Legal Assistance
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Legal Assistance occupation series (code 0986), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
With 3,326 employees (0.2% of the federal civilian workforce), Legal Assistance ranks as a smaller, specialized federal occupation within the Legal and Kindred Group family, and headcount edged down from the prior period. Its average salary of $69,159 pays below the federal average.
- Headcount change
- -1.0%
- Pay change
- +0.2%
- Avg tenure
- 12.5 yrs
- Rank in family
- #6 of 18
FedScope read on Legal Assistance (dense series)
On pay, the move between reporting periods was a small shift, within the range of normal year-to-year rounding rather than a broad pay-table change. On length of service, this series shows a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career. Headcount moved down versus the prior period, a modest but trackable signal for anyone considering this specialized federal career path.
The Legal and Kindred Group family (code 09) groups Legal Assistance together with 17 other related occupations across the federal government. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Legal Assistance postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Legal and Kindred Group family. Legal Assistance makes up 3.0% of the Legal and Kindred Group family's 110,958 combined employees. Its average salary ranks in the bottom half (18th percentile) of pay among Legal and Kindred Group occupations.
Salary context · lean-pay series
How Legal Assistance pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$69,159
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-41.1%
Where Legal Assistance ranks on lean federal pay
Legal Assistance earns more on average than 25% of federal occupation series (133 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Legal Assistance sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Legal Assistance.
Related Occupations in Legal and Kindred Group
10 other occupations in the same family
| Occupation | Employees | Avg Salary | Avg LOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Attorney | 35,986 | $177,921 | 13.6 yrs |
| Contact Representative | 29,201 | $64,454 | 9.3 yrs |
| Veterans Claims Examining | 18,099 | $92,511 | 13.3 yrs |
| General Legal and Kindred Administration | 8,711 | $82,876 | 12.3 yrs |
| Paralegal Specialist | 5,165 | $107,719 | 15.8 yrs |
| Hearings and Appeals | 3,231 | n/a | 15.9 yrs |
| Passport and Visa Examining | 2,035 | $92,682 | 11.3 yrs |
| Legal Instruments Examining | 1,261 | $73,021 | 11.7 yrs |
| Administrative Law Judge | 1,189 | $208,642 | 20.7 yrs |
| Claims Assistance and Examining | 925 | $67,330 | 18.9 yrs |
Nationwide peers near this dense headcount
Two peer sets for Legal Assistance outside the Legal and Kindred Group family, on headcount and average salary axes that vary across all OPM occupation series.
Similar dense headcount
Nearest employee counts in other occupation families (3,326 here).
Similar lean average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($69,159 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Legal Assistance pay in context with the pay-rank chart above, then compare it with another occupation.
- Turn an average salary into a grade: the GS pay grade tables show how grades and steps map to pay.
- Browse the Legal and Kindred Group family occupations in the table above, or search current Legal Assistance postings on USAJOBS.
OPM FedScope and Federal Workforce Data figures are federal civilian headcounts, average salaries, and length-of-service statistics - not job-quality scores, hiring advice, or a live vacancy listing. A larger or higher-paid agency is not a better employer.