Executive Assistant salary in Birmingham, AL

Pay in Birmingham against Alabama and the US

The middle half of executive assistants in Birmingham earns $62,960–$89,940. The top tenth earns $104,990 or more, 2.1 times the bottom tenth, close to the US pattern of 2.2 times. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is $26,980 wide, between the figure for Alabama ($26,380) and the US figure ($33,000).

What to budget for an executive assistant here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $13,370 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $13,610, or about $17,561 once benefits are added. 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 median and the 75th percentile in Birmingham, and the Alabama statewide median of $69,450 falls between the 25th percentile and the median.

What a hire really costs in Birmingham

Pay is only part of it. Benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², which adds about $22,160 to the $76,330 median and brings it to $98,490 a year. 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 $98,490 a local hire costs here, you could cover about 6.8 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 Birmingham

Of the 16 roles we track in Birmingham, this one ranks #3 by median pay, between accountants ($78,660) and recruiters ($67,880). Project Coordinator is the highest at $100,820.

Measured against the US median, this job is the best paid of the 16 roles we track in Birmingham (-0.3%); marketing specialists come last (-21.0%). The typical role here is at -8.6%, so, measured against the US, executive assistants cost more in Birmingham than the area's general pay level would suggest. Executive assistants hold 1.6% of the jobs in the 15 of these roles with a job count in Birmingham, 1.4% across Alabama and 3.1% nationally. The job is a smaller part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Alabama

Across the 14 areas of Alabama with data for this job, the median runs from $58,550 in the Northeast Alabama nonmetro area to $76,330 in Birmingham, a gap of $17,780 a year. No other area in Alabama has as many executive assistants, and all 13 others pay less.

Birmingham against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Birmingham is #65 of 506 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job and one of the better-paying ones. Outside Alabama, Syracuse and Providence-Warwick pay just above Birmingham and Norwich-New London and El Centro just below. All four are within $280 a year of the median in Birmingham. Of the three markets with about as many executive assistants, two pay more.

Questions

Sources

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