Massachusetts·Healthcare Support Occupations·SOC 31-9092

Best Medical Assistant programs in Massachusetts, 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.

16 schools in Massachusetts run programs that feed this job, graduating 220 people a year. The job pays a median of $49,460 in Massachusetts across about 14,880 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledDoctor's AssistantChiropractor AssistantCertified Medical Assistant (CMA)Registered Medical Assistant (RMA)Podiatric AideOphthalmic AideOptometric AideClinic Assistant
Graduates / yr
220
in Massachusetts
Median pay · Massachusetts
$49,460
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
14,880
people employed
Schools
16
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
38%
across those schools
Median net price
$21,982
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Massachusetts that lead to this job

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

2 programs in Massachusetts that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Massachusetts (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 Massachusetts page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1217
98.6%
15$29,507$11,000
23
1.4%
1$30,774$17,375

Top 16 schools in Massachusetts

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 8 of the 16 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Bunker Hill Community College
Boston, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
37Medical/Clinical Assistant$44,14113%
2Motoring Technical Training Institute
Seekonk, MA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
36Medical/Clinical Assistant$28,14689%$18,778
3Northern Essex Community College
Haverhill, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
20Medical/Clinical Assistant$38,88521%
4Massasoit Community College
Brockton, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
18Medical/Clinical Assistant19%
5Cape Cod Community College
West Barnstable, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
16Medical/Clinical Assistant22%
6Holyoke Community College
Holyoke, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
14Medical/Clinical Assistant29%
7Middlesex Community College
Bedford, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
12Medical/Clinical Assistant23%
8Southeastern Technical Institute
South Easton, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
12Medical/Clinical Assistant$36,46974%71%
9Springfield Technical Community College
Springfield, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
11Medical/Clinical Assistant$38,84432%
10Greenfield Community College
Greenfield, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
10Medical/Clinical Assistant$27,70331%
11North Shore Community College
Danvers, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
9Medical/Clinical Assistant$44,92618%
12Quinsigamond Community College
Worcester, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
8Medical/Clinical Assistant22%
13Charles H McCann Technical School
North Adams, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
5Medical/Clinical Assistant100%
14Massachusetts Bay Community College
Wellesley Hills, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
5Medical/Clinical Assistant17%
15Bristol Community College
Fall River, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
4Medical/Clinical Assistant22%
16College of Our Lady of the Elms
Chicopee, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
3Medical/Health Management and Clinical Assistant/Specialist$44,31968%$21,98285%

All 16 schools in Massachusetts

Every school in Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Bunker Hill Community CollegeBostonPublic371
Motoring Technical Training InstituteSeekonkPrivate for-profit361
Northern Essex Community CollegeHaverhillPublic201
Massasoit Community CollegeBrocktonPublic181
Cape Cod Community CollegeWest BarnstablePublic161
Holyoke Community CollegeHolyokePublic141
Middlesex Community CollegeBedfordPublic121
Southeastern Technical InstituteSouth EastonPublic121
Springfield Technical Community CollegeSpringfieldPublic111
Greenfield Community CollegeGreenfieldPublic101
North Shore Community CollegeDanversPublic91
Quinsigamond Community CollegeWorcesterPublic81
Charles H McCann Technical SchoolNorth AdamsPublic51
Massachusetts Bay Community CollegeWellesley HillsPublic51
Bristol Community CollegeFall RiverPublic41

What medical assistants earn in Massachusetts

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

Median annual in Massachusetts
$49,460
Mean annual
$51,850
Jobs in state
14,880
What the range looks like
10th pct$43,280Median$49,46090th pct$61,870
Versus the national median
+8.3%

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

Job concentration
0.78×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Massachusetts

Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
$50,740median
10,750 jobs
Barnstable Town, MA
$49,900median
380 jobs
Worcester, MA
$47,240median
1,770 jobs
Springfield, MA
$48,510median
1,280 jobs
Amherst Town-Northampton, MA
$47,260median
270 jobs
Pittsfield, MA
$45,990median
280 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 Massachusetts

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 Massachusetts.

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 217 degrees in Massachusetts in 2024-25, 98.6% 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 220 people a year in Massachusetts.

How much do medical assistants earn in Massachusetts?+

The median is $49,460 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 8.3% 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 Massachusetts?+

16 institutions in Massachusetts 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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