Executive Assistant salary in Chattanooga, TN-GA

Pay in Chattanooga against Tennessee and the US

The middle half of executive assistants in Chattanooga earns $54,620–$74,630. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $92,670, only 2.0 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 $20,010 wide, against $23,470 across Tennessee and $33,000 nationally: employers in Chattanooga pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an executive assistant here

An offer at the 75th percentile instead of the median adds $9,950 a year in pay and about $12,839 in employer cost. Going down to the 25th percentile saves $10,060 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 75th and 90th percentiles in Chattanooga, and the Tennessee statewide median of $68,190 falls between the median and the 75th percentile. An offer at the national rate would beat what three quarters of local executive assistants earn.

What a hire really costs in Chattanooga

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 $18,778 to the $64,680 median and brings it to $83,458 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.

A local hire here costs about 5.8 times as much as a remote hire in year one at the midpoint of our range. From year two, when the fee drops out, it is 7.0 times the remote figure of $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 Chattanooga

Of the 17 roles we track in Chattanooga, this one ranks #4 by median pay, between marketing specialists ($66,460) and office managers ($64,150). Project Coordinator is the highest at $87,240.

Measured against the US median, executive assistants rank #13 of the 17 roles we track in Chattanooga (-15.6%), between project coordinators (-14.7%) and marketing specialists (-15.6%). The typical role here is at -11.0%, so, measured against the US, executive assistants cost less in Chattanooga than the area's general pay level would suggest. Executive assistants hold 1.5% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Chattanooga, 1.5% across Tennessee and 2.9% nationally. The job is a smaller part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Tennessee

Across the 14 areas of Tennessee with data for this job, the median runs from $51,240 in Morristown to $73,700 in Nashville-Murfreesboro, a gap of $22,460 a year. Of the 3 areas in Tennessee with more executive assistants than Chattanooga, 1 pays less: Memphis, TN-MS ($63,610).

Chattanooga against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Chattanooga is #126 of 506 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job, with pay near the middle of the US range. Outside Tennessee, Tampa-St. Petersburg and Colorado Springs pay just above Chattanooga and Battle Creek and Grand Forks just below. All four are within $110 a year of the median in Chattanooga. 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.