Customer Service Representatives vs Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive: $45K vs $48K Median Pay

Customer Service Representatives vs Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive: what changes?

Consider Customer Service Representatives if you want to interact with customers to provide basic or scripted information in response to routine inquiries about products and services. Consider Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive if you would rather perform routine administrative functions such as drafting correspondence, scheduling appointments, organizing and maintaining paper and electronic files, or providing information to callers. Both list high school diploma or equivalent; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Customer Service Representatives and Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Customer Service Representatives

National median pay (2025): $44,770
Route into the job: High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Confer with customers by telephone or in person to provide information about products or services, take or enter orders, cancel accounts, or obtain details of complaints.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 289,500

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 5.3% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Customer Service Representatives brief

Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive

National median pay (2025): $47,540
Route into the job: High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Answer telephones and give information to callers, take messages, or transfer calls to appropriate individuals.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 163,900

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 6% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive brief

How the national numbers differ

Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive has the edge on median pay

Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive is at $47,540, compared with $44,770 for Customer Service Representatives.

Customer Service Representatives has the edge on projected growth

Customer Service Representatives is at -5.3% projected growth, compared with -6% projected growth for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive.

Customer Service Representatives has the edge on annual openings

Customer Service Representatives is at 289,500 annual openings, compared with 163,900 annual openings for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive.

49.9/ 100

Customer Service Representatives

51.1/ 100

Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Customer Service Representatives vs Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive

Dimension	Customer Service Representatives	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
Median pay (2025)	$44,770	$47,540
Pay percentile	17.5 percentile	24.8 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	-5.3%	-6%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	289,500	163,900
2025 employment	2,666,000	1,889,800
How you qualify	High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing	High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 2	Job Zone 2
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.	One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Customer Service Representatives brief Read Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive brief

Customer Service Representatives vs Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Customer Service Representatives

Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive

How the national numbers differ

Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive has the edge on median pay

Customer Service Representatives has the edge on projected growth

Customer Service Representatives has the edge on annual openings

Customer Service Representatives vs Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive

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