Compared with the local labor market
Paralegal Specialist pay vs. the United States
Across all employers in the United States, the median wage for Paralegals and Legal Assistants — about 392,880 people — is $62,890. Smithsonian Institution pays a median base salary of $115,731 for this role, 84% above that figure — above the 90th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Smithsonian Institution sits in the local pay range
$44,740
$50,340
$62,890
$80,080
$101,500
Smithsonian Institution median · $115,731
The bar is the range of annual wages for Paralegals and Legal Assistants across every employer in the United States, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Smithsonian Institution’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
Median total compensation for this role at Smithsonian Institution is $115,731, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare jurisdictions
Paralegal Specialist beyond U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense)
This role is reported in 4 jurisdictions. In U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense), the median of $96,330 ranks #3 of 4. See Paralegal Specialist across all of U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense) →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable Paralegal Specialistroles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.