Lawyers vs Paralegals and Legal Assistants: $160K vs $63K Median Pay

Lawyers vs Paralegals and Legal Assistants: what changes?

Consider Lawyers if you want to represent clients in criminal and civil litigation and other legal proceedings, draw up legal documents, or manage or advise clients on legal transactions. Consider Paralegals and Legal Assistants if you would rather assist lawyers by investigating facts, preparing legal documents, or researching legal precedent. Entry credentials differ: Lawyers, doctoral or professional degree; Paralegals and Legal Assistants, associate's degree.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Lawyers and Paralegals and Legal Assistants. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Lawyers

National median pay (2025): $159,670
Route into the job: Doctoral or professional degree
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate: Interpret laws, rulings and regulations for individuals and businesses.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 28,700

Know before you choose

Review the full career brief for day-to-day working conditions.

See the full Lawyers brief

Paralegals and Legal Assistants

National median pay (2025): $62,890
Route into the job: Associate's degree
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate: Prepare affidavits or other documents, such as legal correspondence, and organize and maintain documents in paper or electronic filing system.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 40,800

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 0.3% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Paralegals and Legal Assistants brief

How the national numbers differ

Lawyers has the edge on median pay

Lawyers is at $159,670, compared with $62,890 for Paralegals and Legal Assistants.

Lawyers has the edge on projected growth

Lawyers is at 4.7% projected growth, compared with -0.3% projected growth for Paralegals and Legal Assistants.

Typical preparation differs.

Lawyers: Doctoral or professional degree Paralegals and Legal Assistants: Associate's degree Preparation categories do not establish admission difficulty, calendar time, tuition, time without earnings, or licensing difficulty.

Paralegals and Legal Assistants has the edge on annual openings

Paralegals and Legal Assistants is at 40,800 annual openings, compared with 28,700 annual openings for Lawyers.

71.8/ 100

Lawyers

55.6/ 100

Paralegals and Legal Assistants

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

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