Costs · Operations
What a virtual assistant costs (context, not a price list)
BLS wage anchors by type of VA work (May 2025)
“Virtual assistant” is not a BLS occupation. The closest OEWS categories depend on what you will delegate. BLS’s handbook notes that some administrative assistants work from home as virtual assistants.
| BLS occupation | Median hourly | Closest VA task bundle |
|---|---|---|
| Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive (SOC 43-6014) | $22.86 | General admin: scheduling, inbox, documents |
| Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants (SOC 43-6011) | $36.82 | Executive support: calendar ownership, travel, stakeholder email |
| Data entry keyers (SOC 43-9021) | $19.88 | Data entry and list building |
| Customer service representatives (SOC 43-4051) | $21.53 | Support inbox and template replies |
| Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks (SOC 43-3031) | $24.36 | Bookkeeping tasks (see the bookkeeper guide) |
Spread for the broader secretaries and administrative assistants group (Occupational Outlook Handbook): median $48,310 per year; lowest 10% under $35,360, highest 10% over $77,720.
Hours-per-week budget math (illustrative)
VA work is usually bought by the hour with a weekly cap, so the budget is hours × rate, plus any marketplace fee. The table below runs that arithmetic on the BLS medians only to show scale. It is not a quote, and a freelancer’s rate can be above or below it.
| Scenario | Per week | Per month (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| 5 hours/week at $22.86 | $114.30 | $495 |
| 10 hours/week at $22.86 | $228.60 | $991 |
| 20 hours/week at $22.86 | $457.20 | $1,981 |
| 10 hours/week at $36.82 | $368.20 | $1,596 |
Add the client-side fee of whatever venue you use. Fee numbers live on our sister site: fee comparison and hourly vs fixed-price contracts.
How to size the hours before you ask for quotes
- List every recurring task for one normal week (inbox, scheduling, data entry, research, support replies).
- Time yourself doing each one, or estimate it, and total the hours.
- Add a learning buffer for the first month: questions, SOP writing, tool access.
- Set that total as the weekly cap on an hourly contract, or bundle one-off work (for example “clean up 500 CRM records”) as a fixed-price task.
- Run a short paid trial before committing to a monthly number. Steps are on where to hire a virtual assistant.
Things that change the price
- Judgment vs. procedure. Executive-style work (owning a calendar, writing on your behalf) maps to the higher executive-assistant wage line; checklist work maps to data entry or general admin.
- Response-time promises. Same-hour replies in your time zone cost more than next-business-day turnaround.
- Tools and seats. Delegated inbox seats, password-manager sharing and CRM licences are your cost, not the VA’s.
- Money movement. Keep payments and contracts with you at first. A VA handling books is a bookkeeper hire, a different job.
FAQ
Can I budget a virtual assistant at $22.86 an hour?
Only as context. $22.86 is the May 2025 BLS median hourly wage for U.S. employee administrative assistants (except legal, medical and executive). BLS wage data does not cover self-employed freelancers, and freelance quotes also cover taxes, tools and unbilled time, so collect real proposals against a written task list.
How many hours a week does a virtual assistant need?
There is no official figure. Estimate from your own task list: time each recurring task for a week, add a buffer for questions in the first month, and cap the contract at that number of hours.
Do you publish average Upwork or Fiverr virtual assistant rates?
No. Marketplace prices change constantly and are not official statistics. This page uses BLS employee wages as context and links to fee schedules instead of inventing averages.
Sources
- BLS — OEWS national employment and wage data by occupation, May 2025 (Table 1): www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm (checked Nov 9, 2026)
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Secretaries and Administrative Assistants: www.bls.gov/ooh/office-and-administrative-support/secretaries-and-administrative-assistants.htm (checked Nov 9, 2026)
- Best Freelance Platforms — Fee comparison: bestfreelanceplatforms.com/articles/fee-comparison
No affiliate links on this page. Figures change; re-check the official page before you rely on them.