Missouri·Office and Administrative Support Occupations·SOC 43-4161

Best Human Resources Assistant programs in Missouri, ranked by enrollment

Compile and keep personnel records. Record data for each employee, such as address, weekly earnings, absences, amount of sales or production, supervisory reports, and date of and reason for termination.

14 schools in Missouri run programs that feed this job, graduating 352 people a year. The job pays a median of $47,960 in Missouri across about 1,090 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledPersonnel ClerkHuman Resources Assistant (HR Assistant)Human Resources Associate (HR Associate)Human Resources Administrative Assistant (HR Administrative Assistant)Benefits ClerkContract ClerkAssignment ClerkEmployment Clerk
Graduates / yr
352
in Missouri
Median pay · Missouri
$47,960
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,090
people employed
Schools
14
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
54%
across those schools
Median net price
$17,436
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Missouri that lead to this job

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

4 programs in Missouri that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Missouri (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 Missouri page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 52.1001In Missouri
223
63.4%
10$49,084$26,536
2
CIP 52.1099In Missouri
96
27.3%
2$49,084$26,536
3
CIP 52.0401In Missouri
24
6.8%
3$25,993$9,500
4
CIP 52.0407In Missouri
9
2.6%
1$25,993$9,500

Top 14 schools in Missouri

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 3 of the 14 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Webster University
Saint Louis, MO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
92Human Resources Management and Services, Other64%$25,09086%
2Columbia College
Columbia, MO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
64Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$49,32642%$23,247
3Park University
Parkville, MO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
55Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$51,16938%$16,013
4Lindenwood University
Saint Charles, MO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
36Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$50,42649%$17,43657%
5Washington University in St Louis
St. Louis, MO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
25Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General94%$14,12612%
6Missouri State University - Springfield
Springfield, MO Public · 1 feeder programs
22Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General58%91%
7Northwest Missouri State University
Maryville, MO Public · 3 feeder programs
16Business/Office Automation/Technology/Data Entry54%86%
8Ozarks Technical Community College
Springfield, MO Public · 1 feeder programs
11Administrative Assistant and Secretarial Science, General33%
9Maryville University of Saint Louis
Saint Louis, MO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
10Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General66%$24,92195%
10Three Rivers College
Poplar Bluff, MO Public · 1 feeder programs
8Administrative Assistant and Secretarial Science, General33%
11Avila University
Kansas City, MO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
5Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General52%$16,72188%
12Moberly Area Community College
Moberly, MO Public · 1 feeder programs
5Administrative Assistant and Secretarial Science, General44%
13University of Missouri - Columbia
Columbia, MO Public · 1 feeder programs
2Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General75%78%
14University of Missouri - St Louis
Saint Louis, MO Public · 1 feeder programs
1Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General57%63%

All 14 schools in Missouri

Every school in Missouri 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 Missouri that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Webster UniversitySaint LouisPrivate not-for-profit921
Columbia CollegeColumbiaPrivate not-for-profit641
Park UniversityParkvillePrivate not-for-profit551
Lindenwood UniversitySaint CharlesPrivate not-for-profit361
Washington University in St LouisSt. LouisPrivate not-for-profit251
Missouri State University - SpringfieldSpringfieldPublic221
Northwest Missouri State UniversityMaryvillePublic163
Ozarks Technical Community CollegeSpringfieldPublic111
Maryville University of Saint LouisSaint LouisPrivate not-for-profit101
Three Rivers CollegePoplar BluffPublic81
Avila UniversityKansas CityPrivate not-for-profit51
Moberly Area Community CollegeMoberlyPublic51
University of Missouri - ColumbiaColumbiaPublic21
University of Missouri - St LouisSaint LouisPublic11

What human resources assistants earn in Missouri

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

Median annual in Missouri
$47,960
Mean annual
$49,900
Jobs in state
1,090
What the range looks like
10th pct$37,740Median$47,96090th pct$65,090
Versus the national median
-5.2%

U.S. median $50,610. Missouri pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.64×

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

Metro areas in Missouri

Kansas City, MO-KS
$52,140median
400 jobs
Columbia, MO
$49,070median
50 jobs
St. Louis, MO-IL
$47,960median
490 jobs
Jefferson City, MO
$45,180median
70 jobs
Springfield, MO
$40,090median
100 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-7.1%
Decline
Openings per year
9,000
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-6,800
95,200 → 88,400
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

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 Human Resources Assistants page.

How to become a Human Resources Assistant

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

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

Reading ComprehensionActive ListeningSpeakingWritingMonitoringCritical Thinking

The same job in other states

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

Related careers in Missouri

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 4 majors mapped to Human Resources Assistants4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 52.0401Administrative Assistant and Secretarial Science, General
  • 52.0407Business/Office Automation/Technology/Data Entry
  • 52.1001Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General
  • 52.1099Human Resources Management and Services, Other

Common questions

Answers for people weighing human resources assistants programs in Missouri.

What degree do you need to become a Human Resources Assistant?+

Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General, which awarded 223 degrees in Missouri in 2024-25, 63.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Human Resources Assistant?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Human Resources Management and Services, Business Operations Support and Assistant Services. Together they graduate about 352 people a year in Missouri.

How much do human resources assistants earn in Missouri?+

The median is $47,960 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 5.2% below the U.S. median of $50,610. 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 human resources assistants growing?+

BLS projects a -7.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 9,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

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

14 institutions in Missouri reported graduates from at least one of the 4 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 human resources assistants work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Personnel Clerk, Human Resources Assistant (HR Assistant), Human Resources Associate (HR Associate), Human Resources Administrative Assistant (HR Administrative Assistant) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 43-4161.

Human Resources Assistants in other statesArizonaCaliforniaUtahIdahoTexasMinnesotaColoradoGeorgia

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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