jobs per 1,000, and location quotient. Add the 2024 all-items and housing price levels. Read the national-price-dollar proxy with its limits. Keep the BLS and BEA dates in view.

Next, inspect one current employer-title match in each place when an exact public place match exists. A job post can show work level, hours, location rules, and pay that the BLS row cannot. The post is dated employer evidence. It does not change the survey median or prove a broad trend.

Last, use your own facts. Compare the job needs with work you have done and can support. A wage gap cannot show fit. A price-level gap cannot show fit. A job count cannot show fit. MeritLog's résumé path starts only after you choose a listing and confirm the work facts you want to use.

Limits

What this Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants comparison does not decide

The page does not choose Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA or San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA for you. It does not say what one worker earns. It does not promise a job, offer, raise, or move result. It does not say why the medians differ. It does not turn the larger wage, job count, quotient, or proxy into a place score.

This comparison leaves out people who work for themselves and jobs outside the BLS survey. It does not add taxes, take-home pay, benefits, stock, bonuses, or hours. It leaves out travel, remote work, and your home budget too. Job posts stay separate. There may be none even when all source data is ready.

Use this page for a bounded choice. Compare the same May 2025 BLS role and metric across two exact areas. Add the separate 2024 BEA price view. Inspect dated employer-title matches. Then build a résumé from facts you have confirmed. Keep each source tied to the question it can answer.

Your privacy, your choice

Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants: Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA vs San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

Same occupation, same annual wage metric

The winner can change when local prices differ

Housing and all-items indexes explain the adjustment

Matching pay after local prices

Job counts and local share

Compare another job type or two places

Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants: Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA guide

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