Executive Assistant salary in Wilmington, NC

Pay in Wilmington against North Carolina and the US

Executive assistants at the 90th percentile earn $90,100, 2.1 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 2.2. The middle half of executive assistants in Wilmington earns $51,010–$77,230. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is $26,220 wide, between the figure for North Carolina ($24,780) and the US figure ($33,000).

What to budget for an executive assistant here

An offer at the 75th percentile instead of the median adds $14,300 a year in pay and about $18,452 in employer cost. Going down to the 25th percentile saves $11,920 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 Wilmington, and the North Carolina statewide median of $70,140 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Wilmington

At the $62,930 median, a local hire costs about $81,200 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $18,270 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.

A local hire here costs about 5.6 times as much as a remote hire in year one at the midpoint of our range. From year two, when the fee drops out, it is 6.8 times the remote figure of $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 Wilmington

Of the 17 roles we track in Wilmington, this one ranks #6 by median pay, between recruiters ($64,440) and office managers ($60,430). Project Coordinator is the highest at $89,120.

Measured against the US median, this job is the lowest paid of the 17 roles we track in Wilmington (-17.8%); e-commerce order specialists come first (-2.8%). The typical role here is at -10.9%, so, measured against the US, executive assistants cost less in Wilmington than the area's general pay level would suggest. Executive assistants hold 1.7% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Wilmington, 1.7% across North Carolina and 2.9% nationally. The job is a smaller part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in North Carolina

Across the 18 areas of North Carolina with data for this job, the median runs from $49,720 in Goldsboro to $79,900 in Charlotte-Concord, a gap of $30,180 a year. Of the 5 areas in North Carolina with more executive assistants than Wilmington, 1 pays less: the Western North Carolina nonmetro area ($58,980).

Wilmington against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Wilmington is #156 of 506 US areas for this job. Both its size and its pay sit in the middle half of US areas. Outside North Carolina, Daphne-Fairhope and Columbus pay just above Wilmington and Bozeman and Paducah just below. All four are within $70 a year of the median in Wilmington. Of the three markets with about as many executive assistants, one pays more.

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Sources

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