Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of legal assistant salary by state for the United States:
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California has the highest legal assistant salary of $50,391
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Oklahoma has the lowest legal assistant salary of $32,792
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The national average salary for legal assistants is $42,387
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The national hourly pay for legal assistants is $20.38
You can read more on the specific methodology.
Background
Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do legal assistants get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for legal assistant by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
The state with the best salary for legal assistants after this adjustment? That would be California.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for legal assistant salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Legal Assistants By State
| Rank | State | Average Legal Assistant Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $50,391 | $34,000 | $72,000 |
| 2 | Colorado | $49,366 | $36,000 | $67,000 |
| 3 | New York | $48,414 | $33,000 | $69,000 |
| 4 | Connecticut | $48,243 | $33,000 | $68,000 |
| 5 | New Hampshire | $47,775 | $34,000 | $65,000 |
| 6 | Washington | $47,558 | $35,000 | $63,000 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | $47,220 | $34,000 | $65,000 |
| 8 | New Jersey | $47,213 | $32,000 | $67,000 |
| 9 | Nevada | $46,834 | $32,000 | $67,000 |
| 10 | Illinois | $45,800 | $33,000 | $63,000 |
| 11 | Hawaii | $45,572 | $38,000 | $54,000 |
| 12 | Delaware | $43,897 | $30,000 | $63,000 |
| 13 | Minnesota | $43,844 | $32,000 | $58,000 |
| 14 | Kansas | $43,636 | $31,000 | $60,000 |
| 15 | Maryland | $43,010 | $29,000 | $62,000 |
| 16 | Alaska | $43,008 | $38,000 | $48,000 |
| 17 | Pennsylvania | $42,954 | $29,000 | $61,000 |
| 18 | Utah | $42,605 | $30,000 | $59,000 |
| 19 | Nebraska | $42,088 | $30,000 | $57,000 |
| 20 | Oregon | $42,011 | $30,000 | $57,000 |
| 21 | Michigan | $41,771 | $29,000 | $58,000 |
| 22 | West Virginia | $41,758 | $29,000 | $59,000 |
| 23 | Arizona | $40,854 | $28,000 | $58,000 |
| 24 | Texas | $40,807 | $28,000 | $58,000 |
| 25 | Rhode Island | $40,763 | $29,000 | $57,000 |
| 26 | Virginia | $40,751 | $28,000 | $59,000 |
| 27 | Mississippi | $40,554 | $28,000 | $57,000 |
| 28 | Idaho | $39,907 | $29,000 | $54,000 |
| 29 | Wisconsin | $39,183 | $28,000 | $53,000 |
| 30 | Vermont | $39,128 | $29,000 | $52,000 |
| 31 | North Dakota | $38,818 | $29,000 | $50,000 |
| 32 | Montana | $38,298 | $28,000 | $50,000 |
| 33 | Louisiana | $38,177 | $26,000 | $54,000 |
| 34 | Georgia | $38,051 | $26,000 | $54,000 |
| 35 | Missouri | $37,959 | $27,000 | $52,000 |
| 36 | New Mexico | $37,835 | $26,000 | $53,000 |
| 37 | Maine | $37,782 | $28,000 | $49,000 |
| 38 | Alabama | $37,504 | $26,000 | $53,000 |
| 39 | Indiana | $37,014 | $26,000 | $51,000 |
| 40 | Florida | $36,918 | $25,000 | $52,000 |
| 41 | Ohio | $36,895 | $26,000 | $52,000 |
| 42 | South Dakota | $36,864 | $27,000 | $49,000 |
| 43 | Iowa | $36,724 | $26,000 | $50,000 |
| 44 | Wyoming | $35,421 | $26,000 | $47,000 |
| 45 | Kentucky | $35,349 | $25,000 | $49,000 |
| 46 | North Carolina | $35,004 | $24,000 | $50,000 |
| 47 | Arkansas | $34,530 | $24,000 | $48,000 |
| 48 | Tennessee | $33,925 | $23,000 | $48,000 |
| 49 | South Carolina | $33,521 | $23,000 | $48,000 |
| 50 | Oklahoma | $32,792 | $23,000 | $45,000 |
Methodology: Legal Assistant Salary By State
To better understand legal assistant pay by state, Zippia has aggregated data across a multitude of channels including the BLS, FLC, and OPM. We then supplement that data with actual listed salaries from job posts. Finally, the data science team calculates a weighted average of these inputs to create an average pay for legal assistants by state.
We took the average annual salary data for legal assistants from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for legal assistants.
Legal Assistant Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for legal assistants?
The highest-paid state for legal assistants is California with an average salary of $50,391 per year.
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What city pays legal assistants the most?
Washington, DC pays legal assistants the most with an average salary of $56,896 per year.
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What is the worst state for legal assistants?
The worst state for legal assistants is Oklahoma with an average salary of $32,792 per year.
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
