Los Angeles County / Alternate Public Defender / Paralegal

Job-title file

Paralegal

Provide legal advice, draft and review documents, and represent the agency in legal matters.

8 employees hold this title in Alternate Public Defender. Median total compensation for the role is $132,652, below the department median of $227,420.

Employees: 8
Total payroll: $1M
Role median: $132,652
Agency median: $227,420
Comparison: Below

What the records show

Role pay distribution

Pay distribution for this role

$63,415$145,122+

Hover a bar for its range; click to filter the list below.

How total compensation varies among the 8 people in this role. Even for one job title, pay differs with seniority, step, overtime, and tenure. Each bar is a pay range; the far-right bar collects the highest earners.

Compared with the local labor market

Paralegal pay vs. the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area

Across all employers in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area, the median wage for Paralegals and Legal Assistants — about 22,240 people — is $77,520. Alternate Public Defender pays a median base salary of $73,225 for this role, 6% below that figure — about the 44th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Alternate Public Defender sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$51,200

$59,690

$77,520

$98,440

$112,160

Alternate Public Defender median · $73,225

The bar is the range of annual wages for Paralegals and Legal Assistants across every employer in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Alternate Public Defender’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. Alternate Public Defender’s median base salary is 16% above that national figure, about the 65th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$44,740

$50,340

$62,890

$80,080

$101,500

Alternate Public Defender median · $73,225

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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA range relative to the national one.

Median total compensation for this role at Alternate Public Defender is $132,652, 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

This role across Los Angeles County

Paralegal is held in 8 Los Angeles County departments. In Alternate Public Defender, the median of $132,652 ranks #6 of 8.

Highest-paying departments for this role

Board of Supervisors

$152,590 · 1

Child Support Services

$148,310 · 11

Sheriff

$147,970 · 1

District Attorney

$146,506 · 109

County Counsel

$139,542 · 56

Chief Executive Office

$132,407 · 1

Public Defender

$126,318 · 53

Median total compensation for the Paralegal role in other Los Angeles Countydepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.

Compare jurisdictions

Paralegal beyond Los Angeles County

This role is reported in 25 jurisdictions. In Los Angeles County, the median of $142,972 ranks #1 of 25. See Paralegal across all of Los Angeles County →

Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role

$139,473 · 60

$99,348 · 11

$90,144 · 40

$70,099 · 8

$64,921 · 26

$62,050 · 73

Johnson County, Kansas

$60,924 · 15

City of Salt Lake City

$60,888 · 15

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

Other job titles in Alternate Public Defender

Record list