Legal Occupations
SOC major group 23-0000: 8 detailed occupations, 8 with a published national median (May 2025). The group employs 1,305,620 people nationally.
The group as a whole
| Area | Basis | Percentile wage | Mean | Employment | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th | ||||
| United States | Hourly | $23.75 | $31.16 | $49.28 | $83.95 | $138.02 | $67.07 | 1,305,620 |
| Annual | $49,400 | $64,800 | $102,500 | $174,620 | $287,070 | $139,510 | ||
Every occupation in the group, by median annual wage
| Occupation | SOC | Median hourly | Median annual | Mean annual | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawyers | 23-1011 | $76.76 | $159,670 | $185,840 | 754,500 |
| Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates | 23-1023 | $74.03 | $153,990 | $143,830 | 24,030 |
| Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers | 23-1021 | $56.67 | $117,860 | $125,990 | 16,370 |
| Arbitrators, Mediators, and Conciliators | 23-1022 | $36.31 | $75,530 | $91,010 | 9,210 |
| Legal Support Workers, All Other | 23-2099 | $34.67 | $72,110 | $89,660 | 46,760 |
| Judicial Law Clerks | 23-1012 | $31.21 | $64,920 | $72,950 | 13,290 |
| Paralegals and Legal Assistants | 23-2011 | $30.24 | $62,890 | $69,700 | 392,880 |
| Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers | 23-2093 | $28.20 | $58,650 | $62,350 | 48,580 |
Source and notes
Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: National OEWS estimates.
- Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
- Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.