Legal Jobs: Every Major Occupation’s Pay, Ranked (May 2025 BLS Data)
- The median annual wage for legal occupations was $102,500 in May 2025, above the $50,980 median for all U.S. jobs.
- The group employed about 1,305,620 people nationwide.
- Its best-paid occupation with at least 10,000 jobs was lawyers ($159,670); the lowest-paid was title examiners, abstractors, and searchers ($58,650).
BLS sorts every job in the country into 22 major occupational groups. This one, “Legal Occupations” (SOC 23-0000), covers the occupations below. All pay and job counts come from the BLS OEWS national data, May 2025; the typical entry education for each job comes from BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35. Use the tables to see where your job sits in its field and which nearby jobs pay more.
Highest-paying jobs in the group
Occupations with at least 10,000 U.S. jobs, ranked by median annual wage:
| Occupation | Median annual wage | Hourly median | U.S. jobs | Typical entry education |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawyers | $159,670 | $76.76 | 754,500 | Doctoral or professional degree |
| Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates | $153,990 | $74.03 | 24,030 | Doctoral or professional degree |
| Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers | $117,860 | $56.67 | 16,370 | Doctoral or professional degree |
| Judicial Law Clerks | $64,920 | $31.21 | 13,290 | Doctoral or professional degree |
| Paralegals and Legal Assistants | $62,890 | $30.24 | 392,880 | Associate's degree |
| Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers | $58,650 | $28.20 | 48,580 | High school diploma or equivalent |
Lowest-paying jobs in the group
| Occupation | Median annual wage | U.S. jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers | $58,650 | 48,580 |
| Paralegals and Legal Assistants | $62,890 | 392,880 |
| Judicial Law Clerks | $64,920 | 13,290 |
| Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers | $117,860 | 16,370 |
| Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates | $153,990 | 24,030 |
The most common jobs in the group
These are the occupations most people in this field actually hold:
| Occupation | U.S. jobs | 10th percentile | Median | 90th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawyers | 754,500 | $78,360 | $159,670 | $351,600 |
| Paralegals and Legal Assistants | 392,880 | $44,740 | $62,890 | $101,500 |
| Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers | 48,580 | $38,170 | $58,650 | $90,830 |
| Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates | 24,030 | $46,950 | $153,990 | $221,710 |
| Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers | 16,370 | $61,110 | $117,860 | $207,480 |
| Judicial Law Clerks | 13,290 | $46,180 | $64,920 | $113,140 |
| Arbitrators, Mediators, and Conciliators | 9,210 | $47,220 | $75,530 | $155,440 |
Where legal jobs pay the most
States with the highest median wage for the whole group (BLS OEWS state data, May 2025):
| State | Group median wage | Jobs in the group |
|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | $195,190 | 41,700 |
| New York | $137,460 | 135,540 |
| Massachusetts | $132,990 | 35,100 |
| California | $129,550 | 158,370 |
| Colorado | $119,510 | 26,740 |
The lowest group medians were in Mississippi ($62,130), Wyoming ($64,990), South Carolina ($68,710). Part of the gap reflects living costs and part reflects which jobs in the group are common in each state.
No bachelor’s degree? The best-paid job in this group with a typical entry requirement below a four-year degree was paralegals and legal assistants, at a median of $62,890 (associate's degree typically needed).
How to use this for a raise or a move
- Benchmark inside your field. Find your occupation in the tables and compare your pay with its median and with the 10th and 90th percentiles.
- Look one step over. The best-paid jobs in a group often use the same skills as the common ones. A certificate or license can move you up a row.
- Location matters. The state table shows how much the same kind of work pays in different places.
- Base pay only. OEWS wages exclude overtime, tips and most bonuses.
Published October 29, 2026. Sources are linked in the text.
Header image: original chart by JobPayRaise.com using BLS OEWS May 2025 data.
Comments (1)
One more data point: the state where legal jobs make up the largest share of local employment is District of Columbia, with a location quotient of 7.08 (41,700 jobs at a group median of $195,190). A location quotient above 1 means the group is a bigger share of the state’s jobs than it is nationally. Source: BLS OEWS state data, May 2025; location quotients are explained in the BLS OEWS overview.
— JobPayRaise Data Desk