Office and Administrative Support Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Wide pay band SOC 43-6012

Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

The published band from $36,500 to $91,730 is the distinctive signal for this role, not a twin of Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants: Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators ($58K) , Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks ($51K) , Communications Equipment Operators, All Other ($55K) , Financial Clerks, All Other ($54K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 43-6012 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Organize and maintain law libraries, documents, and case files
  2. 2. Mail, fax, or arrange for delivery of legal correspondence to clients, witnesses, and court officials
  3. 3. Prepare and distribute invoices to bill clients or pay account expenses
  4. 4. Prepare, proofread, or process legal documents, such as summonses, subpoenas, complaints, appeals, motions, or pretrial agreements
  5. 5. Make photocopies of correspondence, documents, and other printed matter
  6. 6. Assist attorneys in collecting information such as employment, medical, and other records
  7. 7. Complete various forms, such as accident reports, trial and courtroom requests, and applications for clients
  8. 8. Receive and place telephone calls
  9. 9. Schedule and make appointments
  10. 10. Submit articles and information from searches to attorneys for review and approval for use
  11. 11. Make travel arrangements for attorneys
  12. 12. Draft and type office memos

Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants: O*NET ranks Reading Comprehension first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 43-6012 - lead skill Reading Comprehension at 4.0 ; lead knowledge Administrative. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Reading Comprehension 4.0
  2. 2. Active Listening 4.0
  3. 3. Writing 3.9
  4. 4. Speaking 3.8
  5. 5. Time Management 3.3
  6. 6. Critical Thinking 3.0
  7. 7. Monitoring 3.0
  8. 8. Social Perceptiveness 3.0

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Administrative 4.5
  2. 2. English Language 4.4
  3. 3. Law and Government 4.2
  4. 4. Customer and Personal Service 3.9
  5. 5. Computers and Electronics 3.9
  6. 6. Administration and Management 3.2
Published pay band (10th to 90th)
$36,500 to $91,730
median $55,570 · ~2.5× spread
$56K
National median
↓ -6%
Growth 2024-2034
19,600
Annual openings
156,280
Estimated US jobs
Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators
Highest-pay peer · $58K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education High school diploma or equivalent

Top Paying States for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

1. Minnesota $63,180
2. New York $72,230
3. New Jersey $63,080
4. Connecticut $66,220
5. California $62,860
6. Rhode Island $63,020
7. Maryland $61,440
8. Massachusetts $62,120
9. Delaware $66,130
10. District of Columbia $99,280

Other Office and Administrative Support Occupations titles

  1. 1. Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators $58,470
  2. 2. Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks $50,670
  3. 3. Communications Equipment Operators, All Other $54,680
  4. 4. Financial Clerks, All Other $53,830
  5. 5. Proofreaders and Copy Markers $51,120
  6. 6. Public Safety Telecommunicators $53,040

The OEWS band for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants runs from $36,500 (10th) to $91,730 (90th), about 2.5× wide, with median $55,570. That spread, not the midpoint alone, is the distinctive published fact.

Employment Projections expect -6% change between 2024 and 2034 (declining vs baseline 3.1%). About 19,600 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent as typical education needed for entry. 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: Minnesota at $63,180. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators at $58,470. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants pay-rank #9 in Office and Administrative Support Occupations

Among 54 detailed Office and Administrative Support Occupations with a published OEWS median, Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants is pay-rank #9, 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.

The 10th-to-90th percentile spread for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants is unusually wide, so the state map and peer comparison carry more signal than the median alone.

Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 43-6012

Minnesota · top state for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

$63K published median

New York · #2 state pay

$72K · behind Minnesota

Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators

Highest-pay peer vs Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants · $58K

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

Lower-pay peer beside Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants · $51K

Compare Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants 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 Office and Administrative Support Occupations titles sit near Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants at the top of the pay table? ▼
Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants is pay-rank #9 of 54 detailed Office and Administrative Support Occupations with an OEWS median, upper third. Nearest upper-third titles: Desktop Publishers ($55K), Communications Equipment Operators, All Other ($55K), Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs ($54K), Financial Clerks, All Other ($54K). Rank is ROW_NUMBER on national median.
What do legal secretaries and administrative assistants do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants. Leading ones include: Organize and maintain law libraries, documents, and case files; Mail, fax, or arrange for delivery of legal correspondence to clients, witnesses, and court officials; Prepare and distribute invoices to bill clients or pay account expenses; Prepare, proofread, or process legal documents, such as summonses, subpoenas, complaints, appeals, motions, or pretrial agreements. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for legal secretaries and administrative assistants? ▼
For SOC 43-6012, O*NET importance scores lead with Reading Comprehension (4.0), Active Listening (4.0), Writing (3.9), Speaking (3.8). Knowledge areas emphasize Administrative, English Language, Law and Government. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
How wide is the published pay band for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants? ▼
OEWS places the 10th percentile at $36,500 and the 90th at $91,730 for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants (2.5× spread). The national median is $55,570. OEWS does not isolate experience, employer, or geography as the cause of that spread.
What employment change does BLS publish for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants is -6%. Projected annual openings: about 19,600. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: declining.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants? ▼
BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants? ▼
Minnesota ($63,180), New York ($72,230), New Jersey ($63,080) 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 Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 43-6012. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants. 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