Compared with the local labor market
Legal Assistant pay vs. California
Across all employers in California, the median wage for Paralegals and Legal Assistants — about 47,130 people — is $77,390. State Public Defender pays a median base salary of $40,981 for this role, 47% below that figure — below the 10th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where State Public Defender sits in the local pay range
$50,460
$60,170
$77,390
$98,430
$119,580
State Public Defender median · $40,981
The bar is the range of annual wages for Paralegals and Legal Assistants across every employer in California, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows State 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. State Public Defender’s median base salary is 35% below that national figure, below the 10th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$44,740
$50,340
$62,890
$80,080
$101,500
State Public Defender median · $40,981
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 California range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at State Public Defender is $40,981, 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
Legal Assistant beyond California
This role is reported in 19 jurisdictions. In California, the median of $66,924 ranks #7 of 19. See Legal Assistant across all of California →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable Legal Assistant 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.