Los Angeles County / Public Works Department / Secretary III

Job-title file

Secretary III

Provide administrative support — record-keeping, scheduling, correspondence, and customer service.

30 employees hold this title in Public Works Department. Median total compensation for the role is $113,494, below the department median of $147,401.

Employees: 30
Total payroll: $3.3M
Role median: $113,494
Agency median: $147,401
Comparison: Below

What the records show

Role pay distribution

Pay distribution for this role

$12,549$127,342+

Hover a bar for its range; click to filter the list below.

How total compensation varies among the 30 people in this role. Even for one job title, pay differs with seniority, step, overtime, and tenure. Each bar is a pay range; the far-right bar collects the highest earners.

Compared with the local labor market

Secretary III pay vs. the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area

Across all employers in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area, the median wage for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive — about 58,800 people — is $53,550. Public Works Department pays a median base salary of $65,591 for this role, 22% above that figure — about the 77th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Public Works Department sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$36,420

$44,720

$53,550

$64,290

$76,510

Public Works Department median · $65,591

The bar is the range of annual wages for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive across every employer in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Public Works 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. Public Works Department’s median base salary is 38% above that national figure, about the 89th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$33,280

$38,830

$47,540

$58,000

$66,350

Public Works Department median · $65,591

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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA range relative to the national one.

Computed over the 84 of 86 people in this role paid at least $25,000 in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.

Median total compensation for this role at Public Works Department is $113,935, 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

This role across Los Angeles County

Secretary III is held in 22 Los Angeles County departments. In Public Works Department, the median of $113,494 ranks #13 of 22.

Highest-paying departments for this role

Human Resources Department

$124,064 · 1

Health Services

$120,625 · 8

Probation Department

$119,909 · 34

Mental Health

$117,851 · 50

Public Social Services Department

$117,381 · 4

Treasurer & Tax Collector

$117,172 · 7

Children & Family Services

$117,167 · 163

Internal Services Department

$115,975 · 25

Harbor-Ucla Medical Center

$115,451 · 8

Public Health

$115,243 · 21

Olive View-Ucla Medical Center

$115,094 · 9

Fire Department

$115,015 · 25

Median total compensation for the Secretary III role in other Los Angeles Countydepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.

Compare jurisdictions

Secretary beyond Los Angeles County

This role is reported in 27 jurisdictions. In Los Angeles County, the median of $114,909 ranks #2 of 27. See Secretary across all of Los Angeles County →

Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role

City and County of San Francisco

$135,666 · 63

City of Los Angeles

$105,342 · 115

District of Columbia

$70,919 · 9

Ramsey County, Minnesota

$69,267 · 5

U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense)

$64,214 · 3,216

New York Public Authorities

$61,133 · 122

Johnson County, Kansas

$58,378 · 7

Vermont

$55,286 · 17

Median total compensation for comparable 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

Other job titles in Public Works Department

Record list