Guide
Executive assistant salary: pay ranges and what one costs to hire
Direct answer
The median executive assistant salary in the US is $76,590 a year, or $36.82 an hour, according to BLS figures for May 2025. The lowest-paid 10% earn under $50,560 and the top 10% earn over $109,850. For an employer, the full cost of a median-paid executive assistant is about $100,300 a year once you add roughly 31% for benefits and payroll taxes, before recruiting and equipment.
Executive assistant salary: the BLS numbers
BLS tracks this job under SOC code 43-6011, "executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants." These are assistants who support top executives, often handling scheduling, correspondence, research, and meeting prep. The OEWS page for the occupation reports national wages for May 2025, the latest published.
| Measure (May 2025, national) | Hourly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $24.31 | $50,560 |
| Median | $36.82 | $76,590 |
| Mean | $38.05 | $79,140 |
| 90th percentile | $52.81 | $109,850 |
About 459,900 people worked in this occupation in May 2025. BLS annual figures assume 2,080 hours a year. The data covers wage and salary workers only, so freelance and agency rates are separate.
Note what's not in this category. General administrative assistants and secretaries who don't support executives fall under a different BLS code with lower pay. If a job posting says "executive assistant" but the work is general office support, expect pay closer to that group.
What moves an executive assistant's pay
The spread from $50,560 to $109,850 is wide. Within it, pay tends to follow:
- Who you support. One CEO of a large company is a different job than three managers at a small one.
- Scope. Assistants who run board materials, manage budgets, or handle confidential matters sit higher.
- Location and industry. Local cost of living and the employer's industry shift the whole range.
BLS projections list a high school diploma as the typical entry education, with less than five years of related work experience. In practice many postings ask for more.
What an executive assistant costs an employer
Salary is only part of the bill. Employers also pay for health insurance, retirement contributions, bonuses or overtime, and legally required costs like Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, and workers' compensation.
BLS measures this in its Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) survey. For June 2026, the latest data, benefits were 31.3% of total compensation for private-industry office and administrative support workers, the BLS group that includes executive assistants.
ECEC counts paid leave as a benefit, while the OEWS salary already pays for vacation and holidays. To avoid counting it twice, we add only the other benefit costs: supplemental pay, insurance, retirement, and legally required benefits. For this group those were $8.74 an hour, about 31% of wages plus paid leave. That 31% is what we apply below.
Worked total-cost table
| Line | Amount | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Median salary | $76,590 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Benefits and payroll taxes (31%) | about $23,700 | Derived from BLS ECEC, June 2026 |
| Employment cost per year | about $100,300 | Sum of the two lines above |
| Recruiting (one time) | $1,000 to $5,000 | Assumption: job ads, background check, interview hours |
| Software and equipment | $500 to $2,000 a year | Assumption: computer, phone, software seats |
| Ramp-up | 1 to 3 months at partial output | Assumption: learning the executive's priorities and contacts |
| First-year total | about $102,000 to $107,000 | Employment cost plus the assumptions |
At the 10th percentile salary, the same load gives about $66,200 a year. At the 90th percentile, about $143,900. If you hire through a staffing or search firm, their fee comes on top. We don't have a cited figure for those fees, so ask the firm for its rate.
Job outlook
BLS employment projections show essentially no change in the number of executive assistant jobs from 2025 to 2035, with about 43,300 openings a year from people retiring or moving on. The Occupational Outlook Handbook covers the wider secretaries and administrative assistants group.
Flat growth with steady openings means the job isn't going away, but it is changing. The scheduling and inbox chores shrink as tools improve. The parts that depend on trust, discretion, and judgment are what employers pay for at the top of the range.
What software and AI can take, and what needs a person
A good executive assistant spends a lot of time on routine coordination: sorting email, drafting replies, tracking follow-ups, pulling together a brief before a meeting, and chasing people for answers. That work follows patterns, and software can do much of the first pass.
TeamShift's Operations lead writes a morning brief, keeps a task board, routes work to the right worker, and checks that it got done. The Support worker sorts Gmail or Outlook and drafts replies. Anything that sends to someone outside, commits the calendar, or moves money is prepared for your OK and goes out only after you approve it. Every step is recorded. TeamShift works in tools you already use, like Google Calendar, and bills by usage at 3x the compute cost of the work, with a maximum quoted before a job starts. There are no seats or subscriptions (see pricing).
What needs a person:
- Discretion. Knowing what not to forward, who gets told what, and when to interrupt.
- Representing the executive. Greeting a board member, smoothing over a missed meeting, handling a sensitive conversation.
- Outbound and sensitive calls and in-person problems. TeamShift doesn't place calls for you or handle sensitive calls, and it can't rebook a stranded flight at the gate.
- Reading the room. Priorities change during the day, and a person who knows the executive adapts faster than any rule.
If you're comparing options, our guide on AI teams vs virtual assistants covers the middle ground. For many owners, the right answer is software for the inbox and task tracking, and a person, full-time or part-time, for the judgment.
Sources and method
Salary figures are national OEWS estimates for SOC 43-6011, May 2025. The benefits load is derived from ECEC private-industry data for office and administrative support occupations, June 2026, excluding paid leave because the OEWS salary already covers paid hours. Projections are from the BLS Employment Projections program, 2025 to 2035. Recruiting, software, and ramp-up lines are our assumptions.
FAQ
What is the average executive assistant salary?
The BLS mean is $79,140 a year and the median is $76,590 (May 2025). The median is the better guide because high earners pull the mean up.
How much do executive assistants make per hour?
The median is $36.82 an hour. The 10th percentile is $24.31 and the 90th is $52.81, per BLS for May 2025.
How much does it cost to hire an executive assistant?
About $100,300 a year at the median salary once benefits and payroll taxes are added. Recruiting, equipment, and ramp-up push the first year to roughly $102,000 to $107,000 by our estimates.
Do executive assistants need a degree?
BLS lists a high school diploma as the typical entry education, plus some related experience. Many employers prefer a degree for assistants who support senior executives.
Can AI replace an executive assistant?
It can take over sorting email, drafting replies, and tracking tasks. It can't replace discretion, relationships, or handling a live problem in person, which is why BLS still projects about 43,300 openings a year.