Virtual assistants are distant workers who coordinate with customers that require assistance. As a virtual assistant, you will typically perform managerial or clerical operations like making appointments and handling calendars. You would have to also organize soft copies of a record and write email letters.

For this role, you have to handle the email of your customers and reply to inquisitions and other messages. Besides replying to email, you must always respond to phone calls, dial for customers, and take messages. You may have to take care of jobs related to traveling for your customers, like making flight and hotel reservations, among others. In addition to these, you are required to keep the organization's social media account and online website up to date.

To qualify for this role, you must display excellent communication, interpersonal, and writing skills. Also, you must have a bachelor's degree in communication or business. Having an associate degree could also be used as an alternative depending on the employer. As a virtual assistant, you will earn an average of $24,864 annually or $11.95 per hour.

What Does a Virtual Assistant Do

There are certain skills that many virtual assistants have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed interpersonal skills, organizational skills and writing skills.

Learn more about what a Virtual Assistant does

How To Become a Virtual Assistant

If you're interested in becoming a virtual assistant, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 53.8% of virtual assistants have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 7.0% of virtual assistants have master's degrees. Even though most virtual assistants have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Virtual Assistant Career Paths

Average Salary for a Virtual Assistant

Virtual Assistants in America make an average salary of $39,915 per year or $19 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $54,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $29,000 per year.
Average Virtual Assistant Salary
$39,915 Yearly
$19.19 hourly

What Am I Worth?

salary-calculator

States With The Most Virtual Assistant Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active virtual assistant jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where virtual assistants earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Virtual Assistant Jobs By State

Virtual Assistant Education

Virtual Assistant Majors

30.9 %

Virtual Assistant Degrees

Bachelors

53.8 %

Associate

21.6 %

High School Diploma

8.7 %

Top Colleges for Virtual Assistants

1. Western Carolina University

Cullowhee, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$3,926

Enrollment

9,835

2. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

3. Ball State University

Muncie, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,896

Enrollment

15,529

4. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

5. Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green, OH • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,105

Enrollment

13,729

6. Cedar Crest College

Allentown, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$39,216

Enrollment

1,303

7. Morgan State University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,900

Enrollment

6,404

8. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

9. Siena Heights University

Adrian, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$27,124

Enrollment

2,035

10. University of Akron

Akron, OH • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,463

Enrollment

13,676

Top Skills For a Virtual Assistant

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 9.3% of virtual assistants listed data entry on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and organizational skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Virtual Assistant Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Virtual Assistant templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Virtual Assistant resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Virtual Assistant diversity

Virtual Assistant Gender Distribution

Female
Female
88%
Male
Male
12%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among virtual assistants, 87.6% of them are women, while 12.4% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among virtual assistants is White, which makes up 66.5% of all virtual assistants.

  • The most common foreign language among virtual assistants is Spanish at 62.1%.

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Best States For a Virtual Assistant

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a virtual assistant. The best states for people in this position are Hawaii, Washington, Alaska, and Rhode Island. Virtual assistants make the most in Hawaii with an average salary of $53,760. Whereas in Washington and Alaska, they would average $53,236 and $52,452, respectively. While virtual assistants would only make an average of $51,483 in Rhode Island, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Alaska

Total Virtual Assistant Jobs: 68
Highest 10% Earn:
$58,000
Location Quotient:
1.63

2. District of Columbia

Total Virtual Assistant Jobs: 96
Highest 10% Earn:
$80,000
Location Quotient:
1.15

3. Wyoming

Total Virtual Assistant Jobs: 34
Highest 10% Earn:
$59,000
Location Quotient:
1.14
Full List Of Best States For Virtual Assistants

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Top Virtual Assistant Employers

We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ virtual assistants and discovered their number of virtual assistant opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Fancy Hands was the best, especially with an average salary of $42,437. Zirtual follows up with an average salary of $42,437, and then comes Independent Contractor with an average of $42,308. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a virtual assistant. The employers include JPMorgan Chase & Co., Atrius Health, and Krch Realty

Most Common Employers For Virtual Assistant

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Innovative Solutions$51,405$24.713
2Internet Marketing Association$43,141$20.744
3InterAction$42,507$20.444
4Fancy Hands$42,437$20.4087
5Zirtual$42,437$20.4049
6Independent Contractor$42,308$20.3415
7BELAY$42,114$20.256
8Souls$42,073$20.233
9Thumbtack$40,985$19.702
10athenahealth$40,294$19.374