If you're an aspiring paralegal, you're probably wondering how much you can expect to earn. In this article, we'll look at the average paralegal salary, as well as some factors that can affect it, such as experience, field, and location. Read on to learn more.

How Does a Paralegal Earn Their Salary?

You’re probably already aware that your job will be to assist your supervising attorney, similarly to a legal assistant. However, paralegals differ from legal assistants in that the latter focus more on administrative tasks, while the former are more involved with actual legal work on their attorney’s cases.

The paralegal responsibilities include:

  • Reviewing evidence
  • Speaking with clients
  • Interviewing witnesses
  • Doing legal research
  • Drafting affidavits
  • Assisting at trials

While a paralegal can perform these duties without a lawyer’s supervision, there are some things only an attorney can do. That involves giving legal advice, setting fees, and accepting or rejecting cases.

Coming Up with Paralegal Salaries

Multiple factors affect a paralegal’s wage:

  • Experience: As with most jobs, paralegals with more experience tend to earn higher salaries than those just starting out.
  • Education level: Paralegals are required to have at least an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in paralegal studies, or paralegal certification in addition to any bachelor’s degree. Candidates with graduate degrees typically have bigger salaries.
  • Field: The area of law you work in can also impact your earnings. For example, paralegals who work in corporate law may earn more than real estate paralegals.
  • Location: Where you live will always affect how much you earn. The annual salary for a paralegal varies between countries, as well as US states.
  • Law firm size: The average pay for a paralegal also depends on the size of the law firm they work for. As is to be expected, larger firms tend to pay more. Of course, if you work in the public sector, your pay will most likely be lower than in a private firm, except if you work for the federal government.

Average Paralegal Salaries by US State

Since one of the factors influencing pay is location, here’s an overview of average salaries for paralegals across all 50 US states, based on reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

STATE

ANNUAL WAGE

HOURLY RATE

Alabama

$49,160

$23.63

Alaska

$62,970

$30.28

Arizona

$55,560

$26.71

Arkansas

$41,780

$20.09

California

$70,290

$33.79

Colorado

$63.850

$30.70

Connecticut

$62,080

$29.85

Delaware

$59,450

$28.58

District of Columbia

$83,420

$40.11

Florida

$53,940

$25.93

Georgia

$53,300

$29.06

Hawaii

$57,920

$27.85

Idaho

$49,270

$23.69

Illinois

$60,920

$29.29

Indiana

$48,470

$23.31

Iowa

$52,000

$25.00

Kansas

$46,590

$22.40

Kentucky

$47,180

$22.69

Louisiana

$48,240

$23.19

Maine

$50,350

$24.21

Maryland

$60,130

$28.91

Massachusetts

$66,820

$32.12

Michigan

$55.960

$26.91

Minnesota

$61,790

$29.71

Mississippi

$42,730

$20.54

Missouri

$53,940

$25.94

Montana

$50,410

$24.24

Nebraska

$52,150

$25.07

Nevada

$56,220

$27.03

New Hampshire

$59,320

$28.52

New Jersey

$65,950

$31.71

New Mexico

$47,810

$22.98

New York

$63,270

$30.42

North Carolina

$49,470

$23.78

North Dakota

$49,550

$23.82

Ohio

$50,500

$24.28

Oklahoma

$48,070

$23.11

Oregon

$64,680

$31.10

Pennsylvania

$60,440

$29.06

Rhode Island

$59,700

$28.70

South Carolina

$46,080

$22.15

South Dakota

$52,590

$25,28

Tennessee

$50,260

$24.16

Texas

$56,030

$26.94

Utah

$54,650

$26.28

Vermont

$54,470

$26.19

Virginia

$54,840

$26.37

Washington

$71,900

$34.57

West Virginia

$47,780

$22.97

Wisconsin

$51,100

$24.57

Wyoming

$46,230

$22.23

Paralegal Salaries by Law Field

The industry a paralegal works in impacts their earnings. The top-paid paralegals work for the federal government, earning a median wage of $69,680 per year.  Those working in finance and insurance are a close second with $64,740. Other top-paid industries include:

  • Local government, excluding education and hospitals: $58,300
  • State government, excluding education and hospitals: $49,350
  • Legal services: $48,270

Paralegal Salary Facts

Now that we’ve covered the average paralegal wages, let’s take a look at some facts regarding paralegal salaries:

  • The median annual salary for all paralegals is $56,230 per year, and $27.03 per hour.
  • Paralegals working in the District of Columbia receive the highest average wage, at $83,420.
  • With $41,780 per year, Arkansas is the state with the lowest average wage for paralegals.
  • The paralegal salary in New York state is 16% higher than the national average.
  • California is the state with the largest concentration of employed paralegals, and their salary averages at $70,290.
  • The annual average wage for all occupations in the United States is $58,260, which is similar to the average salary of paralegals in Nevada and New Hampshire.

Bottom Line

As you can see, the salary of paralegals varies depending on where they work, how much education they’ve completed, the institution they work at, and the area of law they’re interested in. Ultimately, you can expect to earn more than the national average in states like Washington and California, while Alabama and Arizona offer lower expected earnings.