West Virginia·Healthcare Support Occupations·SOC 31-9092

Best Medical Assistant programs in West Virginia, 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.

12 schools in West Virginia run programs that feed this job, graduating 329 people a year. The job pays a median of $37,180 in West Virginia across about 4,540 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledDoctor's AssistantChiropractor AssistantCertified Medical Assistant (CMA)Registered Medical Assistant (RMA)Podiatric AideOphthalmic AideOptometric AideClinic Assistant
Graduates / yr
329
in West Virginia
Median pay · West Virginia
$37,180
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
4,540
people employed
Schools
12
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
54%
across those schools
Median net price
$21,501
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in West Virginia that lead to this job

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

1 programs in West Virginia that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in West Virginia (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 West Virginia page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1329
100.0%
12$29,507$11,000

Top 12 schools in West Virginia

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 9 of the 12 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Valley College - Martinsburg
Martinsburg, WV Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
91Medical/Clinical Assistant$25,15366%$25,386
2Valley College - Beckley
Beckley, WV Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
64Medical/Clinical Assistant$19,04663%$26,087
3West Virginia Junior College - Morgantown
Morgantown, WV Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
62Medical/Clinical Assistant$27,57771%$19,134
4Ross Medical Education Center - Charleston
Charleston, WV Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
29Medical/Clinical Assistant$25,87968%$23,202
5Putnam Career and Technical Center
Eleanor, WV Public · 1 feeder programs
27Medical/Clinical Assistant84%
6Ross College - Morgantown
Morgantown, WV Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
20Medical/Clinical Assistant$25,78969%$21,501
7Blue Ridge Community and Technical College
Martinsburg, WV Public · 1 feeder programs
16Medical/Clinical Assistant$30,18132%
8Mountwest Community and Technical College
Huntington, WV Public · 1 feeder programs
10Medical/Clinical Assistant$35,60319%
9West Virginia Junior College - Charleston
Cross Lanes, WV Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
4Medical/Clinical Assistant$25,55560%$15,408
10New River Community and Technical College
Beaver, WV Public · 1 feeder programs
3Medical/Clinical Assistant36%
11West Virginia Junior College - Bridgeport
Bridgeport, WV Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Medical/Clinical Assistant$25,55552%$15,053
12West Virginia Northern Community College
Wheeling, WV Public · 1 feeder programs
1Medical/Clinical Assistant33%

All 12 schools in West Virginia

Every school in West Virginia 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 West Virginia that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Valley College - MartinsburgMartinsburgPrivate not-for-profit911
Valley College - BeckleyBeckleyPrivate not-for-profit641
West Virginia Junior College - MorgantownMorgantownPrivate for-profit621
Ross Medical Education Center - CharlestonCharlestonPrivate for-profit291
Putnam Career and Technical CenterEleanorPublic271
Ross College - MorgantownMorgantownPrivate for-profit201
Blue Ridge Community and Technical CollegeMartinsburgPublic161
Mountwest Community and Technical CollegeHuntingtonPublic101
West Virginia Junior College - CharlestonCross LanesPrivate for-profit41
New River Community and Technical CollegeBeaverPublic31
West Virginia Junior College - BridgeportBridgeportPrivate for-profit21
West Virginia Northern Community CollegeWheelingPublic11

What medical assistants earn in West Virginia

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

Median annual in West Virginia
$37,180
Mean annual
$38,090
Jobs in state
4,540
What the range looks like
10th pct$30,890Median$37,18090th pct$45,350
Versus the national median
-18.6%

U.S. median $45,690. West Virginia pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.23×

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

Metro areas in West Virginia

Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH
$37,460median
260 jobs
Charleston, WV
$38,190median
900 jobs
Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH
$37,500median
1,040 jobs
Wheeling, WV-OH
$36,930median
310 jobs
Parkersburg-Vienna, WV
$37,180median
260 jobs
Morgantown, WV
$37,440median
580 jobs
Beckley, WV
$36,190median
380 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 West Virginia

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 West Virginia.

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 329 degrees in West Virginia in 2024-25, 100.0% 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 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services. Together they graduate about 329 people a year in West Virginia.

How much do medical assistants earn in West Virginia?+

The median is $37,180 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 18.6% below 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 West Virginia?+

12 institutions in West Virginia reported graduates from at least one of the 1 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.

Programs in West VirginiaMedical/Clinical Assistant

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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