In the US, a full-time executive assistant earns a median $76,590 a year, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics for May 2025. Add benefits and payroll taxes and the total is roughly $110,000 a year at the median. Tools and the cost of hiring come on top. All figures are in US dollars, as of October 2026.
The numbers
Salary
The BLS groups this job as executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants. Its Occupational Outlook Handbook puts the median pay at $76,590 a year for May 2025. The full spread, from the same BLS wage data shown on O*NET:
- Lowest 10%: under $50,560 a year, or $24.31 an hour.
- 25th percentile: $61,390 a year, or $29.52 an hour.
- Median: $76,590 a year, or $36.82 an hour.
- 75th percentile: $94,390 a year, or $45.38 an hour.
- Top 10%: over $109,850 a year, or $52.81 an hour.
Where you sit in that range depends on your city, the assistant's experience and how senior the role is. Someone who supports one owner, runs their whole calendar and handles confidential work is usually priced near the top half.
Benefits
Salary is only part of the bill. The BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation survey for June 2026 shows what private employers spend per hour worked for office and administrative support jobs:
- Wages and salaries: $25.22 an hour.
- Total benefits: $11.51 an hour, or 31.3% of total pay.
- Of that, health insurance is $4.05, paid leave $2.77, legally required benefits $2.58, and retirement $1.05.
So for this group, benefits add about 46 cents for every dollar of wages. If your assistant's benefits follow the same ratio, a median salary of $76,590 means about $35,000 in benefits, and a total of about $111,500 a year. That is an estimate. Your real number depends on the health plan and leave you offer.
Payroll taxes
Payroll taxes sit inside the legally required benefits above, so do not add them twice. To see what they are on their own, the IRS sets these employer shares:
- Social Security: 6.2% of wages, up to $184,500 in 2026 (IRS Topic 751).
- Medicare: 1.45% of all wages.
- Federal unemployment (FUTA): 6% of the first $7,000 of wages, usually 0.6% after the state credit (IRS Topic 759).
At the median salary, that is about $5,860 for Social Security and Medicare, plus about $42 of FUTA. State unemployment tax and workers' compensation vary by state. Ask your accountant or payroll provider for your rates.
Tools
An assistant needs their own accounts. A Google Workspace Business Standard seat lists at $14 a user a month on an annual plan, as of October 2026. Add a laptop, a password manager, and seats for any paid apps you share, such as your CRM or project tool.
Hiring
Finding the right person costs money and your time. SHRM reported in 2022 that its benchmarking data showed an average cost per hire of nearly $4,700. A recruiter for an executive assistant role will usually charge more. Ask for their fee in writing before you start.
A simple total for one year
Here is a rough first-year budget at the median, built from the figures above:
- Salary: $76,590.
- Benefits, including payroll taxes, at the BLS group ratio: about $35,000.
- Workspace seat: $168.
- Hiring: from about $4,700.
- Laptop and other software: your own quote.
That is roughly $116,000 in year one before equipment. Year two drops the hiring cost but usually adds a raise.
How virtual options compare
If you only need help for part of the week, a full-time hire is more than you need. Published prices as of October 2026:
- Time etc, with US-based assistants: $390 for 10 hours, $760 for 20 hours and $1,480 for 40 hours a month.
- Boldly: $2,600 for 40 hours a month, the same $65 an hour on larger plans.
- Upwork's rate page says experienced North American freelancers at the executive assistant level charge $38 to $50 or more an hour.
With an agency or a freelancer, you do not pay benefits or employer payroll taxes. You also do not get the same person sitting in your business full time. If you are weighing freelance marketplaces, see Fiverr vs Upwork.
When full-time is worth it
- You have enough work to hand over to fill most of a full-time week, every week.
- The work needs someone who knows your clients, your team and your priorities well.
- You need someone in the office, at events or in your time zone all day.
- You handle confidential client or financial work and want one trusted person on it.
- You can afford the total cost above without strain, not just the salary.
If two or more of these are not true, start with a part-time virtual assistant. You can move to a full-time hire once you know the real workload.
Before you hire
- Decide employee or contractor first. The IRS looks at who controls the work, how they are paid and the type of relationship. Rules differ by state, so check with an accountant or employment lawyer.
- Write the role down. Use how to write a job description to list the tasks, the hours and the level of trust.
- Plan the first weeks with an onboarding checklist.
- If this is your first employee, read how to hire your first employee for payroll and paperwork.