Legal Jobs — US Salaries
8 occupations · about 1,305,620 US workers · top-paid Lawyers at $159,670 — BLS OEWS May 2025.
How much do legal jobs pay in the US?
The Legal field (SOC 23) covers 8 detailed US occupations employing about 1,305,620 people. Median pay across its 8 priced occupations runs from $58,650 to $159,670 a year, with Lawyers the highest-paid at $159,670 (BLS OEWS May 2025). The US all-occupations median is $50,980. Updated annually from BLS OEWS.
Occupations
8
in this field
US workers
1,305,620
total employment
Top median
$159,670
highest-paid job
Lowest median
$58,650
of priced jobs
Every legal occupation, by median pay
| Occupation | Median | Mean | US workers |
|---|---|---|---|
| LawyersSOC 23-1011 | $159,670 | $185,840 | 754,500 |
| Judges, Magistrate Judges, and MagistratesSOC 23-1023 | $153,990 | $143,830 | 24,030 |
| Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing OfficersSOC 23-1021 | $117,860 | $125,990 | 16,370 |
| Arbitrators, Mediators, and ConciliatorsSOC 23-1022 | $75,530 | $91,010 | 9,210 |
| Legal Support Workers, All OtherSOC 23-2099 | $72,110 | $89,660 | 46,760 |
| Judicial Law ClerksSOC 23-1012 | $64,920 | $72,950 | 13,290 |
| Paralegals and Legal AssistantsSOC 23-2011 | $62,890 | $69,700 | 392,880 |
| Title Examiners, Abstractors, and SearchersSOC 23-2093 | $58,650 | $62,350 | 48,580 |
Suppressed BLS cells are shown as “—”, never estimated. Click any occupation for its full salary breakdown and national rank.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the highest-paying legal job in the US?
- Among Legal occupations, Lawyers have the highest published national median wage at $159,670 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025).
- How many people work in legal jobs in the US?
- About 1,305,620 US workers are employed across the 8 occupations in the Legal field (SOC 23), summing the published BLS OEWS May 2025 employment estimates for each member occupation.
- What jobs are in the legal field?
- The Legal field is SOC major group 23. It includes occupations such as Lawyers, Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates, Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers, Arbitrators, Mediators, and Conciliators, Legal Support Workers, All Other, and 3 more. Every occupation whose 6-digit SOC code starts with 23 belongs to this field.
- Where does this legal salary data come from?
- From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2025 national release — cross-industry, all-ownership estimates. As US federal government work it is public domain. GeraJobs publishes the figures verbatim; suppressed cells are shown as "—".
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Find legal jobs with salary ranges
GeraJobs lists live US vacancies with employer-stated salary ranges — see which legal roles pay above the BLS benchmark.
Data source
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) · May 2025 national estimates · SOC major group 23 · Public domain (U.S. federal government work)
Grouped by official US SOC 2018 major group and published verbatim by GeraJobs. Last updated: 2026-06-27. ← All occupational fields