Occupation salary profile

Paralegals and Legal Assistants

SOC 23-2011 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

Assist lawyers by investigating facts, preparing legal documents, or researching legal precedent. Conduct research to support a legal proceeding, to formulate a defense, or to initiate legal action. Excludes “Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants” (43-6012).

National median · BLS
$62,890
▲ +3.08% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$66,331
▲ +2% YoY · 200 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$69,700
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
392,880
Jobs (BLS)
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Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.

Pay range for Paralegals and Legal Assistants

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 200 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.

Percentile All U.S. workers (BLS) H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay$44,740$50,000
25th$50,340$55,708
Median (50th)$62,890$66,331
75th$80,080$80,000
90th — top pay$101,500$99,463
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $66,331 for Paralegals and Legal Assistants — 5.5% above the BLS national median of $62,890.

Hourly ⇄ annual pay

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Based on hrs/week × weeks/year = 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035

Job outlook for Paralegals and Legal Assistants

BLS projects employment of paralegals and legal assistants to decline 0.3% from 2025 to 2035, while employment across all occupations grows 3.5%. About 40,800 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
404,900 → 403,800
-1,100 jobs
Projected change
-0.3%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
40,800
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Associate's degree
No related experience required
Self-employed
2.1% of workers (2025)
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 3)
Medium Preparation Needed. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Fastest-declining jobs → Best-paying jobs that need an associate's degree →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035 · BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook →

H-1B sponsored pay

Pay by H-1B wage level

Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.

H-1B median $66,331
Change vs prior year +2%
After inflation (CPI-U) -1.1%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level I 64 32% $51,906 $54,080 $62,046
Level II 62 31% $60,250 $66,331 $70,696
Level III 32 16% $66,890 $77,802 $80,212
Level IV 35 17.5% $90,000 $105,000 $160,000
H-1B job titles

Salaries by job title in Paralegals and Legal Assistants

The 3 most-filed job titles inside SOC 23-2011, from 200 H-1B filings. Seniority words and level numbers are grouped (“Senior Data Engineer II” counts as Data Engineer). Tap a title for its full range, wage levels and the exact titles employers used.

Job title LCAs Share P25 Median P75 YoY
Paralegal 52 26% $55,750 $66,248 $80,050 +6.47%
Law Clerk 46 23% $52,874 $68,964 $110,302 -1.48%
Legal Assistant 15 7.5% $55,237 $61,027 $66,446 +12.85%

Titles are cleaned from the employer's own LCA text (codes and typos removed, nothing invented). Rows need 10+ filings in this SOC.

Skills & tools

Skills needed for Paralegals and Legal Assistants

How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.

Top skills
  • Writing4.0
  • Active Listening3.9
  • Reading Comprehension3.9
  • Speaking3.6
  • Critical Thinking3.3
  • Active Learning3.0
  • Complex Problem Solving3.0
  • Judgment and Decision Making3.0
  • Monitoring3.0
  • Service Orientation3.0
Top knowledge areas
  • Law and Government4.8
  • English Language4.4
  • Administrative4.2
  • Computers and Electronics3.9
  • Customer and Personal Service3.6
  • Administration and Management3.3
  • Mathematics2.6
  • Education and Training2.6
Software and technology used
Microsoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft PowerPointMicrosoft WordOrion Law Management Systems OrionThomson Reuters WestlawAdobe AcrobatGoogle DocsGoogle Workspace softwareIntuit QuickBooksMicrosoft AccessMicrosoft ProjectMicrosoft SharePointZooma la mode WinTOTALAbacusNext HotDocsAmerican LegalNet USCourtForms

Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

About the job

What paralegals and legal assistants do

  • Prepare affidavits or other documents, such as legal correspondence, and organize and maintain documents in paper or electronic filing system.
  • Prepare, edit, or review legal documents, including legislation, briefs, pleadings, appeals, wills, contracts, and real estate closing statements.
  • Investigate facts and law of cases and search pertinent sources, such as public records and internet sources, to determine causes of action and to prepare cases.
  • Prepare for trial by performing tasks such as organizing exhibits.
  • Meet with clients and other professionals to discuss details of cases.
  • Gather and analyze research data, such as statutes, decisions, and legal articles, codes, and documents.
  • File pleadings with court clerks.
  • Direct and coordinate law office activity, including delivery of subpoenas.
Also called
Legal AssistantLegal ClerkParalegalParalegal SpecialistImmigration ParalegalLaw AssociateLegal AnalystLegal Processing AssistantLitigation ParalegalReal Estate Paralegal
More job titles for this occupation (16)
Certified ParalegalContract PreparerContracts SpecialistCorporate Legal AssistantCorporate ParalegalDocument ProcessorEstate Planning ParalegalFamily Law ParalegalIntellectual Property ParalegalLegal AideLitigation Legal AssistantParalegal AssistantPersonal Injury ParalegalPrincipal Law ClerkSummer AssociateTrademark Paralegal

Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.