Executive Assistant salary in San Diego-Chula Vista, CA

Pay in San Diego-Chula Vista against California and the US

Executive assistants at the 90th percentile earn $121,770, 2.2 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 2.2. The middle half of executive assistants in San Diego-Chula Vista earns $68,430–$101,330. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $32,900 wide, against $34,980 across California and $33,000 nationally: employers in San Diego-Chula Vista pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an executive assistant here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $16,110 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $16,790, or about $21,665 once benefits are added. 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 San Diego-Chula Vista, and the California statewide median of $89,000 falls between the median and the 75th percentile.

What a hire really costs in San Diego-Chula Vista

At the $84,540 median, a local hire costs about $109,084 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $24,544 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 $109,084 a local hire costs here, you could cover about 7.5 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 San Diego-Chula Vista

Of the 17 roles we track in San Diego-Chula Vista, this one ranks #3 by median pay, between accountants ($96,340) and recruiters ($81,300). Project Coordinator is the highest at $117,460.

Measured against the US median, executive assistants rank #8 of the 17 roles we track in San Diego-Chula Vista (+10.4%), between medical administrative assistants (+12.5%) and HR assistants (+10.3%). The typical role here is at +10.3%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Executive assistants hold 3.5% of the jobs in the 16 of these roles with a job count in San Diego-Chula Vista, 3.8% across California and 3.1% 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 3 areas in California with more executive assistants than San Diego-Chula Vista, 1 pays less: Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA ($82,850).

San Diego-Chula Vista against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, San Diego-Chula Vista is #19 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, Boston-Cambridge and Washington-Arlington pay just above San Diego-Chula Vista and Kahului-Wailuku and New York-Newark just below. 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.