Executive Assistant salary in Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA

Pay in Santa Rosa-Petaluma against California and the US

Executive assistants at the 90th percentile earn $132,650, 2.2 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 2.2. The middle half of executive assistants in Santa Rosa-Petaluma earns $76,510–$114,010. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is $37,500 wide, wider than in California as a whole ($34,980) and the US ($33,000), so what a executive assistant earns in Santa Rosa-Petaluma depends more on the employer.

What to budget for an executive assistant here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $15,730 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $21,770, or about $28,090 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 Santa Rosa-Petaluma, and the California statewide median of $89,000 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Santa Rosa-Petaluma

At the $92,240 median, a local hire costs about $119,019 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $26,779 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 $119,019 a local hire costs here, you could cover about 8.2 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 Santa Rosa-Petaluma

Of the 17 roles we track in Santa Rosa-Petaluma, this one ranks #3 by median pay, between accountants ($94,690) and recruiters ($81,540). Project Coordinator is the highest at $107,340.

Measured against the US median, executive assistants rank #5 of the 17 roles we track in Santa Rosa-Petaluma (+20.4%), between bookkeepers (+20.7%) and virtual receptionists (+19.8%). The typical role here is at +15.7%, so, measured against the US, executive assistants cost more in Santa Rosa-Petaluma than the area's general pay level would suggest. Executive assistants hold 2.8% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Santa Rosa-Petaluma, 3.6% across California and 2.9% nationally. That is close to the national mix.

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 11 areas in California with more executive assistants than Santa Rosa-Petaluma, 9 pay less, the largest of them Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA ($82,850), San Diego-Chula Vista, CA ($84,540) and Riverside-San Bernardino, CA ($73,290).

Santa Rosa-Petaluma against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Santa Rosa-Petaluma is #117 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, Bridgeport-Stamford pay just above Santa Rosa-Petaluma and Washington-Arlington and Boston-Cambridge just below. Of the three markets with about as many executive assistants, none pays as much.

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