How Much Does a Medical Assistant Make in Mississippi in 2026?

A typical Medical Assistant in Mississippi earns about $17.00 per hour ($35,360 per year), according to the latest government wage data (May 2025). That works out to roughly $2,947 a month and $680 a week, both calculated from the annual figure. These wages cover Medical Assistants working in physician offices, clinics, and hospitals statewide. Pay varies somewhat by city and experience level.

Mississippi's typical pay sits 23% below the national figure of $45,690 for Medical Assistants, according to the same May 2025 data. Among all 51 states and the District of Columbia, Mississippi ranks 51st for Medical Assistant pay. Around 3,340 people work as Medical Assistants across the state. Lower pay in Mississippi generally tracks the state's lower cost of living compared with much of the country.

Entry-level positions in Mississippi typically offer around $14.04 an hour, or about $29,210 a year, for Medical Assistants who are just starting out. Pay usually moves toward the state's typical figure of $17.00 an hour within a few years of experience. Assistants who move into busier clinics or hospital settings often see faster increases. Certification and additional clinical skills also help entry-level workers reach typical pay sooner.

Experienced Medical Assistants in Mississippi often earn upwards of $21.67 an hour, and the top 10% of earners make over $45,070 a year. That puts the gap between entry-level and top-tier pay at $15,860 a year. Setting plays a large role in that spread, with hospitals and specialty practices generally paying more than small physician offices. Years of experience and the city where an assistant works also factor into where someone lands within that range.

Mississippi's typical Medical Assistant pay rose from $27,570 in 2015 to $35,360 in 2025, a gain of $7,790 over the decade. That's a 28% increase in typical pay over ten years. The rise was not perfectly steady; the biggest single jump came between 2022 and 2023, when typical pay climbed from $30,930 to $34,040. Since then, pay has continued to inch upward each year.

Nationally, typical Medical Assistant pay rose 49% over the same ten years, faster than Mississippi's climb. That gap means Mississippi's pay has grown more slowly than the country as a whole, even as it has moved up in real dollars. Someone starting as a Medical Assistant in Mississippi today enters a field where pay has trended upward for a decade straight, though nothing about future increases is guaranteed.

Pay runs highest in the Jackson metro area, where Medical Assistants typically earn $36,020 a year, about 2% above the statewide figure. Hattiesburg follows closely behind at $35,950 a year, just below Jackson's figure. These figures cover each city's full metro area, not just the city center. Gulfport and Biloxi both post typical pay of $35,590 a year, only slightly behind the leaders.

Biloxi and Gulfport sit at the bottom of Mississippi's city figures, both at $35,590 a year, a spread of just $430 between the highest and lowest metro areas. Jackson also has the largest Medical Assistant workforce among the state's tracked cities, with 840 workers. That tight spread across Mississippi's cities means a Medical Assistant's location within the state matters less for pay than the setting or employer they choose.

Mississippi's neighboring states all pay Medical Assistants somewhat more. Tennessee leads the region at $39,570 a year, about 12% above Mississippi's figure, while Arkansas follows at $37,760, roughly 7% higher. Louisiana and Alabama sit closer to Mississippi's pay, at $36,320 and $36,100, only 3% and 2% above. Certification and training credentials for Medical Assistants often transfer or can be endorsed across neighboring states without starting over.

Medical Assistants in Mississippi typically earn $35,360 a year, or $17.00 an hour, after a decade of pay that climbed 28% from $27,570 in 2015. That growth has been steady, if slower than the national pace. Readers weighing this path in Mississippi can check the state's licensing or registry requirements for specifics on certification, and look at city-level pages for Jackson, Hattiesburg, Gulfport, and Biloxi for local pay figures.