Random Questions | What Is An Average Paralegal Salary?

What Is An Average Paralegal Salary?

With the increasing demands made on lawyers these days, paralegals play an important role in most legal offices and in working for different businesses and institutions. The responsibilities of a legal assistant, or paralegal, are varied and depend in part upon where they work however in many situations they perform many of the same duties as a lawyer except for a few things that they are not permitted, by law, to do. It is a fairly competitive field, and as such usually the better trained and more experienced paralegals usually receive the better paying positions.  However, it is an exciting field of work where there are many chances for advancement.

People who may be considering this as a career choice often have a lot of random questions regarding what their responsibilities will be, how long they must study before receiving their certificate and what the standard paralegal salary is. There are no set answers to these questions, as responsibilities and salaries tend to depend on the training the paralegal has received, however there are some guidelines as far as what to expect.

There are two main ways that people become paralegals. Most people take a community college paralegal Associate Degree program. People who already have their Bachelor’s Degree can instead earn a certificate in paralegal studies. While certification is not essential, those who do go on to become certified usually find that their average starting paralegal salary is higher than those who do not.

While figures vary, the average paralegal salary is somewhere between $45,000 to $50,000 per year, plus bonuses, though the actual paralegal salary range starts at $30,000 for the lower earning positions and can go as high as $73,000 per year. These figures depend in part on where the paralegal is employed. Usually those working for larger law firms in bigger metropolitan areas earn quite a bit more than those working for small law offices, or those who work in less populated areas of the country. Experience and education also play an important role in how much a paralegal is paid.

The entry level paralegal salary is also fairly varied, again depending on the type of position that is held and the type of employer they are working for. As an example, an paralegal starting out will earn around $34,000 per year, however a similarly educated new paralegal working for a corporation could start out with a significantly higher salary of close to $40,000 per year. Fortunately, no matter what a young paralegal’s starting salary is there are ample opportunities for job advancement and salary increases over time.

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