Executive Assistant salary in Boston-Cambridge, MA-NH

Pay in Boston-Cambridge against Massachusetts and the US

The middle half of executive assistants in Boston-Cambridge earns $74,630–$101,520. The top tenth earns $126,940 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 only $26,890 wide, against $30,610 across Massachusetts and $33,000 nationally: employers in Boston-Cambridge pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an executive assistant here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $16,260 over the median, the 25th only $10,630 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $20,981 a year in employer cost. 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 Boston-Cambridge, and the Massachusetts statewide median of $82,650 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Boston-Cambridge

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 $24,753 to the $85,260 median and brings it to $110,013 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 $110,013 a local hire costs here, you could cover about 7.6 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 Boston-Cambridge

Of the 17 roles we track in Boston-Cambridge, this one ranks #5 by median pay, between recruiters ($90,270) and sales development representatives ($83,420). Project Coordinator is the highest at $114,990.

Measured against the US median, this job is the lowest paid of the 17 roles we track in Boston-Cambridge (+11.3%); marketing specialists come first (+30.0%). The typical role here is at +15.6%, so, measured against the US, executive assistants cost less in Boston-Cambridge than the area's general pay level would suggest. Executive assistants hold 3.7% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Boston-Cambridge, 3.8% across Massachusetts and 2.9% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Massachusetts

Across the 7 areas of Massachusetts with data for this job, the median runs from $71,060 in Springfield to $85,260 in Boston-Cambridge, a gap of $14,200 a year. No other area in Massachusetts has as many executive assistants, and all 6 others pay less.

Boston-Cambridge against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Boston-Cambridge is #4 of 506 US areas, one of the ten largest markets for this job. Outside Massachusetts, Vallejo and Sacramento-Roseville pay just above Boston-Cambridge and Napa and San Diego-Chula Vista just below. 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.