Best States for Executive Secretaries in 2026: New York Leads, New Jersey Pays the Most

Across the top 10 states for executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants, LaborCove’s data shows a mix of high-ranking markets with differing balances of salary levels, employment counts, and Geography Scores. Nationally, the occupation’s median salary sits at $76,590, with 459,910 employed and a projected national employment decline of 1.6%. Within that context, several top-ranked states have median salaries above the national figure, while employment counts vary widely—from New York’s large concentration of roles to much smaller state markets like Hawaii. The ranking itself does not always follow pay alone. California and New Jersey both have higher median salaries than New York, yet New York holds the #1 LaborCove Geography Score and the largest employment total among these top geographies. Further down the list, states such as Texas appear with mid-ranked Geography Scores alongside median salaries below the national median, while still showing sizable employment counts compared with several smaller New England and Pacific states.

At the national level, executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants have a median annual salary of $76,590 in 2026. National employment stands at 459,910 people in this occupation. LaborCove’s evidence also shows a national projected employment growth rate of -1.6% for this occupation. This projection applies to the occupation across the United States as a whole and is not broken out for individual states. Against this backdrop, several of the top-ranked states for this occupation have median salaries above the national median, while others sit below it. The following sections detail how specific states compare on salary, employment, and their LaborCove Geography Scores.

New York holds the #1 LaborCove ranking for executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants in 2026, with a Geography Score of 78.21. Its median salary of $80,640 is higher than the national median salary of $76,590. New York’s employment total of 88,890 is the largest employment market identified in the geographic data and the highest among the top 10 states listed. This employment figure is also larger than the employment counts reported for every other top-10 state in the LaborCove results. Among the states in the top 10, New York’s median salary is lower than the median salaries in California ($89,000) and New Jersey ($89,520). Despite this, New York’s LaborCove Geography Score ranks ahead of both states.

California ranks #2 in LaborCove’s list with a Geography Score of 77.06. Its median salary of $89,000 is higher than the national median salary of $76,590 and higher than New York’s median of $80,640. California’s employment count of 59,640 is smaller than New York’s 88,890 but larger than the employment counts of every other top-10 state besides New York. New Jersey is ranked #3, with a Geography Score of 58.94. It has the highest median salary among the top 10 states at $89,520, which is higher than both California’s $89,000 and New York’s $80,640, and it is also higher than the national median salary of $76,590. New Jersey’s employment count of 11,690 is smaller than California’s 59,640 and New York’s 88,890. This pattern shows that while New Jersey has the highest median salary in the top 10 and California has a higher median salary than New York, New York still holds the #1 Geography Score and California the #2, ahead of New Jersey at #3.

Massachusetts appears at #4 in the LaborCove rankings, with a Geography Score of 54.95. It has a median salary of $82,650, which is higher than the national median salary of $76,590 and higher than New York’s $80,640. Its employment count of 14,820 is smaller than New York’s 88,890 and California’s 59,640 but larger than the employment counts reported for Washington, New Jersey, Virginia, Connecticut, and Hawaii. Texas is ranked #5, with a Geography Score of 49.85. Texas has a median salary of $71,990, which is lower than the national median salary of $76,590. Its employment count of 34,520 is smaller than New York’s 88,890 and California’s 59,640 but larger than the employment counts in all other top-10 states. Washington at #6 has a Geography Score of 49.08 and a median salary of $79,250. This salary is higher than the national median salary of $76,590 and higher than Texas’s median salary of $71,990. Washington’s employment count of 11,560 is smaller than Texas’s 34,520 and Massachusetts’s 14,820.

Maryland ranks #7 with a Geography Score of 48.75. Its median salary is $78,540, which is higher than the national median salary of $76,590 and higher than Texas’s $71,990. Maryland’s employment count of 13,960 is smaller than Texas’s 34,520 but larger than the employment counts of Virginia, Connecticut, and Hawaii. Virginia is #8, with a Geography Score of 48.22 and a median salary of $80,330. This is higher than the national median salary of $76,590 and higher than Maryland’s median salary of $78,540. Virginia’s employment count of 10,360 is smaller than Maryland’s 13,960 but larger than Connecticut’s 6,490 and Hawaii’s 1,440. Connecticut at #9 has a Geography Score of 45.78 and a median salary of $82,520, which is higher than the national median salary of $76,590 and higher than Virginia’s $80,330. Its employment count of 6,490 is smaller than Virginia’s 10,360 but larger than Hawaii’s 1,440. Hawaii closes out the top 10 at #10, with a Geography Score of 45.66, a median salary of $80,710 (higher than the national median of $76,590), and the smallest employment count in the top 10 at 1,440.

LaborCove’s top 10 states for executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants illustrate that Geography Scores, pay levels, and employment counts can point in different directions. Some states rank highly with very large employment counts, such as New York and California, while others rank in the top 10 with much smaller employment totals, such as Connecticut and Hawaii. Similarly, the highest salaries do not automatically correspond to the highest Geography Scores. New Jersey’s median salary of $89,520 is higher than the median salaries in New York and California, yet New York ranks #1 and California #2, ahead of New Jersey at #3. For career and relocation planning, this means the LaborCove rankings are best used as a structured comparison tool: they show where salaries sit relative to the national median, how employment counts differ between states, and how those factors combine in the Geography Score. Individuals can then weigh these objective differences against their own priorities and circumstances.

LaborCove’s state rankings for executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants are built from authoritative labor-market data and the LaborCove Geography Score. For each state, we incorporate metrics such as median annual salary, employment counts, and other underlying labor-market factors into a single Geography Score that supports a ranked list. These rankings provide a structured view of how states compare on observable characteristics for this occupation, but they are not personalized recommendations. Career decisions should also consider individual preferences, employer fit, and non-labor-market factors that fall outside the scope of this data. LaborCove’s role is to surface clear, evidence-based comparisons so that users can combine them with their own priorities.