Key Takeaways
- The national median executive assistant salary is $65,500 in 2026
- California, New York, and Washington have the highest EA salaries
- Virtual executive assistants cost 60-78% less than in-house hires
- EA salaries have grown 4.2% year-over-year nationally
- Benefits add 29-35% on top of base salary for in-house EAs
Why executive assistant salary by state matters for business owners
Hiring an executive assistant is one of the first major staffing decisions a growing business makes. It's also one of the most expensive and most misunderstood.
Most owners look at a salary range, pick a number in the middle, and post the job. What they don't account for is the full employer cost: FICA taxes, health insurance, paid leave, retirement matching, equipment, and office space. By the time you add all of that up, a $65,000 salary costs closer to $85,000-$91,000 per year out of pocket.
And that's before you factor in where you're located. The same role commands wildly different pay depending on your state — a difference that can be $30,000-$40,000 per year for what looks like the same job description.
This article breaks down executive assistant salaries across all 50 states and D.C. using 2026 data, explains what drives the gaps, and gives you the numbers you need to make a smart decision about how to staff executive support — whether in-house or through a virtual assistant service.
Data sources and methodology
Figures in this article draw from:
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — SOC code 43-6011 (Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants), May 2025 data release with 2026 projections applied
- Salary.com 2026 Compensation Benchmarking Data, based on employer-reported compensation surveys
- Glassdoor and LinkedIn Salary Insights — verified salary reports from active job postings and employee disclosures, Q1 2026
- Indeed Salary Tracker — aggregate from 2025-2026 posted job salaries
- PayScale Compensation Research — percentile breakdowns by experience and metro area
All figures represent median annual base salary for full-time, experienced executive assistants (3-7 years experience) unless otherwise noted.
National baseline: executive assistant salary in 2026
| Percentile | Annual salary |
|---|---|
| 10th (entry-level) | $42,300 |
| 25th | $52,800 |
| 50th (median) | $67,240 |
| 75th | $82,500 |
| 90th (senior/C-suite support) | $101,400 |
The range is wide for a reason. An executive assistant supporting a single director is a different job from a C-suite EA managing the schedule, communications, and travel logistics for a Fortune 500 CEO. Experience, scope, and employer type all push candidates toward different parts of that range.
For budgeting purposes, the median is your starting anchor — not the floor.
Executive assistant salary by state: full 2026 data table
The table below lists median annual salary for executive assistants in each state, plus the 25th and 75th percentile ranges.
| State | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $41,200 | $51,300 | $63,400 |
| Alaska | $54,800 | $67,900 | $82,100 |
| Arizona | $50,600 | $63,700 | $78,200 |
| Arkansas | $39,800 | $49,600 | $61,100 |
| California | $65,400 | $83,200 | $103,500 |
| Colorado | $58,300 | $72,800 | $89,600 |
| Connecticut | $61,200 | $76,400 | $94,100 |
| Delaware | $57,400 | $71,100 | $87,300 |
| District of Columbia | $72,300 | $91,350 | $114,200 |
| Florida | $48,200 | $60,100 | $73,900 |
| Georgia | $50,700 | $63,400 | $78,000 |
| Hawaii | $55,600 | $69,400 | $85,200 |
| Idaho | $44,100 | $55,000 | $67,600 |
| Illinois | $56,800 | $70,900 | $87,200 |
| Indiana | $46,300 | $57,800 | $71,000 |
| Iowa | $44,600 | $55,700 | $68,400 |
| Kansas | $45,200 | $56,400 | $69,400 |
| Kentucky | $43,700 | $54,500 | $67,100 |
| Louisiana | $42,600 | $53,100 | $65,300 |
| Maine | $48,100 | $60,000 | $73,800 |
| Maryland | $60,400 | $75,400 | $92,800 |
| Massachusetts | $64,800 | $80,900 | $100,000 |
| Michigan | $50,100 | $62,600 | $76,900 |
| Minnesota | $55,400 | $69,200 | $85,000 |
| Mississippi | $37,100 | $46,180 | $56,900 |
| Missouri | $47,300 | $59,100 | $72,700 |
| Montana | $42,800 | $53,400 | $65,700 |
| Nebraska | $45,600 | $56,900 | $70,000 |
| Nevada | $51,300 | $64,100 | $78,800 |
| New Hampshire | $53,200 | $66,400 | $81,600 |
| New Jersey | $62,100 | $77,600 | $95,500 |
| New Mexico | $43,400 | $54,200 | $66,700 |
| New York | $66,700 | $83,400 | $104,200 |
| North Carolina | $49,200 | $61,500 | $75,600 |
| North Dakota | $46,700 | $58,300 | $71,700 |
| Ohio | $48,600 | $60,700 | $74,600 |
| Oklahoma | $43,100 | $53,800 | $66,200 |
| Oregon | $56,100 | $70,100 | $86,200 |
| Pennsylvania | $53,600 | $66,900 | $82,300 |
| Rhode Island | $55,800 | $69,700 | $85,600 |
| South Carolina | $46,100 | $57,600 | $70,800 |
| South Dakota | $41,800 | $52,200 | $64,200 |
| Tennessee | $45,900 | $57,300 | $70,500 |
| Texas | $51,400 | $64,200 | $79,000 |
| Utah | $50,900 | $63,600 | $78,200 |
| Vermont | $49,600 | $61,900 | $76,200 |
| Virginia | $58,700 | $73,300 | $90,200 |
| Washington | $63,200 | $79,000 | $97,200 |
| West Virginia | $39,200 | $48,900 | $60,200 |
| Wisconsin | $48,900 | $61,100 | $75,100 |
| Wyoming | $43,600 | $54,400 | $66,900 |
The top 10 highest-paying states for executive assistants
If you're running a business in any of these states, or competing for talent here, expect to pay well above the national median.
| Rank | State | Median EA salary | vs. national median |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | $91,350 | +35.9% |
| 2 | New York | $83,400 | +24.0% |
| 3 | California | $83,200 | +23.7% |
| 4 | Massachusetts | $80,900 | +20.3% |
| 5 | Washington State | $79,000 | +17.5% |
| 6 | New Jersey | $77,600 | +15.4% |
| 7 | Connecticut | $76,400 | +13.6% |
| 8 | Maryland | $75,400 | +12.1% |
| 9 | Virginia | $73,300 | +9.0% |
| 10 | Colorado | $72,800 | +8.3% |
These states share a few things: high costs of living (which push wage expectations up), dense concentrations of corporate headquarters, and tight competition for experienced administrative talent. Many also have state or local minimum wage floors that lift wages across the board.
The 10 lowest-paying states for executive assistants
| Rank | State | Median EA salary | vs. national median |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mississippi | $46,180 | -31.3% |
| 2 | West Virginia | $48,900 | -27.3% |
| 3 | Arkansas | $49,600 | -26.2% |
| 4 | Alabama | $51,300 | -23.7% |
| 5 | Louisiana | $53,100 | -21.0% |
| 6 | Oklahoma | $53,800 | -20.0% |
| 7 | Montana | $53,400 | -20.6% |
| 8 | New Mexico | $54,200 | -19.4% |
| 9 | Wyoming | $54,400 | -19.1% |
| 10 | Kentucky | $54,500 | -19.0% |
Lower wages in these states reflect lower costs of living and smaller corporate employer bases, not lower-quality candidates. Several of these states have strong talent pools and, notably, lower attrition rates than coastal markets. If you're location-flexible, this has real implications for how you hire.
What drives the salary gap
1. Cost of living
This is the biggest one. An EA in San Francisco needs $83,200 to afford a lifestyle that $51,000 funds comfortably in Birmingham. Employers don't set salaries arbitrarily — the local cost of housing, transportation, and everyday expenses sets a floor below which good candidates don't apply.
2. Employer concentration and industry mix
States with large concentrations of finance, tech, healthcare, and corporate HQs bid up EA salaries. New York's financial sector, California's tech corridor, and D.C.'s government contracting ecosystem all create intense competition for experienced administrative talent. Less of that concentration means less upward pressure on pay.
3. Experience and specialization
The data above reflects experienced EAs (3-7 years). Senior EAs with C-suite experience, specialized software skills (board management platforms, CRM systems, project management tools), or security clearances can command 25-40% above median in any state.
4. Metro vs. rural premium
Within any given state, the metro/rural gap often runs 20-30%. A Texas EA in Austin or Houston will typically earn $68,000-$78,000, while a comparable role in Amarillo might offer $52,000-$58,000. State medians smooth over this variance — relevant context if you're hiring in a major metro.
5. Remote work normalization
The post-pandemic shift to hybrid and remote work has started to flatten geographic salary differences, but not eliminate them. Employers in high-cost metros who hire remote EAs from lower-cost states are still frequently paying above the local rate for that talent, just not as much as they'd pay a local hire.
The true cost of hiring a full-time executive assistant
Salary is only part of the number you should be budgeting against. For every dollar in base pay, employers typically spend another $0.25-$0.40 in non-wage labor costs.
| Cost component | Annual amount |
|---|---|
| Base salary (median) | $67,240 |
| Employer FICA (7.65%) | $5,144 |
| Health insurance contribution | $7,200-$9,800 |
| Paid time off (15 days at median rate) | $3,880 |
| Retirement match (3% of salary) | $2,017 |
| Recruitment and onboarding | $3,500-$6,000 |
| Equipment and software | $1,500-$3,000 |
| Total employer cost (est.) | $90,481-$97,081 |
For a business owner in California or New York, that number is considerably higher. An EA earning $83,000 in base pay realistically costs $108,000-$120,000 per year fully loaded.
That's the actual budget number, not the salary line.
To see how this compares to alternative staffing models, the pricing page has a side-by-side breakdown of in-house EA costs vs. virtual executive assistant service plans.
Industry-level salary differences
Executive assistant salaries vary considerably by industry, separate from geography. Business owners in high-margin or heavily regulated industries should expect to pay a premium.
| Industry | Median EA salary |
|---|---|
| Finance and insurance | $78,400 |
| Management of companies | $76,200 |
| Information technology | $75,800 |
| Healthcare (hospital systems) | $72,100 |
| Legal services | $70,500 |
| Real estate | $68,300 |
| Professional/scientific services | $67,900 |
| Government (state/local) | $63,400 |
| Nonprofit organizations | $59,200 |
| Retail and consumer goods | $57,800 |
Pain points business owners face when hiring executive assistants
The hiring process for EA roles tends to surface the same problems over and over — and they're worth naming directly.
In competitive markets like NYC, San Francisco, and D.C., every strong EA candidate has multiple offers. Salary alone isn't enough; you're competing on title, growth path, culture, and flexibility. Many small and mid-sized businesses lose this competition to enterprise employers before the offer stage.
Quality EA roles take 8-14 weeks to fill on average, according to SHRM hiring data. That's two to three months of calendar chaos and executive bandwidth lost to low-level tasks while you wait for the right candidate.
The median EA tenure in the U.S. is 2.9 years. For a role that requires significant onboarding and institutional knowledge-building, that turnover cycle translates to recurring recruiting costs every few years — a hidden cost that rarely shows up in salary benchmarks.
For businesses with fewer than 50 employees not subject to ACA mandates, offering competitive health benefits is optional. But not offering them puts you at a real disadvantage. Candidates increasingly expect them, and the absence creates friction before you even reach compensation conversations.
Post-pandemic, many businesses are distributed across states but need executive support. A full-time EA in one location doesn't cover an executive who's traveling or working across time zones, and it creates coverage gaps that in-house hiring alone can't easily solve.
Virtual executive assistants: the geographic salary arbitrage
You do not have to pay your state's executive assistant salary rate.
A virtual executive assistant handles the same core functions — calendar management, email triage, travel booking, document preparation, stakeholder communication — without the geographic constraints. You get experienced, professional support without the overhead tied to a single location.
| Support model | Annual cost range |
|---|---|
| In-house EA (national median) | $90,000-$97,000 (fully loaded) |
| In-house EA (CA/NY median) | $110,000-$125,000 (fully loaded) |
| Virtual EA (dedicated, full-time) | $36,000-$60,000 |
| Virtual EA (part-time, 20 hrs/wk) | $18,000-$30,000 |
For a business owner in Massachusetts or Washington State, switching from an in-house EA to a dedicated virtual assistant represents $50,000-$65,000 in annual savings without meaningful loss in responsiveness or output quality.
See the pricing page for current service plan options and how they map to different executive support needs.
Salary trends: what's changed since 2024
The 2021-2023 wage surge locked in higher salary baselines across the board. EAs who negotiated 15-20% raises during that period are now anchors for market rate expectations. Employers who lagged are still playing catch-up, which is why many open roles in 2026 are posting at rates that would have seemed high two years ago.
The role itself is shifting. EAs who demonstrate proficiency with AI productivity tools — scheduling automation, AI-assisted email drafting, document summarization — are commanding a skills premium of 8-15% above peers with the same experience level. This is still early, but it's showing up consistently in compensation data, particularly in tech-adjacent companies.
Return-to-office mandates have also changed the math. Companies requiring five-days-per-week in-person presence are offering salary premiums of 10-18% over hybrid or remote roles to attract candidates willing to comply. This is most pronounced in finance and law, where physical presence remains a strong expectation.
At the senior end, the gap between mid-level and senior EA compensation has narrowed slightly. Competition for experienced C-suite support talent in tight urban markets has pushed companies to promote from within rather than compete externally — which compresses the salary bands at the top.
How to use this data in your hiring decision
Start with your state's median as a floor, not a target. In competitive markets, strong candidates will expect the 75th percentile or above. Budget the loaded employer cost (median plus 25-40%), not just the salary line.
Scope the role carefully before you settle on a number. An EA handling calendar and travel lives at the lower end of the range. One managing board communications, investor relations, or vendor contracts is in senior territory and should be paid accordingly.
If your business is location-flexible, run the numbers on a virtual EA before you post the job. The cost difference is material enough to warrant an honest comparison. A consultation with our team can help you figure out what that would actually look like for your workload.
If you do hire in-house, set clear performance benchmarks from day one. EAs in high-salary markets are often pulled in too many directions without clear scope. Ambiguity drives turnover, and turnover in this role is expensive.
Key findings: executive assistant salary by state in 2026
- The national median executive assistant salary is $67,240 in 2026.
- Washington D.C. pays the highest median at $91,350 — 35.9% above the national median.
- Mississippi pays the lowest at $46,180 — 31.3% below the national median.
- The total spread between the highest and lowest state medians is $45,170.
- Fully loaded employer costs exceed $90,000 nationally and $110,000+ in high-cost states.
- Virtual EA services deliver comparable executive support at 40-65% lower annual cost than in-house hiring.
- AI proficiency now commands an 8-15% skills premium for EA roles in 2026.
For more hiring cost benchmarks and staffing research, explore our VA statistics article and the full research library at stealthagents.com/research.
Ready to explore what a virtual executive assistant could do for your business? Book a free consultation or review our service plans to compare your options.