Paralegals and Legal Assistants in New York
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,859
after federal, FICA and New York tax
Tax takes
$14,551
21.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,043
New York costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New York — 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
$68,410
Kept after tax
$53,859
Worth in national money
$50,043
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. New York pays this job a middle wage of $68,410, ranking 9 of 51 states and sitting about 8.78% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 240 among 493 occupations New York publishes pay for.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $68,410 the take-home is $53,859. But New York costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $50,043 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $76,890, because the best-paid pull it up.
- New York's median for paralegals and legal assistants is $68,410, about 8.78% above the national figure and 9 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 240 of 493 in New York places paralegals and legal assistants in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New York income tax is $53,859 for paralegals and legal assistants, from $68,410. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $50,043. ⚠️ 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 $76,890 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Paralegals and Legal Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,330 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $68,410 |
| Top tenth earn over | $115,720 |
| This salary | $68,410 |
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 New York | $53,859 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $56,956 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,569 |
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 | $64,318 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,601 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in New York earn less than $68,410. The published range is $48,330 up to $115,720, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New York's $53,859, worked from $68,410. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 240 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $50,043 uses one figure for the whole of New York. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 240.
- Reported values are medians; for paralegals and legal assistants in New York the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $48,330 to $115,720. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The New York take-home of $53,859, on $68,410 for work ranking 240 of 493 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 240 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $50,043, worked from $68,410, 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 New York address, on work sitting at 240 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $76,890, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $48,330 and the top tenth $115,720 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in New York run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $50,043 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and New York adds its own income tax on top — which is why $53,859 of this wage survives to your account.
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 New York is $76,890. 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 ($48,330) and the ninetieth ($115,720) 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?
New York's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $50,043 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $53,859 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New York 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.