City of Seattle / Law Department / Legal Assistant

Job-title file

Legal Assistant

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

15 employees hold this title in Law Department. Median total compensation for the role is $81,494, below the department median of $146,432.

Employees: 15
Total payroll: $1.2M
Role median: $81,494
Agency median: $146,432
Comparison: Below

What the records show

Role pay distribution

Pay distribution for this role

$72,634$81,494+

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

How total compensation varies among the 15 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

Legal Assistant pay vs. the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area

Across all employers in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area, the median wage for Paralegals and Legal Assistants — about 6,310 people — is $92,900. Law Department pays a median base salary of $81,494 for this role, 12% below that figure — about the 35th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where Law Department sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$59,320

$74,470

$92,900

$108,160

$119,820

Law Department median · $81,494

The bar is the range of annual wages for Paralegals and Legal Assistants across every employer in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Law 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. Law Department’s median base salary is 30% above that national figure, about the 76th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$44,740

$50,340

$62,890

$80,080

$101,500

Law Department median · $81,494

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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA range relative to the national one.

Median total compensation for this role at Law Department is $81,494, 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 City of Seattle

Legal Assistant is held in 2 City of Seattle departments. In Law Department, the median of $81,494 ranks #1 of 2.

Highest-paying departments for this role

Hearing Examiner

$81,494 · 1

Median total compensation for the Legal Assistant role in other City of Seattledepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.

Compare jurisdictions

Legal Assistant beyond City of Seattle

This role is reported in 19 jurisdictions. In City of Seattle, the median of $81,494 ranks #5 of 19. See Legal Assistant across all of City of Seattle →

Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role

City and County of San Francisco

$165,860 · 132

$128,283 · 63

$125,902 · 18

$87,537 · 7

$67,448 · 569

$66,924 · 61

City of Phoenix, Arizona

$65,621 · 35

Utah

$60,942 · 17

Median total compensation for comparable Legal Assistantroles 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.

Record list