Legal Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages O*NET task lead SOC 23-2011

Paralegals and Legal Assistants

O*NET task statements lead this Paralegals and Legal Assistants card before OEWS pay; neighboring titles include Lawyers, Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers, Legal Support Workers, All Other, Judicial Law Clerks.

Full salary details → About this data

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

What Paralegals and Legal Assistants publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 23-2011 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Prepare affidavits or other documents, such as legal correspondence, and organize and maintain documents in paper or electronic filing sy…
  2. 2. Prepare, edit, or review legal documents, including legislation, briefs, pleadings, appeals, wills, contracts, and real estate closing st…
  3. 3. Investigate facts and law of cases and search pertinent sources, such as public records and internet sources, to determine causes of acti…
  4. 4. Prepare for trial by performing tasks such as organizing exhibits
  5. 5. Meet with clients and other professionals to discuss details of cases
  6. 6. Gather and analyze research data, such as statutes, decisions, and legal articles, codes, and documents
  7. 7. File pleadings with court clerks
  8. 8. Direct and coordinate law office activity, including delivery of subpoenas
  9. 9. Call upon witnesses to testify at hearings
  10. 10. Arbitrate disputes between parties and assist in the real estate closing process, such as by reviewing title searches
  11. 11. Appraise and inventory real and personal property for estate planning
  12. 12. Keep and monitor legal volumes to ensure that the law library is up-to-date

Paralegals and Legal Assistants: O*NET ranks Writing first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 23-2011 - lead skill Writing at 4.0 ; lead knowledge Law and Government. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Writing 4.0
  2. 2. Reading Comprehension 3.9
  3. 3. Active Listening 3.9
  4. 4. Speaking 3.6
  5. 5. Critical Thinking 3.3
  6. 6. Active Learning 3.0
  7. 7. Monitoring 3.0
  8. 8. Social Perceptiveness 3.0

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Law and Government 4.8
  2. 2. English Language 4.4
  3. 3. Administrative 4.2
  4. 4. Computers and Electronics 3.9
  5. 5. Customer and Personal Service 3.6
  6. 6. Administration and Management 3.3
National median after O*NET task lead
$62,890
/year · 12 published task lines above
Lead task: Prepare affidavits or other documents, such as legal correspondence, and organize and maintain documents in paper or electronic filing sy…
$63K
National median
↑ +0%
Growth 2024-2034
39,300
Annual openings
392,880
Estimated US jobs
Lawyers
Highest-pay peer · $160K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Associate's degree

Top Paying States for Paralegals and Legal Assistants

1. Washington $79,400
2. Massachusetts $77,640
3. Vermont $67,160
4. New Jersey $71,500
5. Alaska $68,700
6. Minnesota $75,570
7. District of Columbia $89,750
8. Colorado $78,190
9. New York $68,410
10. California $77,390

Other Legal Occupations titles

  1. 1. Lawyers $159,670
  2. 2. Legal Support Workers, All Other $72,110
  3. 3. Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers $58,650
  4. 4. Judicial Law Clerks $64,920
  5. 5. Arbitrators, Mediators, and Conciliators $75,530
  6. 6. Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers $117,860

O*NET publishes 12 leading task statements for Paralegals and Legal Assistants (SOC 23-2011). The national OEWS median is $62,890 inside Legal Occupations. Same-group neighbors: Lawyers, Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers, Legal Support Workers, All Other, Judicial Law Clerks. Lead published task: Prepare affidavits or other documents, such as legal correspondence, and organize and maintain documents in paper or electronic filing sy….

Employment Projections expect +0% change between 2024 and 2034 (slower than average vs baseline 3.1%). About 39,300 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns Associate's degree 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: Washington at $79,400. 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.

Paralegals and Legal Assistants pay-rank #7 in Legal Occupations

On the Legal Occupations median table (8 detailed occupations with OEWS medians), Paralegals and Legal Assistants lands at #7, in the lower third. That rank is a table position, not a statement about individual workers.

Other lower-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 23-2011 · national median $62,890 · lower third of Legal Occupations (#7/8). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Paralegals and Legal Assistants salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 23-2011

Washington · top state for Paralegals and Legal Assistants

$79K published median

Massachusetts · #2 state pay

$78K · behind Washington

Lawyers

Highest-pay peer vs Paralegals and Legal Assistants · $160K

Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers

Lower-pay peer beside Paralegals and Legal Assistants · $59K

Compare Paralegals and Legal Assistants

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Paralegals and Legal Assistants with another occupation →

Role and task next reads

Paralegals and Legal Assistants full salary map

State and metro OEWS after the task lead

Compare tasks and pay

Side-by-side with another occupation

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does Paralegals and Legal Assistants land on the Legal Occupations median table? ▼
Paralegals and Legal Assistants is pay-rank #7 of 8 in this major group, lower third of the median table. Closest lower-third titles: Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers ($59K). That position is a table rank, not a worker percentile.
What do paralegals and legal assistants do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Paralegals and Legal Assistants. Leading ones include: Prepare affidavits or other documents, such as legal correspondence, and organize and maintain documents in paper or electronic filing sy…; Prepare, edit, or review legal documents, including legislation, briefs, pleadings, appeals, wills, contracts, and real estate closing st…; Investigate facts and law of cases and search pertinent sources, such as public records and internet sources, to determine causes of acti…; Prepare for trial by performing tasks such as organizing exhibits. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for paralegals and legal assistants? ▼
For SOC 23-2011, O*NET importance scores lead with Writing (4.0), Reading Comprehension (3.9), Active Listening (3.9), Speaking (3.6). Knowledge areas emphasize Law and Government, English Language, Administrative. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Paralegals and Legal Assistants? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $62,890 as the national median for Paralegals and Legal Assistants. The published 10th-90th range is $44,740 to $101,500. Beside Lawyers ($159,670), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
What employment change does BLS publish for Paralegals and Legal Assistants? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Paralegals and Legal Assistants is +0%. Projected annual openings: about 39,300. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: slower than average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Paralegals and Legal Assistants? ▼
BLS assigns Associate's degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Paralegals and Legal Assistants. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Paralegals and Legal Assistants? ▼
Washington ($79,400), Massachusetts ($77,640), Vermont ($67,160) 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 Paralegals and Legal Assistants card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 23-2011. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Paralegals and Legal 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