Executive Assistant salary in Lexington-Fayette, KY

Pay in Lexington-Fayette against Kentucky and the US

The middle half of executive assistants in Lexington-Fayette earns $53,600–$69,970. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $83,000, only 1.8 times the bottom tenth, against 2.2 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. The mean ($64,380) is no higher than the median, so few high earners skew the figures here. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $16,370 wide, against $23,600 across Kentucky and $33,000 nationally: employers in Lexington-Fayette pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an executive assistant here

Local pay is bunched just above the median: the 75th percentile is only $5,130 over it, while the 25th sits $11,240 below. Moving an offer from the median to the 75th percentile costs about $6,619 more a year with benefits. 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 Lexington-Fayette, and the Kentucky statewide median of $62,410 falls between the 25th percentile and the median. An offer at the national rate would beat what three quarters of local executive assistants earn.

What a hire really costs in Lexington-Fayette

At the $64,840 median, a local hire costs about $83,665 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $18,825 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.

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 Lexington-Fayette

Of the 17 roles we track in Lexington-Fayette, this one ranks #5 by median pay, between marketing specialists ($65,280) and paralegals ($63,640). Project Coordinator is the highest at $84,520.

Measured against the US median, executive assistants rank #14 of the 17 roles we track in Lexington-Fayette (-15.3%), between office managers (-14.7%) and marketing specialists (-17.1%). The typical role here is at -7.8%, so, measured against the US, executive assistants cost less in Lexington-Fayette than the area's general pay level would suggest. Executive assistants hold 1.9% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Lexington-Fayette, 1.4% across Kentucky and 2.9% nationally. The job is a smaller part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Kentucky

Across the 10 areas of Kentucky with data for this job, the median runs from $54,660 in the East Kentucky nonmetro area to $64,840 in Lexington-Fayette, a gap of $10,180 a year. The one area in Kentucky with more executive assistants, Louisville, KY-IN ($63,380), pays less: a bigger pool at a lower median.

Lexington-Fayette against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Lexington-Fayette is #97 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 Kentucky, Las Cruces and Sherman-Denison pay just above Lexington-Fayette and Colorado Springs and Tampa-St. Petersburg just below. All four are within $130 a year of the median in Lexington-Fayette. Of the three markets with about as many executive assistants, all three pay more.

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