Paralegals and Legal Assistants in Mississippi
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,530
after federal, FICA and Mississippi tax
Tax takes
$8,650
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,994
Mississippi costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Mississippi — 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
$46,180
Kept after tax
$37,530
Worth in national money
$42,994
State rank
51
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Mississippi is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $46,180, ranking 51 of 51 states — about 26.57% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in Mississippi, this sits in the middle: 276 of 486 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $46,180 you keep $37,530 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $42,994 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $49,500, since top earners drag the number up.
- Mississippi ranks 51 of 51 for paralegals and legal assistants, with a median of $46,180 — about 26.57% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Paralegals and legal assistants ranks 276 of 486 occupations in Mississippi by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Mississippi is $37,530 after the full tax stack, from $46,180. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $42,994 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $49,500 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Paralegals and Legal Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,660 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,180 |
| Top tenth earn over | $67,960 |
| This salary | $46,180 |
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 Mississippi | $37,530 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,286 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,566 |
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 | $43,996 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,104 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 87 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $46,180 as a midpoint for Mississippi, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,660 and the ninetieth is $67,960 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Mississippi the take-home figure of $37,530, from $46,180, 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 276 of 486 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $42,994 uses one figure for the whole of Mississippi. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 486 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 276.
- The Mississippi median of $46,180 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,660 to $67,960. 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 Mississippi is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $37,530 from $46,180. 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 276 of 486 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $42,994, worked from $46,180, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Mississippi address, on work sitting at 276 of 486 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $49,500, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $35,660 at the bottom tenth to $67,960 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $42,994.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Mississippi then takes its own share, leaving $37,530.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 Mississippi is $49,500. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,660 to $67,960) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Mississippi rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Mississippi's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $42,994 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $37,530 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Mississippi income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
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.