Pay for paralegals and legal assistants in every state, what it comes to after tax, and how far it goes after local prices and rent.
Paralegals and legal assistants earn a median of $62,890 a year, or $30.24 an hour, 23.4% more than the $50,980 median for all jobs. Pay is highest in District of Columbia ($89,750) and lowest in Mississippi ($46,180). Occupation code 23-2011 in the Bureau of Labor Statistics survey.
Half of the 392,880 paralegals and legal assistants in the survey earn between $50,340 and $80,080. The bottom tenth earn under $44,740, the figure the Bureau itself uses as a rough guide to starting pay, and the top tenth more than $101,500. The average is $69,700; it sits above the median because the top earners pull it up.
| Nationally | Per year | Per hour |
|---|---|---|
| Bottom 10% earn less than | $44,740 | $21.51 |
| Bottom quarter earn less than | $50,340 | $24.20 |
| Median | $62,890 | $30.24 |
| Top quarter earn more than | $80,080 | $38.50 |
| Top 10% earn more than | $101,500 | $48.80 |
Hourly figures divide the yearly ones by 2,080 hours, the survey's own full-time year. Convert any salary.
The highest state medians are in District of Columbia ($89,750), Washington ($79,400), Colorado ($78,190), Massachusetts ($77,640) and California ($77,390). The lowest are in Mississippi ($46,180), Alabama ($47,260), Arkansas ($47,420), Wyoming ($49,490) and Idaho ($49,690).
Higher pay often comes with higher prices. Adjusted for each state's price level, pay goes furthest in District of Columbia ($81,664 at national prices), Minnesota ($76,627), Colorado ($75,874), Washington ($74,197) and Massachusetts ($73,414).
The most paralegals and legal assistants work in California (47,130), Florida (40,950) and New York (34,220). Relative to all jobs, the work is most common in District of Columbia (9.1 per 1,000 jobs), Delaware (5.1) and Rhode Island (4.1).
On the national median of $62,890, a single filer in a state with no income tax takes home about $52,712 a year after federal tax, Social Security and Medicare, or $2,027 every two weeks. On each state's own median and taxes, take-home ranges from $37,830 in Alabama to $65,940 in District of Columbia. Work out your own paycheck.
The typical rent in each state's median county takes a median 31.8% of a paralegal's gross pay, and stays under the usual 30% guideline in 22 of the 50 states and DC. With 10% down at a 7.03% mortgage rate, a single paralegal earning the state median could afford the typical home in its median county in 2 of the 50 states and DC, under the 28% guideline. On the national median alone, that guideline stretches to about $177,122. Try it with your own numbers, or see where this pay covers the typical rent.
| Alabama | $47,260 | $22.72 | −24.9% | $53,207 | $37,830 | 34.9% | 5,700 |
| Alaska | $68,700 | $33.03 | +9.2% | $67,117 | $57,160 | 31.9% | 570 |
| Arizona | $61,630 | $29.63 | −2.0% | $61,216 | $50,159 | 32.5% | 7,890 |
| Arkansas | $47,420 | $22.80 | −24.6% | $54,545 | $38,895 | 27.8% | 1,610 |
| California | $77,390 | $37.21 | +23.1% | $69,897 | $59,638 | 38.0% | 47,130 |
| Colorado | $78,190 | $37.59 | +24.3% | $75,874 | $60,396 | 31.0% | 5,620 |
| Connecticut | $63,820 | $30.68 | +1.5% | $61,596 | $50,699 | 37.5% | 5,210 |
| Delaware | $63,110 | $30.34 | +0.3% | $63,231 | $49,740 | 36.0% | 2,480 |
| District of Columbia | $89,750 | $43.15 | +42.7% | $81,664 | $65,940 | 33.8% | 6,400 |
| Florida | $61,000 | $29.33 | −3.0% | $58,986 | $51,194 | 37.6% | 40,950 |
| Georgia | $62,400 | $30.00 | −0.8% | $64,802 | $49,205 | 32.2% | 14,160 |
| Hawaii | $62,840 | $30.21 | −0.1% | $57,153 | $49,005 | 60.5% | 1,170 |
| Idaho | $49,690 | $23.89 | −21.0% | $52,035 | $39,472 | 37.3% | 2,030 |
| Illinois | $63,670 | $30.61 | +1.2% | $63,697 | $50,187 | 22.7% | 14,130 |
| Indiana | $57,030 | $27.42 | −9.3% | $61,106 | $46,321 | 24.9% | 5,910 |
| Iowa | $54,550 | $26.23 | −13.3% | $62,157 | $43,938 | 22.8% | 2,980 |
| Kansas | $55,000 | $26.44 | −12.5% | $61,065 | $43,391 | 27.6% | 2,210 |
| Kentucky | $59,830 | $28.76 | −4.9% | $66,361 | $48,159 | 25.2% | 3,540 |
| Louisiana | $60,250 | $28.97 | −4.2% | $68,305 | $48,783 | 26.6% | 4,890 |
| Maine | $62,420 | $30.01 | −0.7% | $64,317 | $48,381 | 31.8% | 1,210 |
| Maryland | $65,640 | $31.56 | +4.4% | $62,539 | $51,856 | 35.5% | 6,460 |
| Massachusetts | $77,640 | $37.33 | +23.5% | $73,414 | $59,568 | 37.7% | 7,800 |
| Michigan | $62,170 | $29.89 | −1.1% | $64,614 | $49,491 | 25.9% | 7,730 |
| Minnesota | $75,570 | $36.33 | +20.2% | $76,627 | $57,338 | 20.4% | 7,400 |
| Mississippi | $46,180 | $22.20 | −26.6% | $53,109 | $37,838 | 37.5% | 2,270 |
| Missouri | $61,410 | $29.52 | −2.4% | $67,619 | $48,817 | 25.2% | 7,130 |
| Montana | $57,290 | $27.54 | −8.9% | $60,531 | $45,427 | 31.9% | 1,010 |
| Nebraska | $63,250 | $30.41 | +0.6% | $70,197 | $50,424 | 24.6% | 1,630 |
| Nevada | $64,680 | $31.10 | +2.8% | $64,694 | $54,150 | 33.6% | 3,620 |
| New Hampshire | $62,040 | $29.83 | −1.4% | $59,559 | $52,029 | 40.2% | 1,430 |
| New Jersey | $71,500 | $34.38 | +13.7% | $65,714 | $56,672 | 38.5% | 12,010 |
| New Mexico | $59,840 | $28.77 | −4.8% | $64,894 | $47,858 | 29.6% | 1,740 |
| New York | $68,410 | $32.89 | +8.8% | $63,389 | $53,427 | 27.2% | 34,220 |
| North Carolina | $57,500 | $27.64 | −8.6% | $60,959 | $46,087 | 33.7% | 13,650 |
| North Dakota | $59,430 | $28.57 | −5.5% | $66,806 | $49,718 | 24.5% | 730 |
| Ohio | $60,420 | $29.05 | −3.9% | $65,126 | $49,782 | 25.8% | 9,270 |
| Oklahoma | $53,170 | $25.56 | −15.5% | $60,528 | $42,724 | 28.6% | 3,110 |
| Oregon | $61,490 | $29.56 | −2.2% | $59,491 | $46,526 | 33.4% | 4,870 |
| Pennsylvania | $63,370 | $30.47 | +0.8% | $64,947 | $51,152 | 24.8% | 14,670 |
| Rhode Island | $56,250 | $27.04 | −10.6% | $54,996 | $45,268 | 52.6% | 2,070 |
| South Carolina | $53,880 | $25.90 | −14.3% | $57,473 | $43,631 | 33.9% | 7,420 |
| South Dakota | $58,320 | $28.04 | −7.3% | $65,834 | $49,040 | 26.6% | 600 |
| Tennessee | $58,820 | $28.28 | −6.5% | $64,025 | $49,442 | 30.4% | 6,080 |
| Texas | $62,310 | $29.96 | −0.9% | $64,199 | $52,246 | 28.4% | 29,540 |
| Utah | $63,220 | $30.40 | +0.5% | $63,946 | $50,164 | 33.1% | 3,250 |
| Vermont | $67,160 | $32.29 | +6.8% | $68,560 | $53,201 | 31.6% | 660 |
| Virginia | $63,990 | $30.77 | +1.7% | $63,291 | $50,174 | 34.4% | 10,250 |
| Washington | $79,400 | $38.17 | +26.3% | $74,197 | $64,688 | 27.6% | 9,460 |
| West Virginia | $59,000 | $28.37 | −6.2% | $65,924 | $47,678 | 22.5% | 1,660 |
| Wisconsin | $58,500 | $28.12 | −7.0% | $62,171 | $46,688 | 24.9% | 4,780 |
| Wyoming | $49,490 | $23.80 | −21.3% | $53,392 | $41,945 | 32.4% | 600 |
Click a column to sort it. “After local prices” divides the median by the state's price level (national average = 100). Take-home is for a single filer on the state median with no retirement or health deductions. Rent share is a year of the typical rent in the state's median county against the median pay. A dash means the survey publishes no figure.