City of Boston / Assessing Department / Paralegal
Job-title file
Provide legal advice, draft and review documents, and represent the agency in legal matters.
1 employee holds this title in Assessing Department. Median total compensation for the role is $54,879, below the department median of $65,031.
Compared with the local labor market
Across all employers in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH area, the median wage for Paralegals and Legal Assistants — about 6,300 people — is $79,850. Assessing Department pays a median base salary of $54,879 for this role, 31% below that figure — about the 15th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
The bar is the range of annual wages for Paralegals and Legal Assistants across every employer in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Assessing Department’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Paralegals and Legal Assistants — about 392,880 people — is $62,890. Assessing Department’s median base salary is 13% below that national figure, about the 34th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Assessing Department is $54,879, 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 departments
Paralegal is held in 2 City of Boston departments. In Assessing Department, the median of $54,879 ranks #1 of 2.
Median total compensation for the Paralegal role in other City of Bostondepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
This role is reported in 25 jurisdictions. In City of Boston, the median of $45,237 ranks #19 of 25. See Paralegal across all of City of Boston →
Median total compensation for comparable Paralegal roles 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.
Same department
Record list
Page 1
Paralegal/Assessing Department
Source-specific fields
At Assessing Department, Rory Scanlon serves as a Paralegal. Their 2024 pay totaled $54,879.