Paralegals and Legal Assistants in Ohio
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,782
after federal, FICA and Ohio tax
Tax takes
$10,638
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,222
Ohio costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Ohio — 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
$60,420
Kept after tax
$49,782
Worth in national money
$54,222
State rank
30
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Ohio sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $60,420, ranking 30 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Ohio, this sits in the middle: 232 of 494 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Ohio is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $60,420 the take-home is $49,782; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $54,222 would nationally. The average comes to $64,180, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Ohio occupies the middle band for paralegals and legal assistants: a median of $60,420, ranking 30 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Paralegals and legal assistants ranks 232 of 494 occupations in Ohio 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.
- Post-tax income for paralegals and legal assistants in Ohio, on $60,420, is $49,782 — equivalent to $54,222 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $64,180 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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 | $41,720 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,420 |
| Top tenth earn over | $94,660 |
| This salary | $60,420 |
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 Ohio | $49,782 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,727 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,020 |
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 | $59,244 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,443 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 92 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of paralegals and legal assistants in Ohio earn under $60,420 and half over. The published range runs $41,720 at the tenth percentile to $94,660 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Ohio the take-home figure of $49,782, from $60,420, 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 232 of 494 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $54,222 uses one figure for the whole of Ohio. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 494 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 232.
- Figures are distribution medians for paralegals and legal assistants in Ohio, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $41,720 to $94,660; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Ohio is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $49,782 from $60,420. 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 232 of 494 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $54,222, worked from $60,420, 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 Ohio address, on work sitting at 232 of 494 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 $64,180, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $41,720, the highest tenth $94,660, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Ohio is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $54,222 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Ohio's own levy, $49,782 remains.
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 Ohio is $64,180. 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 ($41,720) and the ninetieth ($94,660) 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.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Ohio'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 $54,222 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 $49,782 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Ohio 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.