Education Analysis

Education Requirements for Paralegals and Legal Assistants

Does degree level affect salary? Based on education data in DOL PERM (green card) filings.

Salary by Education Level

What the Data Shows

For Paralegals and Legal Assistants positions, filings requiring a Master's degree carried an average declared salary of $68,655 versus $61,777 for those requiring a Bachelor's - a premium of +11.1%. Across all certified filings with a stated education level, 47.1% accepted a Bachelor's degree as the minimum requirement.

Education vs Salary

Education LevelAverage SalaryFilings% of Total
Doctorate$101,90371.9%
Master's$68,6555715.7%
Other$68,5654111.3%
Bachelor's$61,77717147.1%
None$54,982246.6%
Associate's$53,201339.1%
High School$45,741308.3%

Education by Top Employer

EmployerMost Common Minimum% Bachelor's% Master'sMedian Salary
Sidley Austin (US) LLP N/A N/A N/A $180,000
Clifford Chance US LLP N/A N/A N/A $75,000
Baker & McKenzie LLP Bachelor's 66.7% 0% $93,085
Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP N/A N/A N/A $180,000
LATOURVENCESLAU, P.A. DBA VENLAW High School 0% 0% $40,000
Jun Wang & Associates, P.C. N/A N/A N/A $39,354
Jones Day N/A N/A N/A $170,000
Brinks Gilson & Lione N/A N/A N/A $145,000
Law Offices of Rakesh Mehrotra Other 0% 0% $44,762
LAW OFFICES OF STEVE QI & ASSOCIATES N/A N/A N/A $39,541
THE CHUGH FIRM, APC N/A N/A N/A $42,806
Goodwin Procter LLP N/A N/A N/A $190,000
BARST MUKAMAL & KLEINER LLP Bachelor's 100% 0% $47,750
Chugh, LLP Other 0% 0% $46,540
Zhang & Associates, P.C. Master's 0% 50% $41,278
Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu NY LLP N/A N/A N/A $71,053
Lan & Associates, P.C. N/A N/A N/A $61,152
Kobre & Kim LLP N/A N/A N/A $70,000
Cooley LLP Doctorate 0% 0% $75,000
GONDIM LAW CORP N/A N/A N/A N/A