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Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants pay in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants is $51,650 per year in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA. It is $69,350 per year in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA is 25.5% below San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 43-6013 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 11,260 wage and salary jobs in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA and 6,340 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.