Paralegal Specialist - Federal Salaries of 2021

Pay Rates for "Paralegal Specialist"

How much does a Paralegal Specialist in the federal government get paid? $83,133.11* *Based on the 2021 average.

5,935 EMPLOYEES

$352.24M TOTAL SALARY

GS MOST COMMON PAYSCALE

Paralegal Specialist was the 51st most popular job in the U.S. Government in 2021, with 5,935 employed. The most common payscale was the general schedule payscale.

In 2021, the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys and the Office of U.s Attorneys hired the most employees titled Paralegal Specialist, with an average salary of $88,902.

Government Paralegal Specialist jobs are classified under the General Schedule (GS) payscale. The minimum paygrade for a Paralegal Specialist job is GS-4, and the highest paygrade that can be attained within this job series is GS-15. Remember that the starting and maximum yearly pay listed above reflect base pay only - your actual salary will be higher based on the Locality Pay Adjustment for the area in which you work.

Job Description

This occupation includes positions not requiring professional legal competence which involve various legal assistance duties, of a type not classifiable in some other occupation in the Legal and Kindred Group, in connection with functions such as hearings, appeals, litigation, or advisory services. The specialists analyze the legal impact of legislative developments and administrative and judicial decisions, opinions, determinations, and rulings on agency programs; conduct research for the preparation of legal opinions on matters of interest to the agency; perform substantive legal analysis of requests for information under the provisions of various acts; or other similar legal support functions which require discretion and independent judgment in the application of a specialized knowledge of laws, precedent decisions, regulations, agency policies and practices, and judicial or administrative proceedings. Such knowledge is less than that represented by graduation from a recognized law school, and may have been gained from formalized, professionally instructed agency or educational institution training or from professionally supervised on-the-job training. While the paramount knowledge requirements of this occupation are legal, some positions also require a practical knowledge of subject matter areas related to the agency's substantive programs.

Agencies that have hired a Paralegal Specialist

Agency	Employees Hired	Average Salary
Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys and the Office of U.s Attorneys	1,257	$88,902.02
Small Business Administration	1,061	$55,685.23
Social Security Administration	754	$109,939.71
Offices, Boards and Divisions	480	$74,322.39
Customs and Border Protection	366	$105,562.30
Federal Bureau of Investigation	251	$112,172.16
U.S. Trustee Program	229	$80,152.38
Internal Revenue Service	168	$77,643.48
General Counsel (Department of Veterans Affairs)	139	$73,373.59
Patent and Trademark Office	135	$93,647.14
Securities and Exchange Commission	83	$138,516.78
Office of the Solicitor (Department of Labor)	67	$90,905.12
U.S. Coast Guard	65	$76,547.45
Federal Trade Commission	52	$58,683.60
Immigration and Customs Enforcement	51	$95,872.06
Department of State	45	$100,150.51
Office of Personnel Management	43	$90,877.05
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission	39	$76,783.54
Merit Systems Protection Board	38	$81,929.71
Bureau of Prisons/Federal Prison System	36	$81,002.69
Office Secretary Health and Human Services	32	$93,441.13
Environmental Protection Agency	30	$102,474.00
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation	29	$111,217.10
Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection	25	$114,040.36
Food and Drug Administration	24	$101,793.22
Citizenship and Immigration Services	23	$111,598.17
Office of Secretary of Labor	21	$87,403.10
Department of Energy	21	$88,917.75
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission	18	$94,058.00
Office of the Secretary of the Interior	17	$75,149.88
Executive Office for Immigration Review	16	$84,190.19
Drug Enforcement Administration	13	$93,854.54
Office of the Solicitor (Department of Interior)	13	$80,772.92
Federal Election Commission	12	$88,314.83
Office of the General Counsel (Department of Agriculture)	12	$76,454.42
Commodity Futures Trading Commission	11	$125,643.18
Office of General Counsel (Department of Housing and Urban Development)	11	$93,241.82
	10	$91,781.00
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration	9	$104,628.00
Board of Veterans Appeals	8	$81,259.00
Office of General Counsel (General Services Administration)	8	$80,347.38
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services	8	$116,373.25
Office of Senior Coordinator for Midwest	8	$80,144.88
Office of Senior Coordinator for Southeast/Caribbean	7	$84,203.86
Department of Homeland Security Headquarters	7	$80,371.86
Forest Service	6	$78,607.83
National Labor Relations Board	6	$90,184.33
Federal Communications Commission	6	$109,929.50
Civilian Board of Contract Appeals	6	$102,218.50
Office of Senior Coordinator for New York/New Jersey	5	$90,768.80
Office of Senior Coordinator for Mid-Atlantic	5	$96,496.20
Office of Senior Coordinator for Southwest	5	$82,648.60
Office of Senior Coordinator for Pacific/Hawaii	5	$90,046.40
Headquarters, Nasa	5	$88,402.20
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration	5	$85,341.80
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation	5	$89,749.20
Federal Emergency Management Agency	5	$79,253.60
Overseas Private Investment Corporation	5	$96,538.40
John F. Kennedy Space Center	4	$91,357.25
U.S. International Trade Commission	4	$94,519.00
Departmental Offices	4	$116,070.75
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention	4	$93,035.50
National Institute of Standards and Technology	3	$102,235.00
Goddard Space Flight Center	3	$86,073.67
George C. Marshall Space Flight Center	3	$96,626.33
Railroad Retirement Board	3	$90,820.67
Office of Secretary of Transportation	3	$87,161.67
Federal Highway Administration	3	$107,252.00
Transportation Security Administration	3	$105,318.67
Office of Senior Coordinator for New England	3	$82,826.33
Office of Senior Coordinator for Great Plains	3	$89,705.00
National Park Service	3	$64,201.33
Office of Senior Coordinator for Rocky Mountains	2	$98,406.00
Office of Senior Coordinator for Northwest/Alaska	2	$87,716.00
Indian Affairs	2	$70,121.50
Corporation for National and Community Service	2	$89,270.00
Office of Justice Programs	2	$87,062.50
Office of the General Counsel (Department of Education)	2	$67,441.50
Federal Student Aid	2	$118,895.00
Office of the Director	2	$84,535.50
Office of Inspector General (General Services Administration)	2	$114,610.00
Office of the Secretary (Department of Commerce)	2	$110,357.00
National Credit Union Administration	2	$0.00
Inspector General (Department of Veterans Affairs)	2	$123,522.00
Veterans Health Administration	2	$59,666.50
Office of Inspector General (Department of Health and Human Services)	2	$111,902.50
U.S. Secret Service	2	$115,359.00
Langley Research Center	2	$89,508.00
Nuclear Regulatory Commission	2	$69,148.00
National Transportation Safety Board	2	$91,676.50
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration	2	$100,863.50
John Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field	1	$99,586.00
John C. Stennis Space Center	1	$82,905.00
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center	1	$132,627.00
National Archives and Records Administration	1	$90,106.00
Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission	1	$89,730.00
Office of National Drug Control Policy	1	$89,730.00
Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board	1	$99,027.00
Consumer Product Safety Commission	1	$49,157.00
Smithsonian Institution (Exchange Sep Boards of Trust)	1	$92,155.00
Federal Railroad Administration	1	$100,327.00
Bureau of Engraving and Printing	1	$90,106.00
Office of the Secretary (Department of Veterans Affairs)	1	$94,581.00
U.S. Marshals Service	1	$111,022.00
Office of the Inspector General (Department of Justice)	1	$112,064.00
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives	1	$107,848.00
Export-Import Bank of the United States	1	$102,734.00
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service	1	$67,230.00
International-American Foundation	1	$80,027.00
Bureau of Land Management	1	$92,988.00
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service	1	$94,419.00
Government Printing Office	1	$77,602.00
Ames Research Center	1	$103,977.00
Federal Housing Finance Agency	1	$160,651.00
Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers	1	$101,178.00
National Appeals Division	1	$86,563.00
National Endowment for the Arts	1	$104,641.00
Institute of Museum and Library Services	1	$62,133.00
U.S. Agency for International Development	1	$122,972.00
Federal Labor Relations Authority	1	$85,379.00
Bureau of the Census	1	$95,152.00

Paralegal Specialist Pay Distribution

The average pay for a Paralegal Specialist is $83,133.11. The highest paid Paralegal Specialist made $192,347 in 2021.

Common Paralegal Specialist Payscales

Payscale	Number of Paralegal Specialist Employees
GS - General Schedule	5,762
SK - Non-supervisorty Postions Employed By The Securities And Exchange Commission (sec) And Formerly Under Gs Pay	83
CG - Corporate Graded	29
CN - Bureau Of Consumer Financial Protect(cfpb) Independent Agcy Within The Fed Res Syst(use By Cfpb Only)	25
CT - Commodity Futures Trading Commission Positions Previously Defined Under Pay Plan Codes Ad, Es, Gm, And Gs	11
ZA - Administrative	3
GG - Grades Similar To General Schedule	3
IC - Employees Holding Incident Management Cadre Of On-call Response/recovery Employees(core)positions	3
SV - Transportation Security Administration Employees Other Than Executives	3
IR - Internal Revenue Service Broadband Classification And Pay System Positions Only	2
NY - All Other Positions In The Corporation For National And Community Service, P.l. 103-82, Subtitle G, Section	2
NQ - Employees In The National Nuclear Secuirty Administration's Professional, Technical, And Admin Career Path	2
GL - Gs Employees In Grades 3 Through 10 Paid A Law Enforcement Officer Special Base Rate	2
CU - Credit Union Employees	2
EL - Non-executive Positions At The Federal Housing Finance Agency	1
SL - Senior Level Positions	1
PG - Printing Office Grades	1

Starting Paygrade:	$28,921.00 / year base pay at paygrade GS-4, Step 1
Maximum Paygrade:	$152,771.00 / year base pay at paygrade GS-15, Step 10
Category:	Administrative and Management
Occupation Family:	0900 LEGAL AND KINDRED GROUP

Other Jobs at the GS-4 Paygrade

GS-4 is the starting paygrade for Paralegal Specialist jobs. Here are some other Federal Government jobs that can be held by employees at the GS-4 paygrade.

Occupation	Occupation Category	Starting Paygrade	Maximum Paygrade
Technical Writing and Editing	Administrative and Management	GS-4	GS-15
Building Management	Administrative and Management	GS-4	GS-15
Accounting Technician	Clerical and Administrative Support	GS-1	GS-9
Telecommunications	Administrative and Management	GS-4	GS-15
Land Law Examining	Administrative and Management	GS-4	GS-15

Search for Paralegal Specialist Jobs

Average Paralegal Specialist Pay Trend from 2004 to 2021

In 2004, the average pay for a Paralegal Specialist was $63,202. Since then, the average pay has increased to $83,133 in 2021.

Data Sources

The information provided on these pages is sourced from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Enterprise Human Resources Integration (EHRI) dataset. Postal Service data is managed exclusively by the USPS . All information is displayed unmodified and as provided by the source agency.

Federal employee salaries are public information under open government laws (5 U.S.C. § 552). FederalPay provides this data in the interest of government transparency — employee data may not be used for commercial soliciting or vending of any kind. Learn more about the FederalPay Employees Dataset here.

The series code of this occupation is 0950.