Legal Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages O*NET task lead SOC 23-2093

Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers

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

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers: Lawyers ($160K) , Paralegals and Legal Assistants ($63K) , Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates ($154K) , Judicial Law Clerks ($65K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 23-2093 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Examine documentation such as mortgages, liens, judgments, easements, plat books, maps, contracts, and agreements to verify factors such…
  2. 2. Examine individual titles to determine if restrictions, such as delinquent taxes, will affect titles and limit property use
  3. 3. Prepare reports describing any title encumbrances encountered during searching activities and outlining actions needed to clear titles
  4. 4. Copy or summarize recorded documents, such as mortgages, trust deeds, and contracts, that affect property titles
  5. 5. Verify accuracy and completeness of land-related documents accepted for registration, preparing rejection notices when documents are not…
  6. 6. Prepare lists of all legal instruments applying to a specific piece of land and the buildings on it
  7. 7. Prepare and issue title commitments and title insurance policies, based on information compiled from title searches
  8. 8. Read search requests to ascertain types of title evidence required and to obtain descriptions of properties and names of involved parties
  9. 9. Obtain maps or drawings delineating properties from company title plants, county surveyors, or assessors' offices
  10. 10. Confer with realtors, lending institution personnel, buyers, sellers, contractors, surveyors, and courthouse personnel to exchange title…
  11. 11. Enter into record-keeping systems appropriate data needed to create new title records or to update existing ones
  12. 12. Direct activities of workers who search records and examine titles, assigning, scheduling, and evaluating work, and providing technical g…

Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers: O*NET ranks Reading Comprehension first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 23-2093 - lead skill Reading Comprehension at 4.1 ; lead knowledge English Language. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Reading Comprehension 4.1
  2. 2. Active Listening 3.8
  3. 3. Speaking 3.6
  4. 4. Critical Thinking 3.6
  5. 5. Writing 3.4
  6. 6. Complex Problem Solving 3.1
  7. 7. Time Management 3.1
  8. 8. Active Learning 3.0

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. English Language 3.6
  2. 2. Law and Government 3.5
  3. 3. Administrative 3.1
  4. 4. Customer and Personal Service 3.1
  5. 5. Computers and Electronics 3.0
  6. 6. Mathematics 2.6
National median after O*NET task lead
$58,650
/year · 12 published task lines above
Lead task: Examine documentation such as mortgages, liens, judgments, easements, plat books, maps, contracts, and agreements to verify factors such…
$59K
National median
↑ +2%
Growth 2024-2034
5,400
Annual openings
48,580
Estimated US jobs
Lawyers
Highest-pay peer · $160K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education High school diploma or equivalent

Top Paying States for Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers

1. Colorado $77,600
2. West Virginia $77,230
3. Delaware $65,270
4. Massachusetts $69,100
5. Nevada $71,050
6. California $67,230
7. Washington $66,440
8. Oregon $76,930
9. Rhode Island $63,300
10. Alaska $75,960

Other Legal Occupations titles

  1. 1. Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates $153,990
  2. 2. Judicial Law Clerks $64,920
  3. 3. Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers $117,860
  4. 4. Lawyers $159,670
  5. 5. Legal Support Workers, All Other $72,110
  6. 6. Paralegals and Legal Assistants $62,890

O*NET publishes 12 leading task statements for Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers (SOC 23-2093). The national OEWS median is $58,650 inside Legal Occupations. Same-group neighbors: Lawyers, Paralegals and Legal Assistants, Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates, Judicial Law Clerks. Lead published task: Examine documentation such as mortgages, liens, judgments, easements, plat books, maps, contracts, and agreements to verify factors such….

Employment Projections expect +2% change between 2024 and 2034 (about as fast as average vs baseline 3.1%). About 5,400 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: Colorado at $77,600. 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.

Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers pay-rank #8 in Legal Occupations

On the Legal Occupations median table (8 detailed occupations with OEWS medians), Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers lands at #8, 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 23-2093 · national median $58,650 · lower third of Legal Occupations (#8/8). Open the full OEWS map or a named state before treating the card median as a local ask.

Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 23-2093

Colorado · top state for Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers

$78K published median

West Virginia · #2 state pay

$77K · behind Colorado

Lawyers

Highest-pay peer vs Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers · $160K

Paralegals and Legal Assistants

Lower-pay peer beside Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers · $63K

Compare Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers with another occupation →

Role and task next reads

Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers 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 Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers land on the Legal Occupations median table? ▼
Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers is pay-rank #8 of 8 in this major group, lower third of the median table. Closest lower-third titles: Paralegals and Legal Assistants ($63K). That position is a table rank, not a worker percentile.
What do title examiners, abstractors, and searchers do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers. Leading ones include: Examine documentation such as mortgages, liens, judgments, easements, plat books, maps, contracts, and agreements to verify factors such…; Examine individual titles to determine if restrictions, such as delinquent taxes, will affect titles and limit property use; Prepare reports describing any title encumbrances encountered during searching activities and outlining actions needed to clear titles; Copy or summarize recorded documents, such as mortgages, trust deeds, and contracts, that affect property titles. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for title examiners, abstractors, and searchers? ▼
For SOC 23-2093, O*NET importance scores lead with Reading Comprehension (4.1), Active Listening (3.8), Speaking (3.6), Critical Thinking (3.6). Knowledge areas emphasize English Language, Law and Government, Administrative. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $58,650 as the national median for Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers. The published 10th-90th range is $38,170 to $90,830. Beside Lawyers ($159,670), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
What employment change does BLS publish for Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers is +2%. Projected annual openings: about 5,400. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: about as fast as average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers? ▼
BLS assigns High school diploma or equivalent as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers? ▼
Colorado ($77,600), West Virginia ($77,230), Delaware ($65,270) 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 Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 23-2093. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers. 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