Paralegals and Legal Assistants in Oklahoma
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,010
after federal, FICA and Oklahoma tax
Tax takes
$10,160
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,717
Oklahoma costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oklahoma — 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
$53,170
Kept after tax
$43,010
Worth in national money
$48,717
State rank
46
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Oklahoma. The middle earner gets $53,170. That is 46 of 51 states, and about 15.46% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 227 among 492 occupations Oklahoma publishes pay for.
- Oklahoma is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $53,170 the take-home is $43,010; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $48,717 would nationally. The average comes to $55,510, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For paralegals and legal assistants, Oklahoma sits in the lower band at $53,170, ranking 46 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 15.46%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 227 of 492 in Oklahoma 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.
- Post-tax income for paralegals and legal assistants in Oklahoma, on $53,170, is $43,010 — equivalent to $48,717 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 $55,510 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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 | $36,020 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $82,060 |
| This salary | $53,170 |
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 Oklahoma | $43,010 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,902 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,509 |
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 | $50,815 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,035 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
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 Oklahoma earn under $53,170 and half over. The published range runs $36,020 at the tenth percentile to $82,060 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $43,010 take-home in Oklahoma comes from $53,170. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 227 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Oklahoma, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $48,717, the adjusted value of that $53,170 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 227 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for paralegals and legal assistants in Oklahoma, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,020 to $82,060; 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.
- Retained pay of $43,010, from $53,170, assumes a single Oklahoma filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 227 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 46 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Oklahoma, so $48,717 — the adjusted value of that $53,170 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 227 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $55,510, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $36,020 at the bottom tenth to $82,060 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Oklahoma sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $48,717 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 Oklahoma's own levy, $43,010 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 Oklahoma is $55,510. 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 ($36,020) and the ninetieth ($82,060) 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?
Oklahoma'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 $48,717 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 $43,010 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oklahoma 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.