2026 · Virtual Assistant
Virtual Assistant freelance rate
The floor rate a freelance virtual assistant needs, with this field's overhead and billable reality built into the math, not a generic salary split.
What shapes a virtual assistant's rate
Overhead. Minimal, subscriptions, a reliable machine and connection. The cost is time between clients, not equipment.
Billable reality. Task-switching and coordination are hard to bill fully; retainer hours protect the floor better than piecework.
Not hours worked, hours you can actually invoice.
Holidays, sick days, gaps between clients.
What your employer used to cover. From the COBRA/marketplace tool if you have it.
Software, equipment, insurance, accounting.
Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere, it runs in your browser.
The floor, worked out
At 30 billable hours a week and $80,000 of target take-home, the floor here is about $85/hr, 1.52× the $56/hr you'd get dividing take-home by hours. You'd gross $121,931 over 1440 billable hours. Adjust the inputs above to your own numbers.
Get your market number
This is the rate you need, not the going rate. For the market, look up Secretaries and Administrative Assistants (43-6014) on the BLS OES and convert the salary to an hourly benchmark. If your floor sits above the market, something, the target, the hours, or the overhead, has to move. No going rate is invented on this page.
Questions about virtual assistant rates
What hourly rate should a virtual assistant charge?
The rate you need depends on your target take-home, costs, and billable hours, for an $80,000 take-home at 30 billable hours a week, the floor here lands near $85/hr ($677/day). Compare that to the market for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants (43-6014) on the BLS. This page never invents a going rate.
How much can a virtual assistant actually bill in a week?
Task-switching and coordination are hard to bill fully; retainer hours protect the floor better than piecework.
What overhead does a virtual assistant carry?
Minimal, subscriptions, a reliable machine and connection. The cost is time between clients, not equipment. It's deductible against your income, but it still has to be covered by the rate.
Related
An estimate for 2026. Tax math from the site's engine; market wages not included, bring your own from BLS. Nothing stored. Not financial advice.