Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2020

23-0000 Legal Occupations (Major Group)

Legal Occupations comprises the following occupations: Lawyers; Judicial Law Clerks; Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers; Arbitrators, Mediators, and Conciliators; Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates; Paralegals and Legal Assistants; Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers; Legal Support Workers, All Other

National estimates for Legal Occupations
Industry profile for Legal Occupations
Geographic profile for Legal Occupations

National estimates for Legal Occupations:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Legal Occupations:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
1,154,740	0.5 %	$ 54.00	$ 112,320	0.7 %

Percentile wage estimates for Legal Occupations:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 18.78	$ 26.39	$ 40.82	$ 71.32	(5)
Annual Wage (2)	$ 39,070	$ 54,880	$ 84,910	$ 148,340	(5)

Industry profile for Legal Occupations:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Legal Occupations are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Legal Occupations, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Legal Occupations:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Legal Services	696,200	61.20	$ 53.61	$ 111,510
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	100,950	1.87	$ 45.11	$ 93,820
State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	92,330	4.20	$ 46.65	$ 97,030
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)	73,630	3.54	$ 58.61	$ 121,900
Insurance Carriers	31,090	2.58	$ 45.15	$ 93,920

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Legal Occupations:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Legal Services	696,200	61.20	$ 53.61	$ 111,510
State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	92,330	4.20	$ 46.65	$ 97,030
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)	73,630	3.54	$ 58.61	$ 121,900
Lessors of Nonfinancial Intangible Assets (except Copyrighted Works)	710	3.35	$ 62.31	$ 129,610
Insurance Carriers	31,090	2.58	$ 45.15	$ 93,920

Top paying industries for Legal Occupations:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Specialized Design Services	90	0.06	$ 108.28	$ 225,210
Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing	530	0.33	$ 96.42	$ 200,550
Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events	90	0.08	$ 92.59	$ 192,590
Monetary Authorities-Central Bank	170	0.85	$ 88.98	$ 185,080
Cable and Other Subscription Programming	370	0.73	$ 86.34	$ 179,600

Geographic profile for Legal Occupations:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Legal Occupations are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Legal Occupations, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in Legal Occupations:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	137,150	8.35	1.01	$ 66.23	$ 137,770
New York	113,570	13.07	1.57	$ 68.37	$ 142,200
Florida	92,020	10.90	1.31	$ 47.68	$ 99,170
Texas	88,420	7.31	0.88	$ 50.08	$ 104,160
Illinois	49,240	8.75	1.05	$ 58.05	$ 120,740

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Legal Occupations:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
District of Columbia	39,700	57.77	6.96	$ 83.03	$ 172,690
New York	113,570	13.07	1.57	$ 68.37	$ 142,200
Delaware	5,030	11.79	1.42	$ 56.08	$ 116,640
Florida	92,020	10.90	1.31	$ 47.68	$ 99,170
Virginia	36,600	9.89	1.19	$ 53.35	$ 110,960

Top paying states for Legal Occupations:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
District of Columbia	39,700	57.77	6.96	$ 83.03	$ 172,690
New York	113,570	13.07	1.57	$ 68.37	$ 142,200
California	137,150	8.35	1.01	$ 66.23	$ 137,770
Massachusetts	29,960	8.95	1.08	$ 64.76	$ 134,710
New Jersey	32,920	8.70	1.05	$ 58.74	$ 122,170

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Legal Occupations:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	116,430	13.18	1.59	$ 71.02	$ 147,730
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	68,430	22.64	2.73	$ 72.48	$ 150,760
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	61,240	10.52	1.27	$ 66.29	$ 137,890
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	43,070	9.87	1.19	$ 60.20	$ 125,220
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	36,450	14.53	1.75	$ 55.77	$ 116,000
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	30,560	11.33	1.37	$ 56.73	$ 118,000
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	27,860	10.58	1.27	$ 52.75	$ 109,720
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	27,050	7.54	0.91	$ 55.35	$ 115,140
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	26,320	8.87	1.07	$ 49.69	$ 103,360
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	26,120	10.04	1.21	$ 67.72	$ 140,850

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Legal Occupations:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	68,430	22.64	2.73	$ 72.48	$ 150,760
Tallahassee, FL	3,530	20.80	2.51	$ 40.98	$ 85,250
Charleston, WV	1,800	17.50	2.11	$ 43.07	$ 89,580
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	36,450	14.53	1.75	$ 55.77	$ 116,000
Santa Fe, NM	820	14.23	1.71	$ 40.62	$ 84,500
New Orleans-Metairie, LA	7,210	13.99	1.69	$ 45.38	$ 94,390
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	116,430	13.18	1.59	$ 71.02	$ 147,730
Trenton, NJ	2,900	12.56	1.51	$ 54.16	$ 112,650
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	5,260	12.51	1.51	$ 46.97	$ 97,690
Montgomery, AL	1,910	12.33	1.49	$ 42.43	$ 88,250