Cost to Hire: Legal Secretary in Houston, TX
See the full cost beyond salary. Compare your options and build a better budget for your next hire.
BLS wage data · 2026 tax assumptions ↗
What an employee really costs
First year · 1 full-time position(s)
- Base salaryBLS metro mean · May 2025
- $56,490
- Federal employer taxes2026 Social Security, Medicare and FUTA
- $4,363
- State and local employer taxesNot included yet
- Add amount
- BenefitsEditable budget example
- $12,000
- Recruiting and onboardingOne-time first-year assumption
- $4,000
- Other employer costsYour annual overhead budget
- $0
Subtotal before state/local taxes
$6,404 / month, averaged over year one
Enter state/local employer taxes to complete this estimate.
Monthly figures spread first-year costs over 12 months. Tax rules assume a full calendar year of standard US employment. Benefits and overhead depend on your business.
Compare hiring options
An estimated annual budget for each way to hire.
| Hiring option | Relative cost | Approx. annual cost |
|---|---|---|
| US employeeEstimate before state/local taxes | $76,853 | |
| Staffing agencyEditable example budget | $105,000 | |
| FreelancerEditable example budget | $55,000 | |
| Stealth AgentsSupport plan · compare equivalent scope | $19,200 |
Agency and freelancer amounts are editable examples, not market averages. Compare equivalent hours, scope and service levels. Employee estimate excludes state/local taxes until entered.
Your business. Your numbers.Customize your cost estimate
How to interpret this legal secretary benchmark
The starting wage covers Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants (SOC 43-6012). This is an occupational average across employers and experience levels, not an entry-level rate or a specific job offer.
| Wage geography | Annual salary benchmark |
|---|---|
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro | $56,490 |
| United States | $60,620 |
The metro benchmark is $4,130 (6.8%) below the US benchmark. This compares wages for the same occupation and period; it is not a cost-of-living adjustment or a measure of total employer cost.
Houston, TX is mapped through Harris County to the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX labor market. Cities in this metro can share the same starting wage. Neither the benchmark nor the city selection establishes an individual employee’s work location or tax liability. View the national legal secretary calculator.
Does the salary benchmark include benefits and employer taxes?
No. The wage figure is only the salary input. Add employer payroll taxes, benefits, recruiting and overhead in the calculator. Keep one-time hiring expenses separate from recurring annual costs.
How should I compare an employee with outside support?
Use the same hours, tasks, experience requirements and service coverage for each quote. Include supervision and any work the provider excludes. A related support service does not necessarily replace every responsibility of a legal secretary.
Check the underlying BLS wage estimate · Read the calculation methodology
Where these numbers come from
Salary and geography
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: annual mean for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants (SOC 43-6012) in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metropolitan area. The city is associated with this wage area through Harris County. Metro wages cover a wider labor market and are not city-only salaries. A wage benchmark is not a salary offer.
Federal taxes and your local inputs
IRS Publication 15 for 2026 supplies employer Social Security at 6.2% up to $184,500 and Medicare at 1.45% without a wage cap. FUTA defaults to 0.6% of the first $7,000, conditional on the full state credit. Its editable rate supports credit reductions. Caps apply separately to each employee.
State unemployment, local payroll taxes and other employer assessments depend on your work location, assigned rates and circumstances. Enter their annual per-employee amount. Until then, the result is a subtotal, not a complete employer cost. The selected city does not establish where a remote employee works.
Benefits, hiring costs and quotes
The initial $12,000 benefits and $4,000 recruiting budgets are examples. Add workers’ compensation, equipment, software and other overhead. Annual salary already includes paid time away from work; add any extra coverage cost separately. Recurring costs exclude one-time recruiting. Agency and freelancer comparisons start with illustrative budgets of $105,000 and $55,000. Stealth Agents uses $1,600 per month ($19,200 per year) per assistant. Adjust the budgets and compare equivalent hours and responsibilities.
Choosing the right scope for legal secretary
Write down recurring tasks, workload, working hours, systems access and escalation rules. Compare the cost of completing that same scope, including supervision and training, rather than comparing job titles alone.
We have not verified an equivalent Stealth Agents service for this full role. Discuss related tasks with our team before assuming availability or a price.
Explore legal secretary costs in other cities
Each city uses its associated metro benchmark when available. Nearby cities can share the same wage data. See all 100 cities for this role.
Related roles
Discuss the support
your business needs.
Tell us which legal secretary tasks you want to delegate, your working hours and the skills required. We’ll confirm available support and quote the agreed scope.