Arizona·Healthcare Support Occupations·SOC 31-9092

Best Medical Assistant programs in Arizona, ranked by enrollment

Perform administrative and certain clinical duties under the direction of a physician. Administrative duties may include scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding information for insurance purposes.

27 schools in Arizona run programs that feed this job, graduating 2,443 people a year. The job pays a median of $45,940 in Arizona across about 21,460 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledDoctor's AssistantChiropractor AssistantCertified Medical Assistant (CMA)Registered Medical Assistant (RMA)Podiatric AideOphthalmic AideOptometric AideClinic Assistant
Graduates / yr
2,443
in Arizona
Median pay · Arizona
$45,940
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
21,460
people employed
Schools
27
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
50%
across those schools
Median net price
$24,064
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Arizona that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

2 programs in Arizona that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Arizona (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Arizona page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 51.0801In Arizona
2,331
95.4%
26$29,507$11,000
2
CIP 51.0711In Arizona
112
4.6%
3$30,774$17,375

Top 25 schools in Arizona

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 19 of the 27 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1UEI College - Phoenix
Phoenix, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
282Medical/Clinical Assistant$24,69557%$32,886
2Bryan University
Tempe, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
248Medical/Clinical Assistant41%$22,877
3Arizona College - Glendale
Glendale, AZ Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs
220Medical/Clinical Assistant$29,38885%$28,686
4Pima Medical Institute - Tucson
Tucson, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
219Medical/Clinical Assistant$31,91572%
5Carrington College - Phoenix North
Phoenix, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
176Medical/Clinical Assistant$29,55662%
6Pima Medical Institute - Phoenix
Phoenix, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
174Medical/Clinical Assistant$30,65465%$6,964
7Carrington College - Tucson
Tucson, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
135Medical/Clinical Assistant$29,55666%$41,198
8UEI College - Mesa
Mesa, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
116Medical/Clinical Assistant$24,69550%$35,341
9Phoenix College
Phoenix, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
109Medical/Clinical Assistant14%
10Arizona College - Mesa
Mesa, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
89Medical/Clinical Assistant$29,38888%$28,829
11Northland Pioneer College
Holbrook, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
89Medical/Clinical Assistant22%
12Pima Medical Institute - Mesa
Mesa, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
81Medical/Clinical Assistant$31,91567%$21,660
13Carrington College - Mesa
Mesa, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
75Medical/Clinical Assistant$29,55654%$48,051
14Brookline College - Phoenix
Phoenix, AZ Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs
62Medical/Clinical Assistant$27,96653%
15Pima Medical Institute - East Valley
Mesa, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
51Medical/Clinical Assistant$31,91576%$6,667
16Kino College
Tucson, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
43Medical/Clinical Assistant27%$24,064
17Pima Community College
Tucson, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
43Medical/Health Management and Clinical Assistant/Specialist$30,39928%
18Arizona Western College
Yuma, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
39Medical/Clinical Assistant20%
19Cochise County Community College District
Sierra Vista, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
39Medical/Clinical Assistant30%
20GateWay Community College - Central City
Phoenix, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
35Medical/Clinical Assistant$31,63655%
21Eastern Arizona College
Thatcher, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
33Medical/Clinical Assistant$24,69342%
22Brookline College - Tucson
Tucson, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
29Medical/Clinical Assistant$27,96648%$20,635
23Brookline College - Tempe
Tempe, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
28Medical/Clinical Assistant$27,96640%$19,642
24Allen School - Phoenix
Phoenix, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
12Medical/Clinical Assistant$29,86783%$22,290
25Mohave Community College
Kingman, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
7Medical/Clinical Assistant$41,79738%

All 27 schools in Arizona

Every school in Arizona with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Arizona that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
UEI College - PhoenixPhoenixPrivate for-profit2821
Bryan UniversityTempePrivate for-profit2481
Arizona College - GlendaleGlendalePrivate for-profit2202
Pima Medical Institute - TucsonTucsonPrivate for-profit2191
Carrington College - Phoenix NorthPhoenixPrivate for-profit1761
Pima Medical Institute - PhoenixPhoenixPrivate for-profit1741
Carrington College - TucsonTucsonPrivate for-profit1351
UEI College - MesaMesaPrivate for-profit1161
Phoenix CollegePhoenixPublic1091
Arizona College - MesaMesaPrivate for-profit891
Northland Pioneer CollegeHolbrookPublic891
Pima Medical Institute - MesaMesaPrivate for-profit811
Carrington College - MesaMesaPrivate for-profit751
Brookline College - PhoenixPhoenixPrivate for-profit622
Pima Medical Institute - East ValleyMesaPrivate for-profit511

What medical assistants earn in Arizona

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Arizona
$45,940
Mean annual
$45,790
Jobs in state
21,460
What the range looks like
10th pct$38,100Median$45,94090th pct$51,310
Versus the national median
+0.5%

U.S. median $45,690. Arizona pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
1.26×

Concentrated here: Arizona employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Arizona

Flagstaff, AZ
$45,490median
390 jobs
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
$46,830median
15,410 jobs
Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ
$45,820median
650 jobs
Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ
$42,890median
240 jobs
Tucson, AZ
$44,380median
2,990 jobs
Yuma, AZ
$43,880median
420 jobs
Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ
$40,690median
520 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+12.5%
Much faster than average
Openings per year
112,300
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
101,200
811,000 → 912,200
Typical entry education
Postsecondary nondegree award

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Medical Assistants page.

How to become a Medical Assistant

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
Postsecondary nondegree award

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

Active ListeningSpeakingReading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingMonitoringWriting

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Arizona

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 4 majors mapped to Medical Assistants3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 51.0711Medical/Health Management and Clinical Assistant/Specialist
  • 51.0801Medical/Clinical Assistant
  • 51.0809Anesthesiologist Assistant
  • 51.0813Chiropractic Technician/Assistant(no graduates reported)

Common questions

Answers for people weighing medical assistants programs in Arizona.

What degree do you need to become a Medical Assistant?+

Postsecondary nondegree award is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Medical/Clinical Assistant, which awarded 2,331 degrees in Arizona in 2024-25, 95.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Medical Assistant?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services, Health and Medical Administrative Services. Together they graduate about 2,443 people a year in Arizona.

How much do medical assistants earn in Arizona?+

The median is $45,940 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 0.5% above the U.S. median of $45,690. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for medical assistants growing?+

BLS projects a +12.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 112,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Arizona?+

27 institutions in Arizona reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do medical assistants work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Doctor's Assistant, Chiropractor Assistant, Certified Medical Assistant (CMA), Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 31-9092.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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