Most VA budgets are built on one number: the hourly rate a junior generalist quotes. New data suggests that number is fine for junior generalist work and badly wrong for everything above it.
The news
Outsource Accelerator reported on 12 November on hiring platform WorkBase PH's signup data covering 1 May to 8 November 2026. Of 1,088 signups, 753 named an hourly rate.
- 68% of those 753 asked for $5 to $12 an hour.
- The share asking for more than $12 was flat across entry, junior and mid-level: 12%, 12% and 11%.
- It jumped to 25% among senior specialists and 49% among people who described themselves as leads.
- Technical roles asked for the most: 38% of IT support specialists and 35% of web and WordPress developers picked above $12, against 15% in data entry.
- Of 501 virtual and administrative assistants who named a band, 73% chose $5 to $12.
There is a second dataset that tells a different story. Armasourcing's August report, based on 1,385 applications, found that applicants with seven or more years of experience asked a median of $804 a month, about 13% above the $714 median for people with a year or less. Its chief executive said the asking curve flattens after roughly two years.
The two datasets do not actually contradict each other. WorkBase PH measures the hourly band a specialist picks on a signup form. Armasourcing measures monthly salary asks in actual applications. Both measure what people ask for, not what they are paid. Both were reported honestly, including the limits: 335 of the 1,088 WorkBase PH signups skipped the rate question, and the "under $5" option only existed from 30 September, so that band is understated.
Why it matters
If you are budgeting a senior or lead-level role at an entry-level rate, you are not shopping for that role. You are shopping for a junior who will be asked to do it, and you should price the supervision.
The practical split is not "Philippines is cheap" or "Philippines is expensive." It is that the market has two tiers that move independently:
| Role level | Typical ask band | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Entry / junior generalist | $5–$12/hr | Task execution with a defined process and a manager |
| Mid-level specialist | $8–$12/hr | Owns a function with light supervision |
| Senior / lead | $12+/hr, increasingly well above | Owns outcomes, trains others, handles exceptions |
For a US small business, even the top of that range is still a large saving against a domestic hire. The mistake is not paying $14 an hour for a lead. The mistake is budgeting $9 and wondering why the person cannot run the function.
What to do about it
1. Build the budget per role, not per company. A single blended rate hides the difference between a $7 data entry seat and a $15 operations lead. Price each seat separately.
2. Ask for the rate curve, not the rate. Any provider quoting one number is quoting their entry band. Ask: what is the ask range for junior, mid, senior and lead in this function, and what percentage of your placements are at each level?
3. Assume a review at six months. If the role grows, the rate will. Bake a review into the contract instead of discovering it when the person asks.
4. Do not use seniority as a proxy for fit. The WorkBase PH data is about what people ask, not what they deliver. A seven-year CV for a process-driven role is often worth less than two years with the right tools.
5. Treat the two datasets as a range. The $12 threshold is a useful boundary, not a law. In practice the ask depends on the function, the shift and whether the role is full-time.
The Stealth take
Two datasets, two shapes, one conclusion: the market does not price a "virtual assistant." It prices a scope.
The buyers who get surprised by rate increases are the ones who bought a person instead of a scope. A scope with a named output, a review date and an escalation path is cheaper over twelve months than a low rate with an undefined role, because the undefined role gets renegotiated in the middle.
That is also why a single blended rate is a bad planning input. It hides the difference between a seat that will be filled at $8 and a seat that will be filled at $16, and it makes the second one look like a negotiation failure instead of a scope decision.
Sources
- Outsource Accelerator, Seniority lifts Filipino asking rates among 753 WorkBase PH signups, 12 November 2026. Primary data: WorkBase PH research page.
- Outsource Accelerator, Filipino VA pay expectations flatten after two years: Armasourcing, 17 August 2026.
Related: virtual assistant salary data · what a VA costs versus an in-house hire