What Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive earn in Bernalillo County, NM
The median pay for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Bernalillo County, NM is $46,950 per year, which works out to $22.57 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Albuquerque, NM metropolitan area, the labor market that Bernalillo County, NM belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $48,020, which is 2.3% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 11,020 people working in this occupation across the Albuquerque, NM metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Bernalillo County, NM has roughly 673,930 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in the Albuquerque, NM metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $34,950 a year ($16.80 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $61,820 or more ($29.72 an hour). That is a gap of $26,870 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $38,690 at the 25th percentile and $56,660 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.8 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $22.57 an hour or $46,950 a year at the median for Bernalillo County, NM. Before any deductions, that is $3,913 a month, $1,806 every two weeks and $903 each week. After taxes the same job pays $18.63 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive this way: "Perform routine administrative functions such as drafting correspondence, scheduling appointments, organizing and maintaining paper and electronic files, or providing information to callers."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Answer telephones and give information to callers, take messages, or transfer calls to appropriate individuals"; "Greet visitors or callers and handle their inquiries or direct them to the appropriate persons according to their needs"; "Locate and attach appropriate files to incoming correspondence requiring replies"; "Open, read, route, and distribute incoming mail or other materials and answer routine letters".
Job outlook for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to shrink from 1,889,800 jobs in 2025 to 1,775,700 in 2035, a change of -6%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 163,900 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 8.7% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $47,540 for this occupation; the Bernalillo County, NM median of $46,950 is 1.2% below it.
How pay in Bernalillo County, NM compares
Compared with the New Mexico average
A worker in this occupation in Bernalillo County, NM earns $967 more than the New Mexico average of $45,983, a premium of 2.1%. Over a year that premium is worth $967 before tax and roughly $798 after tax. Within New Mexico, Bernalillo County, NM already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive is $47,842 across the contiguous United States. At $46,950, Bernalillo County, NM pays $892 less, which is 1.9% below that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Bernalillo County, NM
Among the 438 occupations with published wages in Bernalillo County, NM, Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive ranks number 286 by median pay, ahead of about 35% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Registered Nurses at $96,040 a year, which is $49,090 more than the median for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive earning the Bernalillo County, NM median of $46,950, they add up to $8,196. The result is $38,754 of take-home pay a year ($3,230 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $17 goes to taxes and $83 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 17.5%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $31,200. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $3,506, an effective 7.5% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,911 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $681. FICA totals $3,592, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in New Mexico
New Mexico income tax on this salary is $1,099 a year, or 2.3% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 31% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $92 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Bernalillo County, NM
IRS Statistics of Income data for Bernalillo County, NM show an average adjusted gross income of $75,695 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 12.4% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.0%, compared with the 7.5% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Bernalillo County, NM
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Bernalillo County, NM: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $38,754 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Bernalillo County, NM, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,112 a month ($13,344 a year), and at $1,384 for two bedrooms. For Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive, a one-bedroom absorbs 34.4% of take-home pay and 28.4% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 7.3% of gross pay for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Bernalillo County, NM. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using New Mexico residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,500 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $360, for $1,860 in total. Gasoline in New Mexico averages $3.02 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,397.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $20,036 a year in Bernalillo County, NM. Subtract that from $38,754 of take-home pay and $18,718 remains, which is $1,560 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 39.9% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Bernalillo County, NM
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Bernalillo County, NM: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Bernalillo County, NM, set beside the New Mexico and national medians.
Property taxes in Bernalillo County, NM
Homeowners in Bernalillo County, NM pay a median of $2,629 a year in real estate taxes, 52% above the New Mexico median of $1,731 and 16% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $292,900, the median tax bill is 0.90% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive median of $46,950, a tax bill of that size would equal 5.6% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Bernalillo County, NM
Renters in Bernalillo County, NM pay a median gross rent of $1,144 a month in the Census survey, 7% above the New Mexico median of $1,067. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,112 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $292,900, 18% above the New Mexico median of $248,100. Median household income is $69,473, 8% above the New Mexico median of $64,059, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 19.2% of that income.
Commuting in Bernalillo County, NM
Workers in Bernalillo County, NM who travel to a workplace spend an average of 22.9 minutes each way, 3% below the New Mexico average of 23.5. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 3.8 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 14.9% of workers in Bernalillo County, NM work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive afford to live in Bernalillo County, NM?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $46,950 that ceiling is $1,174 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,112 is $62 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $21.38 an hour; the median for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive is $22.57, which is 6% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $18.63 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 13.8 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,384 a month means $692 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $5,040 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $23,758.
How fast you can save
At $1,560 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 7 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 14 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive pay in Bernalillo County, NM
How much do Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive make per hour in Bernalillo County, NM?
The median is $22.57 per hour, based on $46,950 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $16.80 at the 10th percentile to $29.72 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive take home after taxes in Bernalillo County, NM?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $46,950 becomes $38,754 a year. That is $3,230 a month, $1,491 every two weeks or $745 a week.
How much tax do Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive pay in Bernalillo County, NM?
Total taxes are $8,196 a year, an effective rate of 17.5%: $3,506 federal income tax, $3,592 FICA and $1,099 New Mexico income tax.
Do Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive earn more in Bernalillo County, NM than elsewhere in New Mexico?
Yes. The local median of $46,950 is +2.1% versus the New Mexico average of $45,983, a difference of $967 a year.
Can Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive afford a one-bedroom apartment in Bernalillo County, NM?
A one-bedroom costs $1,112 a month against take-home pay of $3,230, which is 34.4% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,174 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Bernalillo County, NM?
About $1,560 a month ($18,718 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $20,036 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Bernalillo County, NM at the 30% guideline?
$21.38 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $13,344 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive is $22.57.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Albuquerque, NM metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the New Mexico rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.