Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale

• As of May 2009, according to the BLS, 8,470 paralegals and legal assistants worked in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale metropolitan division. The annual median salary was $57,020, with 50 percent earning between $44,650 and $73,840. Ten percent of paralegals earned $32,160 or less, and 10 percent earned $92,600 or more.
  
  

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana

• The number of paralegals and legal assistants that worked in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana was 11,820, with an annual median salary of $57,160. Fifty percent earned between $44,520 and $72,460; 10 percent earned $33,450 or less, while 10 percent earned $93,420 or more.
  
  

Comparison

• Paralegal salaries in the Los Angeles area were close to statewide California paralegal salaries, which came in at a median of $57,230, with 50 percent earning between $44,690 and $72,040. California salaries were higher than the national median salary of $46,980.
  
  

February 2011 Salary Data

• According to Simply Hired, as of February 2011, the average salary for listed paralegal jobs in Los Angeles is $52,000. The site also provides average salaries for specific types of paralegal jobs: litigation paralegal, $52,000; corporate paralegal, $57,000; real estate paralegal; $53,000; patent or trademark paralegal, $52,000; and junior paralegal, $40,000.
  
  

Considerations

• Paralegals typically enter the profession by completing an associate's degree paralegal program at a community college. There are schools that offer bachelor's and master's degrees in paralegal studies, and certificate programs are available for people who already have a college degree. Certain employers train paralegals on the job. Paralegal programs in Los Angeles approved by the American Bar Association, as of February 2011, are at California State University, National University and the University of California. California has 24 other approved paralegal programs.