City of Boston / Boston Fire Department / Administrative Secretary
Job-title file
Provide administrative support — record-keeping, scheduling, correspondence, and customer service.
1 employee holds this title in Boston Fire Department. Median total compensation for the role is $59,485, below the department median of $174,516.
Compared with the local labor market
Across all employers in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH area, the median wage for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive — about 28,540 people — is $59,330. Boston Fire Department pays a median base salary of $58,699 for this role, 1% below that figure — about the 49th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
The bar is the range of annual wages for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive across every employer in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Boston Fire Department’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive — about 1,706,790 people — is $47,540. Boston Fire Department’s median base salary is 23% above that national figure, about the 76th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Boston Fire Department is $59,485, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare departments
Administrative Secretary is held in 7 City of Boston departments. In Boston Fire Department, the median of $59,485 ranks #4 of 7.
Median total compensation for the Administrative Secretary role in other City of Bostondepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
This role is reported in 4 jurisdictions. In City of Boston, the median of $63,170 ranks #3 of 4. See Administrative Secretary across all of City of Boston →
Median total compensation for comparable Administrative Secretary roles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.
Same department
Record list
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Administrative Secretary/Boston Fire Department
Source-specific fields
Katherine Gearin holds the role of Administrative Secretary at Boston Fire Department. In 2024, their total compensation was $59,485.