Paralegals & legal assistants

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Total Workforce

404k

Average Age

42.8

Average Salary

$52,006

Average Male Salary

$54,147

Average Female Salary

$51,618

About

Paralegals & legal assistants are most often employed by the Legal services industry. The average yearly wage for Paralegals & legal assistants was $52,006 in 2016. The top 3 most similar occupations to Paralegals & legal assistants by wage are Dental hygienists, Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, and Firstline supervisors of retail sales workers.

Paralegals & legal assistants are part of the Legal Occupations, along with Judicial law clerks, Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers, Paralegals & legal assistants, Title examiners, abstractors, and searchers, and Legal support workers, all other.

The top 3 locations that employ the most Paralegals & legal assistants are Kent CountyWarwick City PUMA, RI, Tamarac, Oakland Park & North Lauderdale Cities PUMA, FL, and Fort Lauderdale City (Central) PUMA, FL. The top 3 locations with a relatively high concentration of Paralegals & legal assistants are Kent CountyWarwick City PUMA, RI, Jackson County PUMA, MS, and South Miami City, Westchester & Coral Terrace PUMA, FL.

Management, business, science, & arts occupations Education, legal, community service, arts, & media occupations Legal Occupations

Employment

Information on the businesses and industries that employ Paralegals & legal assistants and on wages and locations for those in the field. Legal services is the industry that employs the most Paralegals & legal assistants, both by share and by number, though the highest paid industry for Paralegals & legal assistants, by average wage, is Aircraft & parts manufacturing. Paralegals & legal assistants are paid most in Bayview & Hunters Point PUMA, CA but are relatively concentrated in Kent CountyWarwick City PUMA, RI.

Wages

Yearly Wage

$52,006

AVERAGE SALARY

± $1,501

In 2018, Paralegals & legal assistants earned an average of $52,006, $1,882 less than than the average national salary of $53,888.

Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters make somewhat more than Paralegals & legal assistants while Dental hygienists make somewhat less. This chart shows the various occupations closest to Paralegals & legal assistants as measured by average annual salary in the US.

Wage Distribution

0.318

WAGE GINI

In 2018, Paralegals & legal assistants had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.318, which is lower than than the national average of 0.479. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Paralegals & legal assistants (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

Wage by Location

HIGHEST PAYING PUMAS

This map shows the Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States shaded by average annual wage for Paralegals & legal assistants.

Spatial Concentration

PUMAs with a Relatively High Concentration of Paralegals & legal assistants

This map displays which Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States have a relatively high population of Paralegals & legal assistants.

Industries

Most Common

The most common industries employing Paralegals & legal assistants, by number of employees, are Legal services, Justice, public order, & safety activities , and Executive offices & legislative bodies.

Highest Paying

The highest paying industries for Paralegals & legal assistants, by average wage, are Scientific research & development services, Aircraft & parts manufacturing, Management of companies & enterprises, U. S. Army, Restaurants & Food Services, and Securities, commodities, funds, trusts & other financial investments.

Industries by Share

404k

2018 Workforce

± 15,586

1.49%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 5.39%

The number of people employed as Paralegals & legal assistants has been growing at a rate of 1.49%, from 398,158 people in 2017 to 404,082 people in 2018.

This graphic shows the share of Paralegals & legal assistants employed by various industries. Legal services employs the largest share of Paralegals & legal assistants at 76.8%, followed by Justice, public order, & safety activities with 5.4% and Executive offices & legislative bodies with 1.3%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Paralegals & legal assistants in the US. The average age of male Paralegals & legal assistants in the workforce is 38.2 and of female Paralegals & legal assistants is 43.7, and the most common race/ethnicity for Paralegals & legal assistants is White (Non-Hispanic).

Gender Composition

62k

MALE WORKFORCE

± 6,112

342k

FEMALE WORKFORCE

± 14,343

84.7% of Paralegals & legal assistants are Female, making them the more common gender in the occupation. This chart shows the gender breakdown of Paralegals & legal assistants.

Race & Ethnicity

Most Common Race or Ethnicity of Paralegals & legal assistants

White (Non-Hispanic)
White (Hispanic)
Black (Non-Hispanic)

69.2% of Paralegals & legal assistants are White (Non-Hispanic), making that the most common race or ethnicity in the occupation. Representing 10.7% of Paralegals & legal assistants, White (Hispanic) is the second most common race or ethnicity in this occupation. This chart shows the racial and ethnic breakdown of Paralegals & legal assistants.

Age by Gender

38.2

AVERAGE MALE AGE

± 1.3

43.7

AVERAGE FEMALE AGE

± 0.567

The median age of Paralegals & legal assistants is 42.8, and Male employees are generally 5.42 years younger than than their Female counterparts.

Education

Data on higher education choices for Paralegals & legal assistants from The Department of Education and Census Bureau. The most common major for Paralegals & legal assistants is Social Sciences but a relatively high number of Paralegals & legal assistants hold a major in Legal.

Majors

ACS PUMS data only shows the major for bachelor's degree-majorss. However, we can filter the data based on highest degree-majors obtained.

MOST COMMON MAJORS

MOST SPECIALIZED MAJORS

Skills

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for Paralegals & legal assistants from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Paralegals & legal assistants need many skills, but most especially Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, and Writing. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Paralegals & legal assistants need more than the average amount of Writing, Reading Comprehension, and Active Listening.