Executive Assistant salary in Durham-Chapel Hill, NC

Pay in Durham-Chapel Hill against North Carolina and the US

The middle half of executive assistants in Durham-Chapel Hill earns $61,630–$80,990. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $98,140, only 1.9 times the bottom tenth, against 2.2 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. The mean ($71,180) is 11% over the median, so a group of high earners pulls the average up; price a typical hire from the median. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $19,360 wide, against $24,780 across North Carolina and $33,000 nationally: employers in Durham-Chapel Hill 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 $16,820 over the median, the 25th only $2,540 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $21,703 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 median and the 75th percentile in Durham-Chapel Hill, and the North Carolina statewide median of $70,140 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Durham-Chapel Hill

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 $18,630 to the $64,170 median and brings it to $82,800 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 5.7 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 6.9 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 Durham-Chapel Hill

Of the 17 roles we track in Durham-Chapel Hill, this one ranks #7 by median pay, between office managers ($68,450) and payroll specialists ($56,400). Project Coordinator is the highest at $104,870.

Measured against the US median, executive assistants rank #16 of the 17 roles we track in Durham-Chapel Hill (-16.2%), between e-commerce order specialists (-12.0%) and paralegals (-16.5%). The typical role here is at +0.2%, so, measured against the US, executive assistants cost less in Durham-Chapel Hill than the area's general pay level would suggest. Executive assistants hold 3.2% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Durham-Chapel Hill, 1.7% across North Carolina and 2.9% nationally. That is close to the national mix.

Other areas in North Carolina

Across the 18 areas of North Carolina with data for this job, the median runs from $49,720 in Goldsboro to $79,900 in Charlotte-Concord, a gap of $30,180 a year. The one area in North Carolina with more executive assistants, Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC ($79,900), also pays more.

Durham-Chapel Hill against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Durham-Chapel Hill is #56 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 North Carolina, Bowling Green and Fairbanks-College pay just above Durham-Chapel Hill and Canton-Massillon and Lewiston just below. All four are within $140 a year of the median in Durham-Chapel Hill. Of the three markets with about as many executive assistants, two pay more.

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Sources

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