Law Firm Salaries
BLS OEWS May 2025 · national and state pay for attorneys and legal staff
Lawyers: national median
$159,670
$76.76 an hour
Paralegals & legal assistants
$62,890
$30.24 an hour
BLS publishes wages for four law-firm occupations: lawyers, judicial law clerks, paralegals and legal assistants, and legal secretaries.
Those pages carry full percentile tables and a page for every state BLS published.
Every other job title borrows one of those occupations, or an all-industry occupation, as a labelled proxy.
A few roles have no BLS occupation at all, and their pages say so rather than invent a number.
Full BLS tables
Salary by state
Lawyer salary: median $159,670, pay in 51 of the 50 states + DC (Lawyers) →Law Clerk salary: median $64,920, pay in 39 of the 50 states + DC (Judicial Law Clerks) →Paralegal salary: median $62,890, pay in 51 of the 50 states + DC (Paralegals and Legal Assistants) →Legal Secretary salary: median $55,570, pay in 50 of the 50 states + DC (Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants) →Attorneys
Attorney salaries by role
BLS has one lawyer occupation, with no split by practice area, seniority or employer, so each attorney role shows the all-lawyer median as a labelled proxy.
| Role | Median shown | What the number is |
|---|---|---|
| Attorney | $159,670 | BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Associate Attorney | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Senior Associate | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Of Counsel | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Law Firm Partner | $159,670 | Weak proxy: employed lawyers only (SOC 23-1011) |
| Personal Injury Attorney | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Family Law Attorney | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Criminal Defense Attorney | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Immigration Attorney | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Estate Planning Attorney | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Real Estate Attorney | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Employment Attorney | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Bankruptcy Attorney | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Workers' Compensation Attorney | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Insurance Defense Attorney | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Corporate Attorney | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Litigation Attorney | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Intellectual Property Attorney | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Tax Attorney | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| In-House Counsel | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Contract Attorney | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Document Review Attorney | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Public Defender | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Prosecutor | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
| Government Attorney | $159,670 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-1011) |
Legal staff
Legal staff salaries by role
| Role | Median shown | What the number is |
|---|---|---|
| Law Clerk | $64,920 | BLS occupation (court clerks only) (SOC 23-1012) |
| Paralegal | $62,890 | BLS occupation (SOC 23-2011) |
| Litigation Paralegal | $62,890 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-2011) |
| Personal Injury Paralegal | $62,890 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-2011) |
| Family Law Paralegal | $62,890 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-2011) |
| Immigration Paralegal | $62,890 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-2011) |
| Corporate Paralegal | $62,890 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-2011) |
| Real Estate Paralegal | $62,890 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-2011) |
| Estate Planning Paralegal | $62,890 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-2011) |
| Bankruptcy Paralegal | $62,890 | Proxy: broader BLS occupation (SOC 23-2011) |
| Legal Assistant | $62,890 | BLS occupation (SOC 23-2011) |
| Legal Secretary | $55,570 | BLS occupation (SOC 43-6012) |
| Legal Intake Specialist | No BLS figure | No BLS occupation |
| Legal Receptionist | $38,010 | Proxy: all-industry occupation (SOC 43-4171) |
| Docketing Clerk | No BLS figure | No BLS occupation |
| Legal Billing Specialist | $48,500 | Proxy: all-industry occupation (SOC 43-3021) |
| Law Firm Administrator | $114,130 | Proxy: all-industry occupation (SOC 11-3012) |
| eDiscovery Specialist | No BLS figure | No BLS occupation |
| Litigation Support Specialist | No BLS figure | No BLS occupation |
| Legal Nurse Consultant | $97,550 | Proxy: all-industry occupation (SOC 29-1141) |
| Case Manager | No BLS figure | No BLS occupation |
| Legal Recruiter | $75,940 | Proxy: all-industry occupation (SOC 13-1071) |
Annual figures are BLS hourly wages × 2,080 hours, for wage-and-salary workers only (no self-employed, overtime or most bonuses).
Lawyer wages of $239,200 or more are shown as "about" because BLS footnotes them.