Key takeaways

• The loaded cost of a US executive assistant is about $111,810 a year (BLS median pay of $76,590 divided by the 68.5% wage share of total compensation).
• The break-even all-in hourly rate for a remote assistant is $53.75 at 40 hours and $107.51 at 20 hours a week.
• In our 20-item capability map, an executive assistant is stronger on 6 tasks, the two are equal on 6, and an executive VA is stronger on 8.
• Employer on-costs vary from about 5% to 32% of total labour cost across Europe, so the in-house premium depends heavily on country.
• Most leaders do not have to choose. A hybrid of one on-site person plus a remote assistant covers presence and digital work.

Executive assistant vs executive VA at a glance

Both roles protect an executive's time. They differ in where the work happens, how the cost is structured and how much flexibility you get.

Table 1. Executive assistant vs executive VA: summary

What is the real difference between an executive assistant and an executive VA?

An executive assistant is usually an employee who sits near the leader and supports them in person and online. An executive VA does the same family of work from another location. The label matters less than three variables: presence, hours and who carries the employment burden. For a full duty list and hours breakdown, read our guide to what an executive virtual assistant does.

The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook notes that executives typically need several years of related experience and that many executive assistants support more than one manager. It also notes that some administrative assistants already work from home as virtual assistants. In other words, the remote model is not a separate profession. It is the same work, delivered differently.

What does an in-house executive assistant really cost?

Salary is only part of the bill. The BLS reports median pay of $76,590 (May 2025) for executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants. The BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation release for June 2026 shows that wages are 68.5% of total compensation for full-time private industry workers, so benefits and legally required costs add roughly 46% on top of wages.

Table 2. US employer cost of compensation, full-time private industry (June 2026)

Applying the 68.5% wage share to the BLS median gives a loaded cost of $76,590 ÷ 0.685 ≈ $111,810 a year, or about $53.75 per paid hour at 2,080 hours. That is a Nomad VAs estimate. As a sense check, the BLS full-time private average total of $54.00 an hour is a different occupation mix but lands within cents. Recruiting, equipment and office space are extra.

At what weekly hours does a remote assistant stop being cheaper?

Most competing guides compare one salary to one hourly rate. That hides the real variable: how many hours you actually need. The break-even all-in hourly rate for a remote assistant is the loaded in-house cost divided by the hours you would use in a year ($111,810 ÷ (52 × weekly hours)).

Table 3. Nomad VAs break-even model: highest all-in hourly rate at which remote beats in-house

The pattern is simple. If you need fewer than full-time hours, an in-house hire sits idle while you pay for the whole week. Even at 40 hours, most managed remote rates sit under the $53.75 line. To see current provider rates, visit our pricing page, and to estimate the value of your own time use the founder time calculator.

What does turnover add to the bill?

Gallup estimates that replacing an employee costs one-half to two times their annual salary. Applied to the $76,590 median, a single departure carries a hidden cost range.

Table 4. Estimated cost of replacing one executive assistant (Gallup range applied to BLS median)

A managed provider does not remove turnover, but it moves the replacement risk to the provider. Our Executive VA service includes replacement at our cost if the fit isn't right in the first month.

How do employer costs differ around the world?

The US is only one baseline. Eurostat reports an average hourly labour cost of €34.9 in the EU and €38.2 in the euro area for 2025, ranging from €12.0 in Bulgaria to €56.8 in Luxembourg. Non-wage costs make up 24.8% of EU labour cost, from 4.8% in Romania to 32.3% in France. The Eurostat figures cover enterprises with 10 or more employees across the whole economy, not executive assistants specifically.

Table 5. Non-wage share of labour cost and implied on-cost multiplier

*Nomad VAs calculation: 1 ÷ (1 − non-wage share). Statutory rules add more local detail. GOV.UK lists a 15% employer National Insurance rate for 2026 to 2027, and the Australian Taxation Office sets the super guarantee at 12% from 1 July 2025. Time zones matter too. The Philippines runs on UTC+8 with no daylight saving, so overlap with New York is 12 to 13 hours ahead, Los Angeles 15 to 16, London 7 to 8 and Sydney 2 to 3 hours behind. A managed provider matches working hours to your day.

Which tasks suit an executive assistant and which suit an executive VA?

This capability map is an editorial classification by Nomad VAs (October 2026), not survey data. It scores 20 common tasks as "EA stronger", "Equal" or "EVA stronger". The result is 6 for the executive assistant, 6 equal and 8 for the executive VA.

Table 6. EA vs EVA capability map (20 tasks)

For a deeper look at the digital tasks in group B, see our upcoming guides on inbox management and calendar management.

How do you decide? The Presence Test

Answer yes or no to each question and count your yeses. This is a Nomad VAs decision rule, designed to keep the choice honest.

Table 7. The Presence Test (8 questions)

Table 8. Scoring the Presence Test

Can you run a hybrid model?

Yes, and it is often the best answer. Keep one on-site person for the presence tasks in group A, and give the routine digital work in group B to a remote assistant. You get coverage across time zones, protection against a single point of failure and a lower total bill. Leaders using the same logic in other functions will recognise it from our comparison of a social media VA vs in-house and an SEO VA vs agency. For the wider trend, read the future of hiring.

What about security and employment risk?

Two questions decide this. First, who has access? Whatever you choose, use NDAs before day one, two-factor authentication, a password manager that you control and least-privilege access. Second, who is the employer? In the US, the IRS says a remote worker can be a common-law employee if you control what is done and how, and misclassification can create tax liability. The rules differ by country, so ask your provider who carries these obligations. Our how it works page explains how a managed engagement is structured, and our services page lists what we support.

Where is the role heading?

The BLS projects employment of executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants at 489,300 in 2025 and 489,200 in 2035, essentially flat. The wider secretaries and administrative assistants group is projected to fall 2%, and the BLS points to AI and digital tools that let staff prepare their own documents. The World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report 2025 lists administrative assistants and executive secretaries among the fastest-declining roles for 2025 to 2030. The takeaway is not that support disappears. It is that routine tasks move to tools, while judgment, discretion and relationships become the reason to hire.

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