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Careers In Paralegal Work

Paralegal Career Guide: The Work, The Pay And The Outlook

, Contributor at Savo Media Group

Last updated

A hand sorting a thick stack of clipped documents on a glass desk beside a pen

Median pay BLS

$62,890

BLS, May 2025

Jobs in 2025 BLS

404,900

BLS employment projections

Openings a year BLS

40,800

projected, 2025 to 2035

Jobs in law firms BLS

75%

legal services, the largest employer

A Paralegal Career At A Glance

  • Paralegals and legal assistants are one occupation to BLS, SOC 23-2011. The median paid $62,890 in May 2025, and the middle half earned between $50,340 and $80,080.
  • BLS projects little or no change in paralegal jobs from 2025 to 2035 but about 40,800 openings a year, most of them to replace people who leave the job.
  • Law firms hold 75% of paralegal jobs, and government at all three levels 12%.
  • The usual way in is an associate's degree or a certificate in paralegal studies, and no state requires a certification exam to work as a paralegal.
  • BLS expects artificial intelligence to make paralegals more efficient at research and document work, which may reduce demand for them.

The Paralegal Career, Part By Part

Duties, Tasks And Tools Paralegal Job Description The duties BLS lists, the tasks O*NET rates most important, the software, and where a paralegal's job stops. 75% In Law Firms Where Do Paralegals Work? Law firms, government, insurers and companies' own offices, with May 2025 medians from $58,150 to $99,500 in the ten largest employing industries. One BLS Occupation Paralegal vs. Legal Assistant One federal occupation under two titles, and the legal secretary job, with a $55,570 median, that the second title sometimes means. $159,670 Lawyer Median Paralegal vs. Lawyer What only a lawyer may do, the years of law school and the bar exam, and the pay and outlook for each.

Getting Into Paralegal Work

Step By Step How To Become A Paralegal The education routes, your state's rules, ABA approval and certification, in the order you meet them. Every State Paralegal Salary By State BLS pay in every state and DC, highest in the District of Columbia at a median of $89,750. Cost Against Pay Is A Paralegal Certificate Worth It? What an approved certificate costs, set against what the work pays and the rules that count it.

What A Paralegal Career Is

A paralegal career is legal work done for a lawyer, who delegates it and answers for it. The ABA's definition, which NALA's own page repeats nearly word for word, sets the terms:

A paralegal is a person, qualified by education, training or work experience who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental agency or other entity and who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible.

ABA Standing Committee on Paralegals, current definition of paralegal

That leaves a lot of room. The work runs from research and drafting to trial preparation, in law firms, government offices, insurers and the legal departments of companies, and the pay runs from $44,740 at the 10th percentile to $101,500 at the 90th. The guides above take each part of a paralegal career in turn, from the federal record.

Is Paralegal A Good Career? What The Federal Figures Say

The case for it is a short way into legal work. In BLS's words, "Paralegals and legal assistants typically need an associate's degree or certificate in paralegal studies to enter the occupation." The median paralegal earned $62,890 in May 2025, $11,910 more than the median for all occupations, $50,980, and the top tenth earned more than $101,500.

The case against it is the outlook. BLS projects little or no change in paralegal jobs over the decade to 2035, 404,900 jobs in 2025 and slightly fewer in 2035, and it says why: "However, demand for these workers is expected to be limited by advances in technology, including artificial intelligence (AI)." Openings still come, about 40,800 a year, mostly as people retire or move on, so most paralegal hiring fills jobs that people leave. The work itself can be hard going. "Their work may be stressful because it can be fast paced, and they may be required to work on multiple projects simultaneously under tight deadlines."

Lawyers, for comparison, are projected to grow 5% over the same years, and the paralegal vs. lawyer page sets the two careers side by side.

Jobs BLS Lists As Similar To A Paralegal Career

The Occupational Outlook Handbook names five occupations with duties like a paralegal's. Four of them paid a higher median in 2025 and one a lower one, each with the entry education BLS gives for it:

Occupations similar to paralegals, with entry education and 2025 median pay
OccupationTypical entry education2025 median pay
Paralegals and legal assistants Associate's degree$62,890
Lawyers Doctoral or professional degree$159,670
Judges and Hearing Officers Doctoral or professional degree$132,800
Claims Adjusters, Appraisers, Examiners, and Investigators $78,020
Arbitrators, Mediators, and Conciliators Bachelor's degree$75,530
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants High school diploma or equivalent$48,310

A blank entry is an occupation whose BLS profile sets out its routes in detail rather than as one level. Claims adjusters and arbitrators earn more than paralegals without a law degree. Lawyers and judges, who need a doctoral or professional degree, earn the most, and secretaries and administrative assistants earn less. Legal secretaries, a separate occupation in BLS's wage data, are compared on paralegal vs. legal assistant.

Where A Paralegal Career Can Lead

Three routes go past the entry job, each with its own page. Certification is the first: optional, by exam, and in the ABA's words, "Presently, there is no mandatory certification examination for paralegals anywhere in the United States." The certification exams page compares NALA's, NFPA's and the rest. A license is the second, in the few states that let trained paraprofessionals practice on their own in limited areas: licensed legal paraprofessionals. Law school is the third, and paralegal training doesn't shorten it: "Graduates of paralegal programs are not qualified or eligible to take the bar examination. Academic credit for paralegal courses is not transferable for advanced standing in law school."

Common Questions About A Paralegal Career

Is paralegal a good career?
It depends what you need from it. The entry is short, usually an associate's degree or a certificate in paralegal studies, and the median pay for paralegals and legal assistants was $62,890 in May 2025, $11,910 above the median for all occupations. Against that, BLS projects little or no change in paralegal jobs from 2025 to 2035 and expects AI to limit demand, though about 40,800 openings a year still come up as people leave. The work can be stressful, with tight deadlines.

Are paralegals still in demand?
BLS projects about 40,800 openings a year for paralegals and legal assistants from 2025 to 2035, mostly to replace people who change jobs or retire, while the number of jobs shows little or no change. It expects law firms to remain the largest employer and technology, including artificial intelligence, to limit demand.

What do paralegals do all day?
Research, drafting, filing and case preparation for a lawyer, on email and the phone. O*NET's survey of people in the job found 100% use email every day and 43% meet strict deadlines every day. The paralegal job description lists the duties in full.

Do you need to be certified to have a paralegal career?
No. In the ABA's words, "Presently, there is no mandatory certification examination for paralegals anywhere in the United States." Some employers prefer or require certification, and the national exams are compared on the certification page.

Sources For The Paralegal Career Guide

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