Nation

• Medical assistants earn a mean annual salary of $29,450 in the U.S. Their hourly wage averages $14.16. Those in the 25th percentile for salary (75 percent earn more) make $24,060, while those in the 75th percentile (25 percent earn more) make $33,760 per year. The U.S. has about 495,970 medical assistants.
  
  

Ohio

• About 21,860 medical assistants work in Ohio, according to a 2009 Bureau of Labor Statistics estimate. The average salary of a medical assistant in Ohio is $27,370. The average hourly wage is $13.16, a dollar per hour under the national average.
  
  

Akron & Columbus

• Akron medical assistants earn an average annual salary of $27,390, or $13.17 per hour. The average annual salary of a medical assistant in Columbus is $28,370, or $13.64 per hour.
  
  

Cincinnati & Cleveland

• Cincinnati medical assistants make $29,040 per year on average, or $13.96 per hour. Medical assistants in Cleveland earn an average annual salary of $27,060, or $13.01 per hour.
  
  

Dayton & Springfield

• The average annual salary of a medical assistant in Dayton is $27,860, or $13.39 per hour. In Springfield, a medical assistant averages an annual salary of just $25,370, or $12.20 per hour.
  
  

Nonmetropolitan Areas

• Nonmetropolitan areas of Ohio pay medical assistants much less than both the state and national averages. Medical assistants in the eastern Ohio nonmetropolitan area earn an average annual salary of only $24,210, or $11.64 per hour. The southern nonmetropolitan area has an average annual salary of $24,270, or $11.67 per hour. The west-northwestern nonmetropolitan area of Ohio has an average annual salary for medical assistants of $24,080, or $11.58 per hour.