Construction virtual assistants are advertised from about $8 an hour at the low end to $15 an hour and up at other agencies, based on agency pricing pages we reviewed in October 2026. Helping Companies places construction-trained remote professionals starting at $17 an hour. An in-house administrative assistant costs about $33 an hour once employer benefits are counted, before you add a desk, a computer or the time it takes to hire.
The hourly rate is the easy part to compare. What that rate buys is harder to see, and it is where most of the real difference in cost sits.
What Does a Construction Virtual Assistant Cost in 2026?
There are four common ways to get administrative help into a construction office, and each is priced on a different basis:
| Option | Typical cost | What the price usually includes |
|---|---|---|
| General virtual assistant agency | Published rates from about $8 to $15+ an hour | An assistant with general office skills. Construction knowledge, software experience and whether the person works only for you vary by agency. |
| Freelancer from a marketplace | Set by each freelancer | Whoever you find. You run the search, the vetting and the replacement if it does not work out. |
| Construction-trained remote professional (Helping Companies) | Starting at $17 an hour | A professional screened for construction experience, software, English and availability, working your hours, part time or full time. We run the search and the hiring. |
| In-house administrative assistant | About $33 an hour with benefits | A local employee at the national median wage plus employer benefit costs. Recruiting, equipment, software and office space come on top. |
The rest of this guide explains where those numbers come from and what each one leaves out.
What Does an In-House Administrative Assistant Really Cost?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median wage for secretaries and administrative assistants outside legal, medical and executive roles at $47,540 a year in May 2025. That works out to about $22.86 an hour.
Wages are only part of the cost. In the BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation survey for June 2026, private employers paid an average of $11.51 an hour in benefits on top of $25.22 an hour in wages for office and administrative support workers. Benefits made up 31.3% of total compensation, including paid leave, insurance, retirement contributions and employer payroll taxes such as Social Security and Medicare.
Apply the same proportion to the median wage and an in-house assistant costs roughly this much:
| Cost | Per hour | Per year (2,080 hours) |
|---|---|---|
| Median wage | $22.86 | $47,540 |
| Benefits at the office and administrative support average | $10.43 | $21,700 |
| Total compensation | $33.29 | $69,240 |
That is before the costs no survey captures:
- Recruiting. Job board fees, hours spent reading applications and interviewing, and weeks of work piling up while the seat is empty.
- Equipment and software. A computer, monitors, a phone and a license for each system the role touches.
- Space. A desk in an office that may already be full.
- Training. Time from your office manager or project managers to teach your way of doing things.
- Turnover. When someone leaves, you pay most of these costs again.
What Does the Hourly Rate Leave Out?
Two assistants at the same rate can cost you very different amounts, because the true cost includes the hours your own team spends supporting them. Before you compare rates, compare these:
- Construction knowledge. An assistant who already understands submittals, RFIs, change orders, lien waivers and pay applications needs instructions. One who does not needs training, and your project manager is usually the one giving it.
- Dedicated or shared. Some services split one assistant across several clients. That can work for simple tasks, but it is hard to build up knowledge of your jobs that way.
- Hours and time zone. Work that needs a same-day answer from a superintendent or supplier needs someone working while they are.
- Communication. If the role talks to your customers, subcontractors or suppliers, clear written and spoken English is part of the job.
- Software. An assistant who already knows Procore, Buildertrend, QuickBooks or your estimating tools is productive sooner.
- Continuity. Every time the person changes, someone on your team teaches the job again.
A lower rate that takes two hours a week of your project manager's time can end up costing more than it saves.
Why Do Virtual Assistant Rates Vary So Much?
Mostly because providers are selling different things under the same name. A general virtual assistant manages an inbox and a calendar for any kind of business. A construction virtual assistant, in the sense most contractors mean, keeps project paperwork moving: logs, subcontractor documents, schedules, daily reports and follow-up with the field. Our guide to what a construction virtual assistant actually does covers the full range of that work.
Rates also reflect how much of the hiring work the provider takes on. A marketplace leaves the search, screening and replacement to you. An agency or staffing firm does some or all of that, and the work is part of the price. Our comparison of freelancers, staffing agencies and dedicated remote hires goes through the trade-offs.
How Should You Compare Quotes?
Ask every provider the same questions, and compare the answers rather than the rates:
- Will the person work only for my company, or across several clients?
- What construction experience do they have, and in which kind of work: commercial, residential, service or a specialty trade?
- Which of our software platforms have they used?
- How were they screened, and can I interview them before deciding?
- Which hours will they work, and how much do those hours overlap with ours?
- Who handles the hiring, and what support is there after the start date?
- How is access to our systems set up and removed?
On that last question, the right answer is that you control it. With Helping Companies, you grant access in your own systems at the permission level you choose, and you can change or remove it at any time.
How Much Could a Remote Assistant Save You?
The simplest estimate compares what your administrative hours cost today with what they would cost at a remote rate.
For example, 20 hours a week of administrative work at the fully loaded $33.29 an hour above costs about $666 a week. The same 20 hours at $17 an hour costs $340. The difference is about $326 a week, or roughly $16,900 a year. Rates depend on the role and the experience it needs, and $17 is where ours start. Your own numbers will differ, especially if some of those hours are being done today by a project manager or an owner whose time costs far more.
The savings calculator on our Construction Virtual Assistant page runs the same math with your own hours and rates.
Which Work Is Worth Paying For First?
The best return usually comes from work that is frequent, time-sensitive and already well understood by your team, because it is easy to hand over and costly when it slips:
- Keeping submittal, RFI and change order logs current
- Collecting subcontractor insurance certificates and lien waivers
- Scheduling, confirmations and customer follow-up
- Data entry into your project management or accounting software
- Chasing quotes from suppliers and subcontractors
For a longer list organized by department, see 25 tasks construction companies can delegate. If the work is mostly phones and scheduling, a customer service assistant may be the better fit. If it is general office support, look at the administrative assistant role.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a construction virtual assistant cost per hour?
Agency rates we reviewed in October 2026 started at about $8 an hour, with others at $15 an hour and up. Helping Companies places construction-trained professionals starting at $17 an hour. An in-house administrative assistant at the national median wage costs about $33 an hour once employer benefits are included.
Is a cheaper virtual assistant worth it for a construction company?
It can be for simple, well-defined tasks. For project paperwork, subcontractor follow-up or anything that needs construction knowledge, the hours your own team spends training and correcting usually matter more than a few dollars on the hourly rate.
What is the difference between a virtual assistant and a construction virtual assistant?
A general virtual assistant handles everyday office tasks for any business. A construction virtual assistant knows how construction paperwork works, such as submittals, RFIs, change orders and pay applications, and the software contractors use to manage it.
Can we hire a virtual assistant part time?
Yes. Professionals can work part time or full time, and the schedule is set while the role is being defined. Coverage is concentrated in Eastern Time, with Central, Mountain and Pacific Time supported once the professional's availability is confirmed against your hours.
What access does a remote assistant need to our systems?
Only what the role requires. You grant access in your own systems at the permission level you choose, and you can change or remove it at any time.
How quickly can we add someone?
Within a maximum of approximately two weeks we can normally present two to three pre-screened candidates who meet the requirements of the position and are ready to be interviewed. The final hiring time depends mainly on how quickly your own evaluation and decision process moves.
