Virtual Assistant vs In-House Hire: Cost and ROI Compared

Short answer: a full-time in-house administrative assistant costs about $69,000 a year once you add benefits and payroll taxes to the typical salary. A full-time, U.S.-managed virtual assistant from Go Hire Virtual costs $24,960 to $29,120 a year. That’s a difference of roughly $40,000 to $44,000 per year for one full-time role, before you count office space, equipment or recruiting.

The true cost of an in-house administrative assistant

Salary is only part of what an employee costs. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a 2025 median pay of $48,310 a year ($23.23 an hour) for secretaries and administrative assistants. On top of wages, private employers spend about 30% of total compensation on benefits and legally required costs like Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance, according to the BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation release (June 2026).

When wages are 70% of the total, a $48,310 salary works out to about $69,000 in total employer cost. That still leaves out:

• A desk, computer, phone and software licenses
• Office space and utilities
• Job ads, interview time and onboarding
• Paid time off, sick days and overtime coverage
• The cost of rehiring if the person leaves

Virtual assistant vs in-house hire: side-by-side cost

What about part time?

Many small businesses don’t need 40 hours of admin help. At 20 hours a week, a Go Hire Virtual assistant costs about $12,480 a year at $12/hr or $14,560 at $14/hr. Hiring a part-time employee for the same hours still brings payroll taxes, scheduling and management overhead, and part-time roles tend to turn over faster.

Time to productivity

A typical in-house hire means writing a job post, screening applicants, interviewing, waiting out a notice period and onboarding. That can take weeks or months before the person is fully productive. Go Hire Virtual shortlists pre-vetted candidates in 48 to 72 hours, and you interview them before you decide, so your assistant can start taking work off your plate much sooner.

Flexibility and scalability

With an employee, changing hours or roles often means renegotiating, rehiring or letting someone go. With a managed VA you can add hours during a busy season, scale down when things slow, or add a second assistant for a new role, with month-to-month plans available.

Where an in-house hire still wins

A virtual assistant isn’t the right fit for every job. Hire in-house when the role:

• Requires being physically present, such as greeting walk-in patients, handling mail or managing inventory
• Involves hands-on equipment or on-site tasks
• Needs someone who can make senior decisions inside your company every day

For phones, scheduling, inbox and calendar management, data entry, bookkeeping support, follow-ups and CRM updates, a virtual assistant usually delivers the same work at a fraction of the cost.

Annual savings by hours per week

You don’t need a full-time role to save money. This table compares a General VA at $12/hr with the same hours from an in-house assistant at about $33 an hour in total employer cost (the $69,000 figure above divided by 2,080 hours). Part-time employees often get fewer benefits, so treat the part-time rows as an upper estimate.

A Professional VA at $14/hr costs $7,280, $14,560 and $29,120 a year at the same hours. See how much a virtual assistant costs for monthly figures.

Which tasks to move to a VA first

The fastest savings come from work that is repeatable, screen-based and eating your best hours. Start with:

• Answering calls and returning voicemails
• Scheduling, rescheduling and appointment reminders
• Inbox management and follow-up emails
• Data entry, CRM updates and invoicing
• Following up on quotes, estimates and past customers
• Posting to social media and requesting reviews

Keep in-house the work that needs someone on site or a senior decision-maker. A free task audit helps sort your list into the two groups.

How to switch to a VA without disrupting your team

1. Write down the tasks. List each recurring task, how often it happens and how long it takes. This becomes your VA’s first checklist.
2. Record short how-to videos. A two-minute screen recording of how you schedule a job or send an invoice trains faster than a long document.
3. Start with one area. Hand off phones or scheduling first, check the results for two weeks, then add the next area.
4. Set a weekly check-in. Fifteen minutes a week to review open items keeps quality high and shows you where to add hours.

If you already have an in-house assistant, a VA can take the overflow work so your current staff can focus on tasks that need someone on site.

Calculate your own ROI

Use this simple formula to estimate what a VA is worth to you:

(Hours a week the VA takes off your plate × the value of your hour × 52) − annual VA cost = annual return

Example: an owner who bills or earns $100 an hour hands off 15 hours of admin a week to a $12/hr VA working 20 hours. That’s 15 × $100 × 52 = $78,000 of time freed up, minus $12,480 in VA cost, for about $65,500 in annual value. Real estate teams we work with save about 20 hours a week. Read the real estate study.

Want to see how your numbers compare? See our full breakdown of how much a virtual assistant costs or view our pricing plans.

VA vs. in-house cost by industry

The math above uses a general administrative role, but the gap is often larger in trades and practices where the front desk also books jobs, dispatches techs or handles insurance. Each of these pages includes an industry-specific side-by-side comparison:

• HVAC, plumbing and electrical companies replacing an in-house CSR or dispatcher
• Roofing and restoration companies that need help with insurance paperwork and collections
• Medical practices comparing a virtual medical receptionist with in-house front desk staff
• All trades on our home services virtual assistant hub

If you are ready to plan the switch, our 30-day onboarding timeline shows what to hand off each week.

Frequently asked questions

Is a virtual assistant less reliable than an in-house employee?

Not when the VA is managed. Go Hire Virtual’s U.S. team in South Salt Lake, Utah, vets and manages every assistant, and you interview your shortlist before you decide who to hire.

Are there hidden costs with a virtual assistant?

With Go Hire Virtual you pay one published hourly rate ($12/hr General or $14/hr Professional) with no long-term contract. Ask on your free task audit call exactly what is included for the role you need.

Can I switch from a VA to an in-house hire later?

Yes. Many clients start with a VA to cover admin work while they grow, then add in-house roles for on-site tasks.

Does a virtual assistant replace all my in-house staff?

Usually not. Most businesses use a VA to take repetitive admin work off their in-house team so those people can focus on customers and on-site work.

Is a virtual assistant more cost-effective than in-house staff?

For most small businesses, yes. A full-time Go Hire Virtual General VA costs about $24,960 a year at $12/hr. An in-house receptionist at the BLS median wage of $18.27/hr costs about $38,000 in wages alone, before payroll taxes, benefits, equipment, office space and turnover.

When does hiring in-house make more sense than a virtual assistant?

An in-house hire usually makes more sense when the role requires being physically on site, such as greeting walk-in patients, handling inventory or running equipment. Many businesses keep one in-house person for on-site work and use a VA for phones, scheduling, follow-up and data entry.

How long does it take a virtual assistant to become productive compared with a new employee?

A managed VA is typically matched in about one week and is already trained on common tools, so most owners hand off phones and scheduling in the first week and add more tasks over the first month. A new in-house hire often takes longer once you include posting the job, interviewing and training.

Get your free VA task audit

Tell us what’s eating your week. We’ll map which tasks a U.S.-managed VA can take over and what it would cost, starting at $12/hr.

ghv admin

See Full Bio