Legal Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Wide pay band SOC 23-1021

Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers

The published band from $61,110 to $207,480 is the distinctive signal for this role, not a twin of Lawyers.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers: Lawyers ($160K) , Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers ($59K) , Judicial Law Clerks ($65K) , Legal Support Workers, All Other ($72K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 23-1021 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Determine existence and amount of liability according to current laws, administrative and judicial precedents, and available evidence
  2. 2. Monitor and direct the activities of trials and hearings to ensure that they are conducted fairly and that courts administer justice whil…
  3. 3. Prepare written opinions and decisions
  4. 4. Authorize payment of valid claims and determine method of payment
  5. 5. Conduct hearings to review and decide claims regarding issues, such as social program eligibility, environmental protection, or enforceme…
  6. 6. Research and analyze laws, regulations, policies, and precedent decisions to prepare for hearings and to determine conclusions
  7. 7. Review and evaluate data on documents, such as claim applications, birth or death certificates, or physician or employer records
  8. 8. Recommend the acceptance or rejection of claims or compromise settlements according to laws, regulations, policies, and precedent decisions
  9. 9. Rule on exceptions, motions, and admissibility of evidence
  10. 10. Explain to claimants how they can appeal rulings that go against them
  11. 11. Schedule hearings
  12. 12. Confer with individuals or organizations involved in cases to obtain relevant information

Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers: O*NET ranks Reading Comprehension first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 23-1021 - lead skill Reading Comprehension at 4.3 ; lead knowledge Law and Government. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Reading Comprehension 4.3
  2. 2. Active Listening 4.3
  3. 3. Critical Thinking 4.3
  4. 4. Writing 4.1
  5. 5. Judgment and Decision Making 4.1
  6. 6. Speaking 4.0
  7. 7. Social Perceptiveness 3.9
  8. 8. Complex Problem Solving 3.9

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Law and Government 4.8
  2. 2. English Language 4.1
  3. 3. Customer and Personal Service 3.9
  4. 4. Administrative 3.4
  5. 5. Medicine and Dentistry 3.3
  6. 6. Administration and Management 3.3
Published pay band (10th to 90th)
$61,110 to $207,480
median $117,860 · ~3.4× spread
$118K
National median
↓ -1%
Growth 2024-2034
500
Annual openings
16,370
Estimated US jobs
Lawyers
Highest-pay peer · $160K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Doctoral or professional degree
Related experience 5 years or more

Top Paying States for Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers

1. Indiana $145,290
2. District of Columbia $181,060
3. Michigan $127,420
4. Alabama $134,810
5. New Jersey $128,320
6. Missouri $129,670
7. Maryland $133,460
8. North Carolina $129,960
9. Wisconsin $132,250
10. Kansas $126,570

Other Legal Occupations titles

  1. 1. Judicial Law Clerks $64,920
  2. 2. Legal Support Workers, All Other $72,110
  3. 3. Paralegals and Legal Assistants $62,890
  4. 4. Arbitrators, Mediators, and Conciliators $75,530
  5. 5. Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers $58,650
  6. 6. Lawyers $159,670

The OEWS band for Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers runs from $61,110 (10th) to $207,480 (90th), about 3.4× wide, with median $117,860. That spread, not the midpoint alone, is the distinctive published fact.

Employment Projections expect -1% change between 2024 and 2034 (declining vs baseline 3.1%). About 500 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns Doctoral or professional degree as typical education needed for entry and 5 years or more as the typical related-work-experience category. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Indiana at $145,290. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Lawyers at $159,670. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers pay-rank #3 in Legal Occupations

Among 8 detailed Legal Occupations with a published OEWS median, Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers is pay-rank #3, the upper third of that major group. The order is ROW_NUMBER on national median (title as tiebreak), not a worker-level percentile.

Other upper-third titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

SOC 23-1021 · national median $117,860 · upper third of Legal Occupations (#3/8). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 23-1021

Indiana · top state for Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers

$145K published median

District of Columbia · #2 state pay

$181K · behind Indiana

Lawyers

Highest-pay peer vs Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers · $160K

Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers

Lower-pay peer beside Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers · $59K

Compare Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers with another occupation →

Pay-band next reads

Entry-Level vs Experienced Pay

What percentile bands reveal

Using Salary Data for Negotiation

Leverage BLS percentiles

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Legal Occupations titles sit near Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers at the top of the pay table? ▼
Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers is pay-rank #3 of 8 detailed Legal Occupations with an OEWS median, upper third. Nearest upper-third titles: Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates ($154K), Lawyers ($160K). Rank is ROW_NUMBER on national median.
What do administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers. Leading ones include: Determine existence and amount of liability according to current laws, administrative and judicial precedents, and available evidence; Monitor and direct the activities of trials and hearings to ensure that they are conducted fairly and that courts administer justice whil…; Prepare written opinions and decisions; Authorize payment of valid claims and determine method of payment. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers? ▼
For SOC 23-1021, O*NET importance scores lead with Reading Comprehension (4.3), Active Listening (4.3), Critical Thinking (4.3), Writing (4.1). Knowledge areas emphasize Law and Government, English Language, Customer and Personal Service. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
How wide is the published pay band for Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers? ▼
OEWS places the 10th percentile at $61,110 and the 90th at $207,480 for Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers (3.4× spread). The national median is $117,860. OEWS does not isolate experience, employer, or geography as the cause of that spread.
What employment change does BLS publish for Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers is -1%. Projected annual openings: about 500. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: declining.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers? ▼
BLS assigns Doctoral or professional degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers. Related-work-experience category: 5 years or more. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers? ▼
Indiana ($145,290), District of Columbia ($181,060), Michigan ($127,420) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 23-1021. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics