Paralegals and Legal Assistants in Florida
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,194
after federal, FICA and Florida tax
Tax takes
$9,807
16.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,485
Florida costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Florida — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$61,000
Kept after tax
$51,194
Worth in national money
$49,485
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Florida is 29 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $61,000. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Florida reports figures for, this is number 192.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $61,000 the take-home is $51,194. But Florida costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $49,485 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $63,250, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Florida ranks 29 of 51 for paralegals and legal assistants at $61,000. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Florida's occupational distribution, paralegals and legal assistants sits at 192 of 493 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Florida income tax is $51,194 for paralegals and legal assistants, from $61,000. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $49,485. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $63,250 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Paralegals and Legal Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,830 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $83,410 |
| This salary | $61,000 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Florida | $51,194 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,194 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,196 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $61,000 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,866 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 103 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $61,000 as a midpoint for Florida, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $38,830 and the ninetieth is $83,410 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Florida the take-home figure of $51,194, from $61,000, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 192 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $49,485, the adjusted value of that $61,000 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Florida. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 192 of 493 locally.
- The Florida median of $61,000 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $38,830 to $83,410. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Florida is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $51,194 from $61,000. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 192 of 493 locally.
- This $49,485 adjusted figure, worked from $61,000, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 192 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 192 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $63,250 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $38,830 at the bottom tenth to $83,410 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Florida costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $49,485 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $51,194 survives, because Florida levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Florida is $63,250. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($38,830) and the ninetieth ($83,410) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Florida's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $49,485 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Florida levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $51,194 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.