Salary Range

• In May 2009, Alabama medical assistants made an average $11.86 per hour, or $24,670 per year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle 50 percent of Alabama medical assistants were earning $9.77 to $13.59 per hour. The bottom 10 percent had wages of $8.29 per hour and less, and the top 10 percent were making at least $15.52 per hour, or $32,270 per year.
  
  

Salary by Region

• Alabama medical assistants in the Birmingham-Hoover metropolitan area earned the highest average pay at $13.18 per hour. The Anniston-Oxford region was another relatively high-paying location, with medical assistants making $12.27 per hour on average. Medical assistants were earning $10 to $10.90 per hour on average in the Florence-Muscle Shoals and Tuscaloosa metro areas and in the northeast and southeast non-metropolitan areas of the state. Medical assistants in other parts of Alabama had an average pay rate of $11 to $12 per hour.
  
  

Job Openings

• Medical assistants are needed in Alabama in a wide variety of settings, as illustrated by job listings on the Indeed website in 2011. Positions are available in doctors' offices, outpatient clinics, hospitals and medical centers, internal medicine departments, obstetrics and gynecology practices, ophthalmic clinics, pediatrics, children's hospitals, family practice, orthopedics and in civilian positions with the U.S. Army. Some employers look for medical assistants to focus primarily on office tasks and others want them to focus on clinical duties. Community colleges look for experienced medical assistants to work as part-time instructors in the field.
  
  

Benefits

• Although the employers in the Indeed website listings generally do not disclose salary information, some list benefits. Examples of benefits provided by organizations that employ medical assistants in Alabama include medical, dental and vision insurance, along with disability and life insurance, a flexible health care spending account, group auto and homeowners insurance options, a 401(k) retirement savings plan, free counseling with a certified financial planner, paid time off and extended illness leave, on-site educational opportunities, tuition reimbursement, adoption assistance, on-site child care, an employee assistance program and discounts at local fitness centers. Some benefits are associated with employment at a health care facility, such as discounts for on-site massage therapy, free or discounted health screenings, free flu vaccinations, a quit-smoking program, on-site fitness classes and on-site Weight Watchers meetings.