Paralegal Specialist

What the Numbers Say About Paralegal Specialist

Federal agencies employ 6,251 people in the Paralegal Specialist occupation (OPM code 950), accounting for 0.3% of the total federal civilian workforce of 2,289,472 for the March 2025 reporting window. Headcount in this occupation moved down by -3.6% 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.

Paralegal Specialist pays $98,575 per year on average, 10.3% below the $109,869 federal civilian average, after moving up 3.0% from the prior period (a broad shift as locality pay tables and grade-level adjustments moved through the workforce). Employees in this role stay an average of 14.6 years, a mid-length average tenure, reflecting a mix of career employees and those who transfer or exit mid-career.

Code 9, 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, since federal hiring managers often cross-post positions across closely related codes when recruitment is difficult. All figures here come directly from OPM FedScope Employment Cubes, the same official source referenced in federal workforce planning, budget justifications, and GAO reports.

Paralegal Specialist makes up 4.7% of the 133,580 employees across the Legal and Kindred Group family, ranking #5 of 18 occupations in that family by headcount. Its average salary ranks in the top half (61st percentile) of pay among Legal and Kindred Group occupations.