Compared with the local labor market
Legal Assistant I pay vs. Texas
Across all employers in Texas, the median wage for Paralegals and Legal Assistants — about 29,540 people — is $62,310. Texas Department of Criminal Justice pays a median base salary of $46,509 for this role, 25% below that figure — about the 23rd percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Texas Department of Criminal Justice sits in the local pay range
$39,190
$47,410
$62,310
$77,740
$98,440
Texas Department of Criminal Justice median · $46,509
The bar is the range of annual wages for Paralegals and Legal Assistants across every employer in Texas, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Texas Department of Criminal Justice’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. Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s median base salary is 26% below that national figure, about the 15th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$44,740
$50,340
$62,890
$80,080
$101,500
Texas Department of Criminal Justice median · $46,509
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 Texas range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Texas Department of Criminal Justice is $46,509, 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 Texas
This role is reported in 19 jurisdictions. In Texas, the median of $67,448 ranks #6 of 19. See Legal Assistant across all of Texas →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
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.