Executive Assistant salary in Winston-Salem, NC

Pay in Winston-Salem against North Carolina and the US

The middle half of executive assistants in Winston-Salem earns $60,850–$80,120. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $91,990, only 1.8 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 $19,270 wide, against $24,780 across North Carolina and $33,000 nationally: employers in Winston-Salem pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an executive assistant here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $12,260 over the median, the 25th only $7,010 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $15,819 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 median and the 75th percentile in Winston-Salem, and the North Carolina statewide median of $70,140 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Winston-Salem

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 $19,701 to the $67,860 median and brings it to $87,561 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 $87,561 a local hire costs here, you could cover about 6.0 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 Winston-Salem

Of the 17 roles we track in Winston-Salem, this one ranks #5 by median pay, between recruiters ($68,540) and office managers ($62,330). Project Coordinator is the highest at $79,560.

Measured against the US median, executive assistants rank #12 of the 17 roles we track in Winston-Salem (-11.4%), between HR assistants (-11.0%) and payroll specialists (-14.2%). The typical role here is at -9.7%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Executive assistants hold 2.0% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Winston-Salem, 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 3 areas in North Carolina with more executive assistants than Winston-Salem, 2 pay less: Durham-Chapel Hill, NC ($64,170) and Greensboro-High Point, NC ($66,140).

Winston-Salem against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Winston-Salem is #111 of 506 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job, with pay near the middle of the US range. Outside North Carolina, Decatur and Wausau pay just above Winston-Salem and Virginia Beach-Chesapeake and Naples-Marco Island just below. All four are within $270 a year of the median in Winston-Salem. 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.