Explore national salary, projected growth, education requirements, and career opportunities across the United States.
A concise view of this occupation’s national scale, compensation, and projected demand.
National median annual wage for this occupation.
Estimated jobs currently supported nationwide.
Projected employment change through 2034.
Estimated openings created each year.
The typical education, prior experience, and on-the-job training associated with entry into this career.
Associate's degree
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These are the highest-rated capabilities associated with success in this occupation. Scores are derived from occupational skill analysis and are measured on a 100-point scale.
Based on skills, knowledge, and work activities, these occupations are the closest match to your current career.
Explore the states and metropolitan areas offering the strongest combination of salary, employment, demand, and long-term opportunity.
Discover metro markets where compensation, hiring demand, and long-term momentum align.
Understand the salary, outlook, education, and geographic opportunities shaping this career.
Paralegals and legal assistants support legal work and operate at the intersection of law, information, and client service. Nationally, this occupation employs about 376,000 people with a median annual salary of $61,010, indicating a sizable, established field. The role calls for strong writing and reading abilities, attention to detail, and critical and analytical thinking, combined with interpersonal and customer service skills to work effectively with others. Computers and information technology skills are also important, alongside adaptability, speaking and listening, problem solving and decision making, and fine motor abilities. Projected employment growth of 0.2% and 39,000 annual openings suggest ongoing replacement and hiring needs. Opportunity varies by location, with certain states and metro areas offering higher median pay and higher CareerGPS opportunity scores. For people interested in a legally oriented career that typically requires an associate’s degree and leverages both analytical and people-focused skills, paralegal and legal assistant roles can be a solid option to consider, with related alternatives in several other legal and records-focused occupations.
The national median annual salary for paralegals and legal assistants is $61,010. Pay levels vary substantially by location. Among the highlighted states, Washington shows a median salary of $79,400, Colorado $78,190, Massachusetts $77,640, California $77,390, and New York $68,410. At the metro level, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA stands out with a median salary of $99,250. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA has $84,030, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV reports $81,590, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH offers $79,850, and New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ shows $75,330. These figures indicate that some states and metro areas offer significantly higher median earnings than the national median. Job seekers who are mobile can weigh the potential of higher salaries in areas such as Washington state and several large metro regions against personal and living-cost considerations when planning their careers.
Paralegals and legal assistants have national employment of about 376,000, indicating a relatively large occupation. Projected employment growth is 0.2%, which points to a generally stable outlook rather than rapid expansion or contraction. Despite modest projected growth, there are an estimated 39,000 annual openings. This combination suggests that much of the opportunity in this field is likely to come from ongoing hiring needs such as turnover, retirement, and other workforce changes, rather than from strong net job growth. The uniform 0.2% growth figure also appears in several featured states and metro areas, indicating a broadly consistent growth projection across those locations. People considering this career can view it as a field with steady employment and recurring openings, with the understanding that major geographic differences in opportunity are more related to salary levels and local employment counts than to differing growth rates in the available data.
Geography plays a notable role in the opportunity profile for paralegals and legal assistants. Among states, California, Massachusetts, New York, Colorado, and Washington all appear with elevated CareerGPS opportunity scores. California combines a median salary of $77,390 with employment of 47,130 and an opportunity score of 67.38. Washington shows the highest median salary in this group at $79,400 and an opportunity score of 56.29. Massachusetts, Colorado, and New York also offer median salaries above the national median of $61,010, with opportunity scores ranging from 56.97 to 65.87. At the metro level, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA and New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ have the highest opportunity scores, 77.42 and 77.27 respectively, with median salaries of $99,250 and $75,330. Other metros like San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA; Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV; and Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH also combine higher salaries with solid opportunity scores, making them particularly notable markets.
The typical education requirement for paralegals and legal assistants is an associate’s degree. This level of education positions the role as accessible to students and career changers who are prepared to complete a two-year postsecondary program. However, education alone is not the full picture. This occupation draws on a broad skill set that includes computers and information technology, detail orientation, and strong writing and reading abilities. Critical and analytical thinking, problem solving and decision making, and adaptability are also important, helping professionals handle complex information and changing circumstances. Interpersonal skills, customer service, and speaking and listening abilities support effective interaction with clients and colleagues. Fine motor skills are also listed among the top skills, indicating the value of precision in certain aspects of the work. Together, the associate’s degree requirement and this mix of technical, analytical, and people-focused skills define the core preparation profile for success in this field.
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