PA Salary Guide & Career Outlook


Personal assistants in the United States make around $39,221 and in Canada, it is very similar at C$39,732 ($29,473). A PA salary is higher in Australia and New Zealand at AU$54,619 ($40,937) and NZ$53,375 ($37,394). In South Africa, they earn R149,501 ($11,257) and in India it is Rs 249,069 ($3,852).

This article covers the salary range in seven countries as well as the impact of experience and industry on a PA career. The job benefits and working schedule are outlined. The final section of the article covers the job outlook.

How Much Does a Personal Assistant Make per Year by Country?

PA Salary US Canada UK Australia New Zealand India South Africa
Hourly Pay $14.74 C$17.92 ($13.29) E9.87 ($10.57) AU$24.54 ($18.39) NZ$21.33 ($14.94) Rs 119.74 ($1.85) R67.06 ($5.05)
Annual Pay $39,221 C$39,732 ($29,473) E25,003 ($26,779) AU$54,619 ($40,937) NZ$53,375 ($37,394) Rs 249,069 ($3,852) R149,501 ($11,257)

An (*) indicates that the hourly rate was not available and was extrapolated from the annual salary.

PA Salary Influencing Factors

The salary for personal assistants reflects the nature of their job and the person who is employing them. For example, personal assistants who freelance will earn more than those who work for an agency. All of the salary ranges shown below come from Payscale data.

1. Location

How Much Does a Personal Assistant Make in the US?

PA Salary US Per Year Per Hour
Minimum  $21,615  $9.87
Maximum  $73,356  $24.74
Bonus/Tip  $304.98 to $10,365  No additional pay
Overtime No additional pay  $13 to $38,30
Total Pay  $20,686 to $61,254

How Much Does a Personal Assistant Make in Canada?

PA Salary Canada Per Year Per Hour
Minimum  C$23,457  C$12,00
Maximum  C$62,028  C$25,07
Bonus/Tip  16 to C$9,899  No additional pay
Overtime  No additional pay  C$27,73
Total Pay  C$24,475 to C$54,424

How Much Does a Personal Assistant Make in the UK?

PA Salary UK Per Year Per Hour
Minimum  E17,468  E7,10
Maximum  E35,199  E15,10
Bonus/Tip  E500 to E4,653  No additional pay
Overtime No additional pay  E6,50 to E19,06
Total Pay  E16,725 to E35,462

How Much Does a Personal Assistant Make in Australia?

PA Salary Australia Per Year Per Hour
Minimum  AU$38,777  AU$18,65
Maximum  AU$72,827  AU$31,70
Bonus/Tip  AU$608 to AU$8,384  AU$3,63
Overtime  No additional pay  AU$10,26 to AU$49,55
Total Pay  AU$41,355 to AU$90,789

How Much Does a Personal Assistant Make in New Zealand?

PA Salary New Zealand Per Year Per Hour
Minimum  NZ$42,037  NZ$16,55
Maximum  NZ$66,163  NZ$28,19
Bonus/Tip  NZ$996 TO NZ$5,068  No additional pay
Overtime  No additional pay  NZ$33,00
Total Pay  NZ$38,039 to NZ$64,847

How Much Does a Personal Assistant Make in India?

PA Salary India Per Year Per Hour
Minimum  Rs 130,764  Rs 62,86*
Maximum  Rs 659,463  Rs 317,04*
Bonus/Tip  Rs 4,932 to Rs 193,916  No additional pay
Overtime  No additional pay  No additional pay
Total Pay  Rs 131,935 to Rs 659,042

How Much Does a Personal Assistant Make in South Africa?

PA Salary South Africa Per Year Per Hour
Minimum  R60,270  R17,25
Maximum  R298,576  R147,40
Bonus/Tip  R3,931 to R39,205  No additional pay
Overtime  No additional pay  R1,45 to R236,65
Total Pay  R60,171 to R304,274

2. Experience

The salary in New Zealand and Australia increases slightly throughout their career by about NZ$10,000 and AU$12,500. In Canada, the pay increases sharply for the first five years of employment and then plateaus. On the other hand, there are large increases in pay with more experience from 27 percent below the median to 60 percent above in South Africa. In India, late-career personal assistants earn 111 percent above the median. However, in the United Kingdom, pay does not increase drastically with experience as there is only a E4,000 dollar difference. Meanwhile, the salary in the United States starts 5 percent below the median and ends 39 percent above.

The most common years of experience for personal assistants in all of the countries included in this article is 1 to 4 years.

3. Industry

Theoretically, personal assistants could work for someone in any industry. However, their specific industry is professional services. Furthermore, the industry that the person who hired the assistant works in will impact the activities and expectations of that assistant. Therefore, someone who is in the film industry may expect the assistant to pick up their clothes for an event or go over their script with them. Alternatively, an assistant to a politician may need to schedule events and work with the speech writers for an upcoming presentation.

At the same time, when looking at locations worldwide, personal assistants have a higher than normal salary in Auckland (!5) and Wellington (11), New Zealand; Sydney (11), AU,;Sandton, SA; New Delhi (15), IN; London (19); San Francisco (83); New York (58); and Seattle (40).

Valuable skills are event planning, travel planning, and office administration. It is important to remember then that a unique asset in the United Kingdom that increases pay is the ability to speak French.

Schedule & Working Hours

Choosing to be a PA necessitates a lack of flexibility in hours worked. Personal assistants can truly work at any time of the day and for any number of hours a week. Their schedule is tied to the person that they are assisting. Acordingly, this may involve scheduling travel plans during the day and sometimes it could involve driving children to various activities or cleaning up after a meal. Overall, the personal assistant will predominately complete tasks similar to that of an office administrator, but that really depends on what the person needs.

They will frequently have to be on-call or could have unexpected days off if there is no assistance needed.

Bonuses & Benefits

The largest benefit for a PA is the network they gain access to by assisting a person in power. As a result, if you do a good job and are honest and reliable then you may be connected to additional job opportunities.

Other benefits are really up to the person you are working for. For example, some companies that have a collection of personal assistants will provide benefits such as retirement, healthcare, and flexible spending accounts. These benefits will be less likely if you are a freelance PA. However, depending on the financial capital and attitude of the person who hired the assistant, they may provide some level of benefit.

The table below shows healthcare benefits by country.

Country United States Canada United Kingdom Australia New Zealand India South Africa
Medical 26 35 31 3 17 44 29
Dental 17 30 9 1 1 3 3
Vision 13 18 16 1 6 3 3
None 72 61 60 96 78 56 70

Career Outlook

Personal assistants have several options for career advancement. Someone who can afford a PA will likely have connections. This network can lead to more opportunities. In addition, they can transition to being an office manager or executive personal assistant because the job duties they complete during their time as a PA translate to many other jobs.

There was not a specified job outlook for personal assistants. A lot of opportunity for jobs depends on location and local economy. Naturally, a more affluent area will have more openings for personal assistants. The national economy is not a good indicator of job opportunities for personal assistants.

There are significantly more females in this profession. In New Zealand and Australia, personal assistants are 97 percent female, in South Africa and the United Kingdom, they are 96 percent female. The exception to this is in India where 54 percent of personal assistants are men.

Conclusion

A PA career infers that you will be helping one person with whatever they need help with. This could be scheduling appointments, planning vacations, or taking messages. In addition, you could also be running errands, driving children around, and attending school functions. The wide variety of tasks really depends on what the person needs in their assistant. If you enjoy office tasks but want a larger portfolio of expectations than a job as a PA could be the perfect combination for your skill set.

If helping people is your passion then take a look at the RN Salary Guide& Career Outlook.

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