Executive Assistant salary in Baltimore-Columbia, MD

Pay in Baltimore-Columbia against Maryland and the US

The middle half of executive assistants in Baltimore-Columbia earns $64,990–$92,210. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $107,440, only 1.9 times the bottom tenth, against 2.2 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $27,220 wide, against $29,530 across Maryland and $33,000 nationally: employers in Baltimore-Columbia pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an executive assistant here

An offer at the 75th percentile instead of the median adds $13,830 a year in pay and about $17,845 in employer cost. Going down to the 25th percentile saves $13,390 in pay. These percentiles describe what people in the job earn locally, not experience levels, so place your offer by the tasks and seniority you need.

For scale, the US median of $76,590 falls between the 25th percentile and the median in Baltimore-Columbia, and the Maryland statewide median of $78,540 falls between the median and the 75th percentile.

What a hire really costs in Baltimore-Columbia

At the $78,380 median, a local hire costs about $101,135 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $22,755 here. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

Our open executive assistant roles pay $800–$1,100 a month under a direct contract. The one-time fee is $2,500³ with a 180-day replacement; paying through Deel adds $49 a month⁴. Change any number below to match your plan.

For the $101,135 a local hire costs here, you could cover about 7.0 remote hires in year one at the midpoint of our range. From year two the fee drops out and the remote figure is $11,988. About the candidates: most apply through our assessment platform with a written and a spoken English task; each profile shows the English level (B1–C2); Silkstaff interviews every shortlisted candidate live, in English, before you meet them.

Other roles in Baltimore-Columbia

Of the 17 roles we track in Baltimore-Columbia, this one ranks #4 by median pay, between recruiters ($82,380) and office managers ($75,590). Project Coordinator is the highest at $103,720.

Measured against the US median, executive assistants rank #10 of the 17 roles we track in Baltimore-Columbia (+2.3%), between administrative assistants (+3.5%) and accountants (+1.8%). The typical role here is at +3.5%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Executive assistants hold 5.3% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Baltimore-Columbia, 4.5% across Maryland and 2.9% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Maryland

Across the 5 areas of Maryland with data for this job, the median runs from $66,020 in Salisbury to $80,630 in Lexington Park, a gap of $14,610 a year. No other area in Maryland has as many executive assistants, and 3 of the other 4 pay less.

Baltimore-Columbia against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Baltimore-Columbia is #10 of 506 US areas, one of the ten largest markets for this job. Outside Maryland, Yuba City and Mount Vernon-Anacortes pay just above Baltimore-Columbia and Modesto and Chicago-Naperville just below. All four are within $610 a year of the median in Baltimore-Columbia. Of the three markets with about as many executive assistants, one pays more.

Questions

Sources

How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.