Executive Assistant salary in Lansing-East Lansing, MI

Pay in Lansing-East Lansing against Michigan and the US

The middle half of executive assistants in Lansing-East Lansing earns $63,060–$80,300. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $88,760, only 1.7 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 $17,240 wide, against $23,480 across Michigan and $33,000 nationally: employers in Lansing-East Lansing 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 $12,760 over the median, the 25th only $4,480 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $16,465 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 Lansing-East Lansing, and the Michigan statewide median of $66,840 falls between the 25th percentile and the median.

What a hire really costs in Lansing-East Lansing

At the $67,540 median, a local hire costs about $87,148 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $19,608 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 $87,148 a local hire costs here, you could cover about 6.0 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 Lansing-East Lansing

Of the 17 roles we track in Lansing-East Lansing, this one ranks #5 by median pay, between office managers ($69,520) and sales development representatives ($67,090). Project Coordinator is the highest at $97,050.

Measured against the US median, executive assistants rank #16 of the 17 roles we track in Lansing-East Lansing (-11.8%), between medical administrative assistants (-8.8%) and marketing specialists (-17.9%). The typical role here is at -2.3%, so, measured against the US, executive assistants cost less in Lansing-East Lansing than the area's general pay level would suggest. Executive assistants hold 3.8% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Lansing-East Lansing, 2.2% across Michigan and 2.9% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Michigan

Across the 19 areas of Michigan with data for this job, the median runs from $47,790 in the Mid Michigan nonmetro area to $77,060 in Midland, a gap of $29,270 a year. Of the 2 areas in Michigan with more executive assistants than Lansing-East Lansing, 1 pays less: Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI ($65,090).

Lansing-East Lansing against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Lansing-East Lansing is #72 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 Michigan, Naples-Marco Island and Virginia Beach-Chesapeake pay just above Lansing-East Lansing and Glens Falls and Kankakee just below. All four are within $90 a year of the median in Lansing-East Lansing. Of the three markets with about as many executive assistants, all three pay more.

Questions

Sources

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