Paralegal Salary 2026: Litigation, Corp, IP, by State

TL;DR — Paralegal Salary national + state, real-wage adjusted

National distribution where the spread is

Where the spread is.

FIG. 02 · National distribution · SOC 23-2011 n = $367,220 workers

P50 $61,010

$39,710P10 P25 $48,190 P75 $78,280 P90$98,990

The amber band is the 10th-to-90th percentile. The thicker inner band is the central half — half of all Paralegals in the federal sample earn between $48,190 and $78,280 in nominal W-2 wages.

State-by-state — ranked by real P50 P50 wage from BLS OEWS · real wage divides nominal by state RPP

The same job, fifty-one wages.

Sorted by real P50 descending. Real wage is the BLS nominal P50 divided by the state's BEA RPP — the dollar that buys the same basket as the national average. Each row links to the full state page.

Rank	ST	State	Real P50	Nom. P50	RPP	Emp
01	DC	District of Columbia	$89,691▼10%	$99,300	110.7	6K
02	CO	Colorado	$72,043▼2%	$73,380	101.9	5K
03	WA	Washington	$71,985▼8%	$78,010	108.4	9K
04	MA	Massachusetts	$69,645▼7%	$74,990	107.7	8K
05	MN	Minnesota	$68,483▲2%	$67,320	98.3	7K
06	NE	Nebraska	$68,016▲11%	$61,410	90.3	2K
07	ND	North Dakota	$67,945▲13%	$59,910	88.2	1K
08	MI	Michigan	$65,210▲6%	$61,490	94.3	7K
· · · · · 38 states omitted · · · · ·
47	RI	Rhode Island	$53,437▼2%	$54,540	102.1	2K
48	NC	North Carolina	$52,320▲6%	$49,390	94.4	12K
49	SC	South Carolina	$52,034▲7%	$48,640	93.5	7K
50	AL	Alabama	$51,696▲12%	$46,060	89.1	5K
51	MS	Mississippi	$45,073▲15%	$39,120	86.8	2K
RPP source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2023 release. P10–P90 from BLS OEWS May 2024.				Real P50 = Nominal P50 × (100 / RPP)

All 51 state pages P10–P90 + RPP per state

FIG. · PARALEGAL · REAL P50 BY STATE n = 51 jurisdictions · darker = higher

AK 59K ME 60K VT 65K NH 58K WA 72K ID 59K MT 60K ND 68K MN 68K WI 61K MI 65K NY 62K MA 70K RI 53K OR 61K NV 63K WY 55K SD 65K IA 60K IL 63K IN 55K OH 64K PA 63K NJ 58K CT 61K CA 65K UT 58K CO 72K NE 68K MO 64K KY 55K WV 55K VA 60K MD 61K DE 61K DC 90K AZ 61K NM 62K KS 54K AR 54K TN 60K NC 52K SC 52K HI 56K TX 61K OK 57K LA 54K MS 45K AL 52K GA 57K FL 58K

Real P50 (BLS ÷ RPP)

Top 20% $81K+

60–80% $72K

40–60% $63K

20–40% $54K

Bottom 20% $45K

Each tile shows the BLS OEWS P50 wage divided by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity (real take-home, normalized to US-100). Darker amber = higher real wage. Click any tile for the full state page with P10–P90 percentiles, RPP, and rank. Source: BLS OEWS May 2024 + BEA RPP 2023.

Reader questions profession-specific FAQ

Paralegal Salary 2026 — Litigation vs Corporate vs IP, Cert Premium, by State

Where the spread is.

The same job, fifty-one wages.