Paralegal Statistics 2026: Live Listings, Pay, Demand & Workforce

LawFirmHires had 1,746 open paralegal listings from 978 employers on October 14, 2026.

847 were first posted in the previous 14 days and 1,302 in the previous 30 days.

At least 3.1% of paralegal listings were fully remote and 1.7% hybrid on October 14, 2026.

Listings that do not mention a work arrangement are counted as on-site, so the real shares may be higher.

At least 4.2% of paralegal listings were part-time on October 14, 2026.

Listings that name no schedule are counted as full-time, so the real part-time share is likely higher.

The benefit paralegal listings named most often on October 14, 2026 was PTO / Paid Time Off, in 24.9% of listings, followed by dental & Vision (22.3%).

A listing that does not mention a benefit may still offer it.

To browse the openings themselves, see all paralegal listings.

The median annual wage for paralegals and legal assistants was $62,890 in May 2025, and the middle half earned $50,340 to $80,080 (BLS OEWS, SOC 23-2011 (paralegals and legal assistants), May 2025).

Employers hiring paralegals on LawFirmHires advertise a median of $73,500 a year across 364 employers on October 14, 2026; this is advertised pay, not earnings.

For pay by state and percentile, see the paralegal salary guide, and for the full distribution of posted pay see our quarterly paralegal pay data release.

California had the most open paralegal listings on October 14, 2026, with 235 (13.5% of the national total).

Texas followed with 180 (10.3%).

To browse the openings in one state, start with paralegal openings in California.

978 employers had open paralegal listings on LawFirmHires on October 14, 2026, and the five largest posted 9.9% of them.

783 employers (80.1%) had exactly one open paralegal listing.

Paralegals and legal assistants held about 404,900 jobs in 2025, according to the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.

Wage-and-salary employment of paralegals and legal assistants was 392,880 in May 2025 (BLS OEWS, SOC 23-2011).

Law firms (the Legal Services industry, NAICS 5411) employed 304,820 paralegals and legal assistants in May 2025 (BLS OEWS).

75% of paralegal and legal assistant jobs were in legal services in 2025, followed by local government (5%), the federal government (4%), state government (3%) and finance and insurance (3%) (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook).

BLS projects little or no change in paralegal and legal assistant employment from 2025 to 2035 (404,900 to 403,800 jobs), but about 40,800 openings a year, mostly to replace workers who leave the occupation (BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35).

For the full job outlook, see our paralegal job outlook guide.

For why small firms find associates and paralegals hard to hire, see our hiring analysis.

For how to enter the field, see the paralegal career guide.

Listing figures are computed from every active, paid paralegal listing on LawFirmHires at the time shown, and refreshed every six hours.

Listings on a job board are not a random sample of all paralegal jobs, so read them as a picture of current hiring, not of total employment.

Advertised pay is the midpoint of the range an employer posts, or its single figure, and hourly and annual postings are never converted into each other.

The headline is the employer median: each employer’s own median, then the median across employers, so a firm posting dozens of openings counts once.

A pay figure needs at least 30 listings from 10 employers and is withheld when one employer posted more than half of them.

Federal figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and are quoted as published, with the year in each sentence.

BLS wage figures cover employees only and leave out the self-employed.

General paralegal listings are counted together with litigation, personal injury, family law, corporate, real estate, immigration, estate planning and bankruptcy paralegal listings, as in the paralegal pay data release.

BLS counts paralegals and legal assistants as one occupation.