Administrative Services Managers
Also called Administrative Coordinator, Administrative Manager, Administrative Officer, or Business Administrator
Updated · Source: O*NET 31.0
What Administrative Services Managers do
You keep the behind-the-scenes machinery of an organization running: the records, the supplies, the mail, the schedules, and the people who handle them.
Administrative services managers run the support systems that let everyone else do their jobs. That can mean managing records and information (where documents live, who can see them, when they get thrown out), mail and deliveries, office supplies, and the staff who handle all of it. You set goals and deadlines for your department, review reports and schedules for mistakes, and look for slow or wasteful steps in how work gets done, then change them.
Most people enter with a bachelor's degree and less than five years of work experience, often after time in an office support or coordinator role. Job titles vary: administrative manager, administrative officer, business administrator. The work is indoors in a heated and air-conditioned office, and heavy on email, meetings, and writing.
A day in the life
You start with email, because problems arrive there first: a supply order that never showed up, a request for old records, a scheduling conflict. Then you sit with your team to set deadlines for the week. Midmorning you review an operational report line by line, checking the numbers make sense. You take a call from someone outside the organization who needs help, and you handle it directly. After lunch you run a short training session, walking staff through a new procedure for filing or disposing of records. The rest of the afternoon is quieter: writing up a proposed policy change and figuring out whether it will actually save time. You are rarely alone for long.
This could fit you if you…
- ✓Notice when a process is clumsy and want to fix it
- ✓Like being the person others come to with problems
- ✓Enjoy teaching coworkers how something works
- ✓Stay calm when several small things go wrong at once
- ✓Write and speak clearly enough to explain a new rule
You might not like it if you…
- –Want deep focus time, since email and interruptions fill much of the day
- –Dislike being responsible for other people's deadlines and mistakes
- –Prefer hands-on or outdoor work to a desk indoors
- –Find paperwork, records, and ordering, tracking, and storing supplies dull rather than satisfying
How people get in
- 1Finish a bachelor's degree; common paths include business administration and management, business or commerce, office management and supervision, purchasing and contracts management, or health management.
- 2Take any job that puts you inside an office system: administrative assistant, office coordinator, scheduler, records clerk. This is where you learn how the work actually flows.
- 3Build the skills the role leans on: managing your time, clear writing, reading dense documents carefully, and listening carefully and checking you understood what someone asked for (sometimes called active listening).
- 4Volunteer to own something small, like a supply process, a filing overhaul, or training new hires, so you have a concrete example of improving how things run.
- 5Move into a supervisory or lead role; most people step into management after less than five years of related experience.
- 6Apply for openings under titles like administrative manager, administrative coordinator, or business administrator. Around 22,000 openings are projected per year.
Who tends to enjoy it
Leading
People who like persuading, selling, starting things, and taking charge.
Organizing
People who like keeping things accurate, orderly, and running on schedule.
Helping
People who like teaching, caring for, and working closely with people.
Official task list
Administrative Services Managers plan, direct, or coordinate one or more administrative services of an organization, such as records and information management, mail distribution, and other office support services. (O*NET)
- Prepare and review operational reports and schedules to ensure accuracy and efficiency.
- Set goals and deadlines for the department.
- Acquire, distribute and store supplies.
- Analyze internal processes and recommend and implement procedural or policy changes to improve operations, such as supply changes or the disposal of records.
- Conduct classes to teach procedures to staff.
A typical day involves
Skills that matter most
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Time Management
- Speaking
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
What you'll need to know
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administration and Management
- English Language
- Administrative
- Personnel and Human Resources
How much Administrative Services Managers make
The median pay for Administrative Services Managers in the U.S. is $114,130 a year ($54.87 an hour). Most earn between $67,100 and $207,720. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025)
Pay depends a lot on where you live: the median is highest in Colorado ($157,000) and lowest in Puerto Rico ($63,930).
Pay by state and territory
| State | Median pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $114,550 | 860 |
| Alaska | $106,400 | 1,020 |
| Arizona | $101,160 | 6,750 |
| Arkansas | $84,480 | 1,110 |
| California | $108,890 | 41,240 |
| Colorado | $157,000 | 2,340 |
| Connecticut | $120,200 | 3,180 |
| Delaware | $139,910 | 720 |
| District of Columbia | $128,610 | 1,030 |
| Florida | $94,850 | 15,350 |
| Georgia | $108,250 | 13,720 |
| Guam | $64,320 | 1,240 |
| Hawaii | $110,840 | 1,560 |
| Idaho | $92,880 | 880 |
| Illinois | $106,860 | 12,040 |
| Indiana | $112,990 | 5,620 |
| Iowa | $116,920 | 1,380 |
| Kansas | $118,570 | 1,150 |
| Louisiana | $99,210 | 3,260 |
| Maine | $105,380 | — |
| Maryland | $115,550 | 4,320 |
| Massachusetts | $116,710 | 9,130 |
| Michigan | $108,210 | 6,590 |
| Minnesota | $137,290 | 7,560 |
| Mississippi | $96,030 | 1,700 |
| Missouri | $96,920 | 4,220 |
| Montana | $129,670 | 400 |
| Nebraska | $105,720 | 2,600 |
| Nevada | $95,780 | 3,010 |
| New Hampshire | $125,390 | 760 |
| New Jersey | $144,460 | 10,910 |
| New Mexico | $104,790 | — |
| New York | $142,280 | 15,010 |
| North Carolina | $105,630 | 7,360 |
| North Dakota | $94,320 | 300 |
| Ohio | $101,500 | 7,980 |
| Oklahoma | $104,670 | 2,220 |
| Oregon | $113,250 | 2,620 |
| Pennsylvania | $105,640 | 4,880 |
| Puerto Rico | $63,930 | 3,740 |
| Rhode Island | $128,980 | 780 |
| South Carolina | $124,320 | — |
| South Dakota | $106,410 | 450 |
| Tennessee | $127,410 | 8,170 |
| Texas | $114,190 | 22,980 |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | $74,990 | 50 |
| Utah | $123,700 | 1,670 |
| Vermont | $97,040 | 430 |
| Virginia | $130,850 | 2,850 |
| Washington | $130,630 | 3,490 |
| West Virginia | $84,820 | 1,890 |
| Wisconsin | $108,450 | 5,220 |
| Wyoming | $120,510 | 120 |
Where to study for this
College programs that commonly lead to this career, and how many US colleges offer each.
- Business Administration and Management 2,431 colleges
- Business / Commerce 948 colleges
- Office Management and Supervision 282 colleges
- Purchasing, Procurement / Acquisitions and Contracts Management 61 colleges
- Medical / Health Management and Clinical Assistant / Specialist 31 colleges
- Customer Service Management 45 colleges
- Veterinary Office Management / Administration 2 colleges
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Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA), occupation 11-3012.00, used under CC BY 4.0 and modified by Whittle. Pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025), SOC 11-3012. Outlook and entry education: BLS Employment Projections 2025–35. Program links: NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. How we build these pages.