Compared with the local labor market
Legal Assistant pay vs. Tennessee
Across all employers in Tennessee, the median wage for Paralegals and Legal Assistants — about 6,080 people — is $58,820. Department of Disability and Aging pays a median base salary of $53,676 for this role, 9% below that figure — about the 39th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Department of Disability and Aging sits in the local pay range
$43,570
$47,270
$58,820
$67,470
$83,100
Department of Disability and Aging median · $53,676
The bar is the range of annual wages for Paralegals and Legal Assistants across every employer in Tennessee, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Disability and Aging’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. Department of Disability and Aging’s median base salary is 15% below that national figure, about the 32nd percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$44,740
$50,340
$62,890
$80,080
$101,500
Department of Disability and Aging median · $53,676
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 Tennessee range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Department of Disability and Aging is $54,958, 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 Tennessee
This role is reported in 19 jurisdictions. In Tennessee, the median of $60,348 ranks #10 of 19. See Legal Assistant across all of Tennessee →
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.