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Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants pay in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA and Watertown-Fort Drum, NY
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants is $106,220 per year in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. It is $74,090 per year in Watertown-Fort Drum, NY. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA is 43.4% above Watertown-Fort Drum, NY on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 43-6011 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 5,300 wage and salary jobs in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA and 180 in Watertown-Fort Drum, NY. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
