Paralegal Specialist
Federal headcount, average salary, length of service, and pay comparison for the Paralegal Specialist occupation series (code 0950), drawn directly from the OPM FedScope dataset (June 2026).
The verdict
In the Legal and Kindred Group family, Paralegal Specialist counts 5,165 employees, a smaller, specialized federal occupation at 0.3% of the federal civilian workforce, and headcount edged up from the prior period; pay averages $107,719, which pays below the federal-wide average.
- Headcount change
- +0.1%
- Pay change
- +0.1%
- Avg tenure
- 15.8 yrs
- Rank in family
- #5 of 18
FedScope read on Paralegal Specialist (dense series)
Headcount moved up versus the prior period, a useful gauge for job seekers on USAJOBS trying to assess whether this role is expanding government-wide or contracting under hiring freezes and attrition. Pay moved up between the two reporting periods, 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 long average tenure, typical of career federal roles where employees stay through much of a full career before retirement.
Code 09, the Legal and Kindred Group family, is where the federal government classifies Paralegal Specialist alongside 17 related occupations. Candidates browsing USAJOBS for Paralegal Specialist postings should also review these sibling occupations in the Legal and Kindred Group family. Paralegal Specialist makes up 4.7% of the Legal and Kindred Group family's 110,958 combined employees. Its average salary ranks in the top half (65th percentile) of pay among Legal and Kindred Group occupations.
Salary Context
How Paralegal Specialist pay compares to the federal average
Occupation Average
$107,719
Federal Average
$117,339
vs. Federal Avg
-8.2%
Where Paralegal Specialist ranks on federal pay
Paralegal Specialist earns more on average than 59% of federal occupation series (320 of 541). The highlighted bar marks where Paralegal Specialist sits in the federal pay distribution.
Average-salary distribution across all 541 federal occupation series; the highlighted bar marks Paralegal Specialist.
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 |
| Legal Assistance | 3,326 | $69,159 | 12.5 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 Paralegal Specialist 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 (5,165 here).
Similar average salary
Nearest average salaries in other occupation families ($107,719 here).
Key takeaways
- Place Paralegal Specialist 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 Paralegal Specialist 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.