• Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2022

23-0000 Legal Occupations (Major Group)

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

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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)
1,216,600	0.5 %	$ 59.87	$ 124,540	2.0 %

Percentile wage estimates for Legal Occupations:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 21.80	$ 29.00	$ 45.76	$ 78.53	$ 112.97
Annual Wage (2)	$ 45,340	$ 60,320	$ 95,170	$ 163,340	$ 234,970

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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	737,190	62.45	$ 59.19	$ 123,120
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	104,240	1.94	$ 49.85	$ 103,680
State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	94,150	4.44	$ 50.82	$ 105,710
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)	72,690	3.49	$ 60.61	$ 126,070
Insurance Carriers	33,740	2.80	$ 49.71	$ 103,390

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	737,190	62.45	$ 59.19	$ 123,120
State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	94,150	4.44	$ 50.82	$ 105,710
Other Investment Pools and Funds	610	3.54	$ 68.64	$ 142,780
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)	72,690	3.49	$ 60.61	$ 126,070
Insurance Carriers	33,740	2.80	$ 49.71	$ 103,390

Top paying industries for Legal Occupations:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Nonscheduled Air Transportation	50	0.10	$ 126.71	$ 263,560
Clothing and Clothing Accessories Retailers	50	0.01	$ 114.34	$ 237,820
Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing	780	0.50	$ 113.84	$ 236,780
Spectator Sports	250	0.19	$ 112.71	$ 234,440
Business Schools and Computer and Management Training	390	0.49	$ 112.43	$ 233,840

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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	146,600	8.31	1.01	$ 74.00	$ 153,910
New York	125,210	13.75	1.67	$ 74.71	$ 155,400
Florida	104,060	11.30	1.37	$ 50.39	$ 104,810
Texas	87,620	6.74	0.82	$ 59.37	$ 123,480
Illinois	50,820	8.64	1.05	$ 60.24	$ 125,290

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	41,020	59.45	7.23	$ 97.35	$ 202,480
New York	125,210	13.75	1.67	$ 74.71	$ 155,400
Florida	104,060	11.30	1.37	$ 50.39	$ 104,810
Delaware	5,140	11.29	1.37	$ 68.47	$ 142,420
Colorado	25,890	9.36	1.14	$ 63.04	$ 131,120

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	41,020	59.45	7.23	$ 97.35	$ 202,480
Massachusetts	31,450	8.82	1.07	$ 75.72	$ 157,490
New York	125,210	13.75	1.67	$ 74.71	$ 155,400
California	146,600	8.31	1.01	$ 74.00	$ 153,910
Delaware	5,140	11.29	1.37	$ 68.47	$ 142,420

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	125,390	13.65	1.66	$ 77.22	$ 160,620
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	69,000	22.79	2.77	$ 83.82	$ 174,340
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	63,020	10.33	1.26	$ 72.64	$ 151,090
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	43,010	16.39	1.99	$ 55.08	$ 114,570
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	42,640	9.66	1.17	$ 62.30	$ 129,580
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	30,450	10.99	1.34	$ 59.92	$ 124,640
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	28,650	10.50	1.28	$ 60.47	$ 125,770
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	27,960	11.68	1.42	$ 86.91	$ 180,770
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	27,390	7.20	0.88	$ 68.26	$ 141,980
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	27,020	9.99	1.21	$ 79.26	$ 164,860

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	69,000	22.79	2.77	$ 83.82	$ 174,340
Tallahassee, FL	3,470	19.66	2.39	$ 41.44	$ 86,200
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	43,010	16.39	1.99	$ 55.08	$ 114,570
Charleston, WV	1,580	15.73	1.91	$ 50.35	$ 104,720
Santa Fe, NM	920	15.34	1.86	$ 45.12	$ 93,860
New Orleans-Metairie, LA	7,340	14.17	1.72	$ 52.09	$ 108,350
Carson City, NV	410	13.88	1.69	$ 51.71	$ 107,550
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	125,390	13.65	1.66	$ 77.22	$ 160,620
Trenton, NJ	3,220	13.59	1.65	$ 60.82	$ 126,510
Cheyenne, WY	610	13.14	1.60	$ 37.99	$ 79,010