Executive Assistant salary in Phoenix-Mesa, AZ

Pay in Phoenix-Mesa against Arizona and the US

The middle half of executive assistants in Phoenix-Mesa earns $59,800–$84,920. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $104,790, only 1.9 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 $25,120 wide, against $26,130 across Arizona and $33,000 nationally: employers in Phoenix-Mesa pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an executive assistant here

An offer at the 75th percentile instead of the median adds $10,910 a year in pay and about $14,077 in employer cost. Going down to the 25th percentile saves $14,210 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 median and the 75th percentile in Phoenix-Mesa, and the Arizona statewide median of $70,770 falls between the 25th percentile and the median.

What a hire really costs in Phoenix-Mesa

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 $21,487 to the $74,010 median and brings it to $95,497 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 $95,497 a local hire costs here, you could cover about 6.6 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 Phoenix-Mesa

Of the 17 roles we track in Phoenix-Mesa, this one ranks #6 by median pay, between marketing specialists ($74,590) and office managers ($65,470). Project Coordinator is the highest at $100,780.

Measured against the US median, executive assistants rank #13 of the 17 roles we track in Phoenix-Mesa (-3.4%), between recruiters (-1.7%) and accountants (-3.4%). The typical role here is at -0.4%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Executive assistants hold 1.9% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Phoenix-Mesa, 1.9% across Arizona and 2.9% nationally. The job is a smaller part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Arizona

Across the 8 areas of Arizona with data for this job, the median runs from $50,340 in Sierra Vista-Douglas to $74,010 in Phoenix-Mesa, a gap of $23,670 a year. No other area in Arizona has as many executive assistants, and all 7 others pay less.

Phoenix-Mesa against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Phoenix-Mesa is #18 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 Arizona, Watertown-Fort Drum and Milwaukee-Waukesha pay just above Phoenix-Mesa and Nashville-Murfreesboro and San Antonio-New Braunfels just below. All four are within $310 a year of the median in Phoenix-Mesa. 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.