An in-house executive assistant in the US earned a median of $76,590 a year in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the middle half earned between $61,390 and $94,390. Once benefits are added, a median EA costs an employer about $109,400 a year, or roughly $9,100 a month. EA services cost less per month because you buy a slice of someone's time: listed prices run from $390 a month for 10 hours to $3,600 a month for one dedicated assistant at 40 hours a week.
We're Ryz Labs, and we place executive assistants, so we have a stake in this question. Every number below links to its source, and the math is ours, shown so you can redo it with your own figures.
The BLS tracks this role as "Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants" (occupation code 43-6011) in its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey. The May 2025 figures cover 459,910 people in the role nationwide.
The median hourly wage is $36.82 and the mean is $38.05. These are wages only. EAs supporting a CEO in New York or San Francisco sit toward the top of the range; an assistant supporting a regional owner sits nearer the middle.
Wages are not what an assistant costs you. The BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation release for June 2026 puts wages and salaries at 70.0% of total compensation for private industry workers, with benefits making up the other 30.0%. Dividing by 0.70 is a reasonable first estimate of loaded cost:
That 70% figure is an all-occupation private-industry average, not an EA-specific one, so treat it as a planning number. It also leaves out recruiting, a laptop, software seats, office space and the weeks the seat sits empty while you hire.
Services avoid most of that overhead, and they sell time in three shapes. Which shape suits you matters more than the headline price.
You get one person for roughly a working week, every week. Athena is the clearest example: one EA at 40 hours a week, five business days, for $3,000 a month on a 12-month commitment or $3,600 after an initial 90 days. Prialto's top tier starts at $3,600 for 165+ hours, Wing lists $1,999 for 160 EA hours, and Magic's pages show $540 a week for 40 hours a week, billed every four weeks. This model fits owners whose inbox and calendar need attention every day.
You buy a monthly allowance and draw it down. Boldly sells 40 to 100 hours at $65 an hour, from $2,600 a month. Time etc sells 10 to 60 hours at $36 to $39 an hour, from $390, with unused hours rolling over on its 20, 40 and 60 hour plans. Prialto's base unit is 55 hours for $1,600 with a 90-day minimum. Hour blocks fit irregular work, and they're the cheapest way to find out how much you actually delegate.
A firm recruits someone who then works only for you, and you pay a monthly amount that covers the person and the service. Hire Overseas lists "from $2,000/mo," with most roles at $2,000 to $4,000 and a sample EA at $2,400 on Eastern hours. Virtual Latinos prices by experience, from $1,600 to $4,400 a month. Somewhere charges a one-time percentage of first-year salary for direct hires and shows sample EA salaries of $1,200 to $2,200 a month.
The fairest single comparison is the effective hourly rate on the hours you'd actually use. Here is each listed price, converted with our arithmetic. We used 173 hours a month for a 40-hour week (40 × 52 / 12).
Prices are as listed on each company's pricing page as of November 2026. Magic's figures come from its own pages as shown in search listings, because its site blocks automated reads.
A dedicated 173-hour seat is only $17 an hour if you fill it. If your real backlog is 50 hours a month, a 55-hour Prialto unit or a 60-hour Time etc plan costs less in total even at a higher hourly rate.
Multiply the monthly price by the minimum term. Athena's flexible plan is $10,800 for the first 90 days and its annual plan $36,000. Prialto's 90-day minimum on one unit is $4,800, plus a $250 setup fee unless you sign for a year. Month-to-month services cap the downside at one month.
An assistant who logs off at your lunchtime costs the same as one who covers your afternoon, but does far less of the urgent work. Ask every vendor for the exact window in your own time zone. Our time zone overlap calculator helps you check.
The expensive part of an EA is the context they build about how you work. A replacement guarantee is worth less than a person who stays, so ask how long assistants typically stay with a client.
We place executive assistants and virtual assistants on your team, on US business hours, including New York hours, with fluent English. Recruiters screen every candidate. A dedicated Ryz executive assistant is $3,000 a month, month to month; a dedicated virtual assistant is $2,000 a month, month to month. Either way, one conversation gets you a plan and the names of the people who'd do the work. Once you say go, people can typically start in under two weeks; some roles take three to six weeks. We also place developers and project and product managers, so if your business needs both, your EA and your developer can work on one team. If all you need is 10 hours a month, an hour-block service will cost you less.
Compare the field in our guides to the best executive assistant services and virtual assistant companies for small business, or talk to us.
An in-house US executive assistant at the BLS median of $76,590 a year is about $6,400 a month in wages and roughly $9,100 with benefits. EA services list $390 a month for 10 hours up to $3,600 a month for a dedicated 40-hour assistant; a dedicated Ryz EA is $3,000 a month, month to month.
The BLS mean for executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants was $79,140 in May 2025, and the median was $76,590. The 10th percentile was $50,560 and the 90th was $109,850.
Per month, usually yes. A dedicated service seat runs $2,000 to $3,600 on the plans above, against roughly $9,100 a month for a median in-house EA with benefits. In-house wins when the role needs to be on site or hold authority over money and staff.
The BLS median wage is $36.82 an hour, about $52.60 with benefits. Service rates on the published plans run from about $12.50 (Wing, 160 hours) to $65 (Boldly).
Track one week of tasks you'd hand off. Under 15 hours a week points to an hour block; closer to 40 points to a dedicated assistant.
Some do. Prialto lists a $250 setup fee, waived with a one-year agreement. Boldly and Time etc say there's no setup fee, and Hire Overseas lists $0 recruiting and setup fees.
We checked every price on this page on November 14, 2026, as listed on each company's pricing page, and pulled the BLS figures the same day. Prices change, so confirm before you sign.
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