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Executive Assistant

$74,260
median pay per year
full range coming in the next data update

What the job actually is

Manage a senior leader's schedule, correspondence, meetings, and travel, and handle information others don't see.

Where you work

Corporate and executive offices

The hours

Full-time, daytime

By the numbers

May 2024–25 BLS wage data · 2024–34 BLS employment projections.

Median pay
$74,260
per year
What most earn
range coming soon
Openings a year
~50,000
projected, 2024–34
Outlook to 2034
-2%
Declining
Working in the U.S.
502,800
people, nationwide

Openings a year counts new jobs plus the ones that open when people retire or move on — a truer picture of your odds than growth alone.

“Median” means half earn more and half earn less. Your city, employer, and years on the job move it a lot — that is what the 10th-to-90th range shows.

How you get in

Typical starting education

High school / no degree

Training path: Learn on the job.

License or certification

No license required to start in most places.

You can earn while you train. This field has a genuinely paid pathway in — an apprenticeship, a paid academy, or employer-funded training — so you draw a paycheck instead of taking on debt to learn it.

What it takes

OrganizationDiscretionCommunicationScheduling

The honest take

The best-paid of the office-support jobs — but shrinking as leaders self-manage calendars and email.

Standard Occupational Classification 43-6011. Pay, employment, and outlook from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS wage survey and 2024–34 employment projections). See something off? Tell us.