Executive Assistant salary in San Jose-Sunnyvale, CA

Pay in San Jose-Sunnyvale against California and the US

Executive assistants at the 90th percentile earn $157,580, 2.1 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 2.2. The middle half of executive assistants in San Jose-Sunnyvale earns $91,590–$133,640. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is $42,050 wide, wider than in California as a whole ($34,980) and the US ($33,000), so what a executive assistant earns in San Jose-Sunnyvale depends more on the employer.

What to budget for an executive assistant here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $27,420 over the median, the 25th only $14,630 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $35,381 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 10th and 25th percentiles in San Jose-Sunnyvale, and the California statewide median of $89,000 falls there too. An offer at the national rate would be lower than what three quarters of local executive assistants earn.

What a hire really costs in San Jose-Sunnyvale

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 $30,838 to the $106,220 median and brings it to $137,058 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 $137,058 a local hire costs here, you could cover about 9.5 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 Jose-Sunnyvale

Of the 17 roles we track in San Jose-Sunnyvale, this one ranks #6 by median pay, between recruiters ($112,140) and paralegals ($99,250). Marketing Specialist is the highest at $141,960.

Measured against the US median, executive assistants rank #7 of the 17 roles we track in San Jose-Sunnyvale (+38.7%), between accountants (+45.4%) and office managers (+36.7%). The typical role here is at +35.1%, so, measured against the US, executive assistants cost more in San Jose-Sunnyvale than the area's general pay level would suggest. Executive assistants hold 4.8% of the jobs in these 17 roles in San Jose-Sunnyvale, 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. All 2 areas in California with more executive assistants than San Jose-Sunnyvale pay less, among them Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA ($82,850) and San Francisco-Oakland, CA ($105,190).

San Jose-Sunnyvale against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, San Jose-Sunnyvale is #16 of 506 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job and one of the better-paying ones. No US metro area pays executive assistants more than San Jose-Sunnyvale; the table shows the next highest outside California. 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.