South Carolina / Legal Assistant
Role across South Carolina
Legal Assistant
Provide legal advice, draft and review documents, and represent the agency in legal matters.
12 people hold the Legal Assistant role across 3 departments in South Carolina, with a median total compensation of $54,342. Among 19 jurisdictions where this role is reported, South Carolina ranks #13 by median pay.
- Employees
- 12
- Median pay
- $54,342
- Departments
- 3
- Cross-jurisdiction
- #13 of 19
Compared with the local labor market
Legal Assistant pay vs. South Carolina
Across all employers in South Carolina, the median wage for Paralegals and Legal Assistants — about 7,420 people — is $53,880. South Carolina pays a median base salary of $54,342 for this role, in line with that figure — about the 51st percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where South Carolina sits in the local pay range
The bar is the range of annual wages for Paralegals and Legal Assistants across every employer in South Carolina, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows South Carolina’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. South Carolina’s median base salary is 14% below that national figure, about the 33rd 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 South Carolina range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at South Carolina is $54,342, 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 pay in other jurisdictions
Where Legal Assistants are paid most
Median total compensation for comparable Legal Assistant roles in other jurisdictions (highest first). Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not by identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for this role.
Within South Carolina
Departments with this role
Largest South Carolina departments for this role
Departments in South Carolina employing the most people in this role. Each bar links to that department’s page for the role.