Executive Assistant salary in Modesto, CA

Pay in Modesto against California and the US

The middle half of executive assistants in Modesto earns $60,890–$87,820. The top tenth earns $101,490 or more, 2.1 times the bottom tenth, close to the US pattern of 2.2 times. The mean ($76,870) 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 $26,930 wide, against $34,980 across California and $33,000 nationally: employers in Modesto 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 $9,920 over it, while the 25th sits $17,010 below. Moving an offer from the median to the 75th percentile costs about $12,800 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 25th percentile and the median in Modesto, and the California statewide median of $89,000 falls between the 75th and 90th percentiles.

What a hire really costs in Modesto

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 $22,616 to the $77,900 median and brings it to $100,516 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 $100,516 a local hire costs here, you could cover about 6.9 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 Modesto

Of the 17 roles we track in Modesto, this one ranks #3 by median pay, between accountants ($83,560) and recruiters ($77,070). Project Coordinator is the highest at $102,490.

Measured against the US median, executive assistants rank #10 of the 17 roles we track in Modesto (+1.7%), between customer support specialists (+5.5%) and recruiters (+1.5%). The typical role here is at +5.5%, so, measured against the US, executive assistants cost less in Modesto than the area's general pay level would suggest. Executive assistants hold 3.6% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Modesto, 3.6% across California and 2.9% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in California

Across the 28 areas of California with data for this job, the median runs from $64,470 in Hanford-Corcoran to $106,220 in San Jose-Sunnyvale, a gap of $41,750 a year. Of the 9 areas in California with more executive assistants than Modesto, 3 pay less: Riverside-San Bernardino, CA ($73,290), Fresno, CA ($77,610) and Bakersfield-Delano, CA ($72,860).

Modesto against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Modesto is #108 of 506 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job and one of the better-paying ones. Outside California, Baltimore-Columbia and Mount Vernon-Anacortes pay just above Modesto and Chicago-Naperville and Richmond just below. All four are within $770 a year of the median in Modesto. Of the three markets with about as many executive assistants, none pays as much.

Questions

Sources

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