Executive assistant cost by company size in 2026

TL;DR

• For a founder or team of 1 to 10, model $390 to $1,500 per month for a defined part-time service. This range is a planning estimate grounded in current hourly-bucket and managed-service prices.
• For a company with 11 to 50 employees, a practical first budget is $1,000 to $3,000 per month for 20 to 80 hours or a managed assistant plan.
• For 51 to 200 employees, plan $2,000 to $5,000 per month when the role includes a dedicated assistant, executive-level judgment, or backup coverage.
• For 201 to 500 employees, compare a $4,000 to $8,000 monthly managed engagement with the fully loaded cost of an employee. A full-time employee is usually a better fit when the work is continuous, location-sensitive, or tied to internal office operations.
• For 500+ employees, the decision is usually about coverage design. A multi-executive team or custom managed service can begin around $8,000 per month and rise with the number of principals and service windows.

These are modeled ranges, not quotes. The observed sources below show why the numbers vary.

Contents

• Methodology
• Limitations
• Key statistics
• Key takeaways
• Cost by company size
• Observed pricing by engagement model
• Analysis
• Sources
• FAQ
• Related research

Methodology

We reviewed twelve sources retrieved on August 3, 2026. They include current U.S. wage and compensation releases from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. government guidance on payroll and business size, Census firm-size data, and public pricing pages from assistant providers. We recorded the date, geography, unit, and scope for each source.

The source observations are not one market average. BLS reports employee wages and employer compensation. Providers report the price of their own service packages. Census and SBA describe firms, not assistant demand. We keep those observations separate.

The company-size budget is our model. It uses five headcount bands, a reasonable monthly hour or coverage assumption, and the observed prices as anchors. The model is intended for a first-pass budget, not a procurement quote. To annualize a monthly number, multiply by 12. No currency conversion is applied.

Limitations

The sources use different populations and definitions. BLS wage data describe U.S. wage and salary workers in a detailed occupation. Provider prices describe a service package that may include recruiting, management, replacement, tools, or backup coverage. Census data count employer firms. SBA uses a broad definition of small business and notes that size standards can vary by industry.

The model is U.S.-centric and assumes dollars, a normal business-hours schedule, and one primary executive unless the row says otherwise. It does not price local taxes, office space, equipment, recruiting, severance, overtime, travel, security reviews, or specialized industry knowledge. It also does not claim that an assistant will create a particular return on investment.

Key statistics

Signal	Result	How to use it	What it cannot establish
Executive assistant wage	BLS reported $79,140 mean annual pay and $36.82 median hourly pay for executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants in May 2025	Anchor an employee wage discussion	The exact salary for a specific city, level, or company
Private employer benefits	Benefits were 29.9% of private-industry employer compensation costs in December 2025	Avoid treating salary as the full employee cost	The benefits package your company will offer
Hour-bucket service	Time etc listed $390 for 10 hours and $760 for 20 hours per month	Benchmark a small, flexible test	The quality or scope of another provider
Full-time managed service	Wing listed $999 per month for a general full-time plan and $1,999 per month for an enterprise executive assistant starting point	Compare managed coverage with employee hiring	That every assistant or specialty role costs the same
U.S. employer firms	Census reported 5,934,950 employer firms and 132,849,544 employees in its 2023 Annual Business Survey release	Put company-size planning in context	How many firms buy executive support
Small-business definition	SBA describes a small business as generally independent and below 500 employees in its 2026 FAQ material	Use a common planning boundary	A universal threshold for hiring an EA

Key takeaways

1. Headcount helps set the budget, but the number of executives supported is often the better predictor. A 20-person firm with two principals may need more coverage than a 100-person firm with one founder.
2. Part-time plans make the most sense when the work is lumpy. A full-time employee becomes easier to justify when there is a stable 32 to 40 hours of work each week and enough internal work to fill the role.
3. Fully loaded employee cost matters. BLS found that benefits were nearly 30% of private-industry compensation costs in December 2025, before a company adds recruiting, workspace, equipment, and management time.
4. A provider's monthly fee may include backup coverage, quality control, matching, payroll administration, and replacement support. A freelancer's hourly rate usually does not include the same package.
5. The right first step is a short baseline. Track recurring requests, hours, urgent interruptions, and the work that requires judgment for two weeks before selecting a tier.

Cost by company size

The bands below are an editorial planning model. They are not an industry standard and do not replace a quote.

Company size	Typical support need	Modeled monthly budget	Modeled annual budget	Best first fit
1 to 10 employees	One founder, defined coordination, 10 to 40 hours per month	$390 to $1,500	$4,680 to $18,000	Hour bucket or managed part-time service
11 to 50 employees	One or two leaders, calendar and inbox ownership, 20 to 80 hours per month	$1,000 to $3,000	$12,000 to $36,000	Dedicated part-time or managed monthly plan
51 to 200 employees	One or more executives, recurring follow-up, travel, meeting preparation, backup coverage	$2,000 to $5,000	$24,000 to $60,000	Dedicated managed assistant or fractional EA
201 to 500 employees	Full-time executive support, internal coordination, or several principals	$4,000 to $8,000 for managed coverage; $90,000 to $150,000 for a loaded employee model	$48,000 to $96,000; $90,000 to $150,000	Compare managed service with direct hire
500+ employees	Multiple principals, service levels, coverage windows, security and procurement requirements	$8,000 to $20,000+	$96,000 to $240,000+	Multi-executive team or custom program

The first three rows use provider price anchors and modeled hour ranges. The fourth row adds an employee comparison. The employee range is a planning estimate built from the BLS executive-assistant wage observation, the BLS private-industry benefits ratio, and additional employer costs that vary by company. It is not a BLS estimate of total cost.

Observed pricing by engagement model

Engagement model	Observed 2026 price signal	What is included or implied	Cost question to ask
Hour bucket	Time etc: $390 for 10 hours, $760 for 20 hours, $1,480 for 40 hours, and $2,160 for 60 hours per month	Dedicated U.S. assistant, matching, support, and unused-hour rollover on listed plans	Are unused hours rolled over, and what happens when demand spikes?
Managed general VA	Wing: $699 part-time and $999 full-time general VA plans	Dedicated assistant, customer success, training, quality control, and replacement on the listed plan	Is the assigned role executive-level, or general administrative support?
Managed executive support	Wing enterprise EA page: starting from $1,999 per month	Executive assistant service with enterprise positioning; final scope is custom	What hours, backup, security controls, and principal count does the starting price cover?
Custom managed service	BELAY: monthly fee set by scope and support level	Pricing is custom rather than a public hourly W-2 wage	Which costs are included in the monthly fee, and what triggers a tier change?
Direct employee	BLS May 2025: $79,140 mean annual wage for the detailed executive assistant occupation	Wage only. Employer benefits and operating overhead are separate	What is the loaded cost after benefits, payroll taxes, recruiting, equipment, and management?
Freelancer or marketplace	Public listings vary by experience, location, and scope	Usually direct labor, with the buyer managing quality, continuity, and security	Who covers absence, replacement, onboarding, and access reviews?

An observed price is not a recommendation. For example, a $999 plan can be attractive for a routine workflow but unsuitable for a CEO who needs investor correspondence, sensitive personnel coordination, and judgment across time zones.

Analysis

Start with the work, then choose the size band

Company headcount is easy to find and easy to overuse. Write down the work first: calendar decisions, inbox triage, meeting preparation, travel, follow-up, stakeholder coordination, personal logistics, or project administration. Then mark each task as prepare, recommend, or decide. The task list tells you whether you need capacity, judgment, or both.

The remote executive assistant service model is often a useful starting point when the work is digital and the required hours are not yet stable. Direct hiring becomes more compelling when the role needs consistent presence, internal relationships, or ownership that cannot be separated from the employee context.

Compare total cost, not just the rate

For an employee, a simple first-pass model is:

annual salary + benefits + payroll taxes + recruiting and onboarding + equipment and workspace + manager time

BLS reported $79,140 as the mean annual wage for the detailed executive assistant occupation in May 2025. BLS also reported that private-industry benefits accounted for 29.9% of compensation costs in December 2025. Those figures are useful anchors, but they do not tell you what your company will pay in New York, Austin, London, or a fully remote team.

For an outsourced service, use:

monthly fee x 12 + setup or overage fees + internal time spent briefing and reviewing

Ask whether the fee covers backup, replacement, training, security controls, and account management. A cheaper hourly rate can cost more when the executive has to recruit, train, chase, and replace the support.

Use company stage as a capacity signal

At the earliest stage, the main constraint is usually founder attention. A 10-hour plan can work if the assistant owns a narrow queue and the founder supplies decisions quickly. A 40-hour plan is wasted if the requests are not ready to hand off.

At the growth stage, the support role often touches more systems and more people. The budget should include time for follow-up, meeting preparation, and keeping context current. If two executives share an assistant, document priority rules before adding hours.

At the larger-company stage, the question shifts to coverage and governance. Procurement may need a vendor security review. The executive may need a backup person, service-level expectations, named accounts, and a process for removing access. These requirements can push a custom engagement above the public plan price.

Calculate the break-even question

Use the ROI of a remote executive assistant as a companion framework, but keep the math local. Start with the executive's effective hourly value, multiply it by the hours of work that can realistically be transferred, and subtract the service cost. Do not count every hour an assistant works as an hour the executive will recover. Count the hours that become useful executive time.

Example: if a 20-hour monthly plan costs $760 and it reliably removes 12 hours of executive coordination, the simple break-even value is $63.33 per recovered hour. If the work is worth more than that to the business and quality holds, the plan may be sensible. If the assistant needs constant correction, the model is wrong even when the invoice is low.

Review access as the role expands

Cost is not the only scaling issue. Calendar, email, finance, customer, and personnel systems have different risk levels. Use named accounts, least-privilege permissions, and a documented review date. The NIST sources in the list below define least privilege as the minimum authorization needed for an assigned task.

Sources

1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2025, published May 15, 2026, retrieved August 3, 2026. Statistic: executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants had a $79,140 mean annual wage and $36.82 median hourly wage. Geography: United States. Denominator: wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments. Method: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics employer survey. Limitation: wage data are not fully loaded employment cost and are not company-stage pricing.
2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, December 2025, published March 20, 2026, retrieved August 3, 2026. Statistic: private-industry benefits averaged $13.79 per hour and 29.9% of total compensation costs. Geography: United States. Denominator: private-industry workers. Method: National Compensation Survey. Limitation: economy-wide average, not an executive assistant package.
3. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer costs per hour worked, current chart retrieved August 3, 2026. Evidence: December 2025 wage, benefit, and total compensation values. Limitation: the chart is not an occupation-specific estimate.
4. Time etc, Virtual Assistant Pricing and Packages, current pricing page retrieved August 3, 2026. Observations: $390 for 10 hours, $760 for 20 hours, $1,480 for 40 hours, and $2,160 for 60 hours per month. Limitation: one provider's U.S. assistant plans and stated inclusions.
5. Wing Assistant, General Virtual Assistant pricing, current pricing page retrieved August 3, 2026. Observations: $699 per month part-time and $999 per month full-time general VA plans. Limitation: general VA plans are not the same as executive-level coverage.
6. Wing Assistant, Enterprise-grade executive assistant outsourcing, current page retrieved August 3, 2026. Observation: executive assistant support starting from $1,999 per month. Limitation: starting price does not define final hours, principal count, or security scope.
7. BELAY, Assistant Solutions for Executives, current page retrieved August 3, 2026. Evidence: BELAY states that pricing is a predictable monthly fee set by scope and support level rather than a public flat rate. Limitation: no public price to use as a market average.
8. U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Business Survey company summary, release date November 20, 2025, retrieved August 3, 2026. Statistics: 5,934,950 employer firms and 132,849,544 employees in the reported universe. Limitation: the survey does not report executive assistant purchasing.
9. U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Business Survey characteristics, page revised February 12, 2025, retrieved August 3, 2026. Evidence: employment-size and firm-characteristic tables. Limitation: the collection year covers reference year 2022.
10. U.S. Small Business Administration, 2026 FAQ about small business, published February 2026, retrieved August 3, 2026. Evidence: small business is generally described as an independent business with fewer than 500 employees. Limitation: SBA size standards can vary by industry and program.
11. Internal Revenue Service, Publication 15, Circular E, Employer's Tax Guide, 2026 edition retrieved August 3, 2026. Evidence: employer guidance for federal income-tax withholding, Social Security, Medicare, and employer reporting. Limitation: payroll obligations vary by worker classification and jurisdiction.
12. NIST, least privilege glossary, current page retrieved August 3, 2026. Evidence: formal definition of minimum system resources and authorizations needed for a task. Limitation: a security definition does not price an assistant engagement.

FAQ

How much does an executive assistant cost for a small company in 2026?

For a 1 to 10-person company, a reasonable first-pass budget is $390 to $1,500 per month for defined part-time support. Public plans show why: Time etc lists $390 for 10 hours per month, while Wing lists managed plans from $699 part-time and $999 full-time for a general VA. Executive-level scope may cost more.

What does an executive assistant cost for a 50-person company?

A 50-person company often fits a $1,000 to $3,000 monthly planning range for one executive, depending on hours, provider, and whether the support is general or executive-level. Treat this as a model, not a quote. Two principals, extended hours, or sensitive work can move the budget higher.

Is it cheaper to hire an employee or use a remote executive assistant?

The answer depends on hours and scope. A remote service can be cheaper when the company needs less than a full-time workload or wants provider-managed backup and administration. An employee can make more sense when there is stable full-time work, internal coordination, and a need for direct organizational ownership. Compare loaded employee cost with the full service fee.

What is the fully loaded cost of an in-house executive assistant?

There is no single national number. BLS reported a $79,140 mean annual wage for the detailed executive assistant occupation in May 2025. BLS reported that benefits were 29.9% of private-industry compensation costs in December 2025. Add recruiting, payroll administration, equipment, workspace, and manager time for a company-specific estimate.

Does company size determine the price?

No. Company size is a useful budgeting proxy, but the number of executives, required hours, time-zone coverage, decision authority, risk controls, and service model usually matter more. A small company can require an expensive, high-judgment engagement, while a larger company may buy a narrow hour bucket.

When should a company move from part-time to full-time support?

Move when the work is consistently close to a full-time workload, the handoff queue is predictable, and the executive can define the role's authority. Do not move simply because the company crossed a headcount threshold. Track requests and hours for two weeks first.

Related research

• Remote executive assistant service
• ROI of a remote executive assistant
• How to hire a remote executive assistant
• Executive assistant salary

CTA

If you want to compare a part-time or dedicated support model against your current workload, book a free consultation call and bring the two-week task baseline.

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