Career field
Legal careers
Occupations in law, courts, and legal support. CampusPin lists 8 legal occupations, with median pay ranging from $54,980 to $156,210 per year (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024). Median pay is occupation-wide, not a starting wage or a guarantee.
Occupations
8
indexed BLS occupations
Median pay range
$54,980–$156,210
BLS 2024, occupation-wide
Typical pay (midpoint)
$68,235
median of these medians
Most common entry education
Doctoral or professional degree
across 8 occupations
Projected to grow fastest
BLS projected employment change, 2024–2034.
Largest by employment
BLS employment estimate, 2024.
Typical entry-level education
How many of these occupations BLS classifies at each typical entry-level education. Many roles also have experience or licensure requirements beyond a degree.
- Doctoral or professional degree: 4
- Associate's degree: 2
- Bachelor's degree: 1
- High school diploma or equivalent: 1
Occupations in this field
- Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates$156,210
- Lawyers$151,160
- Administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers$115,230
- Legal support workers, all other$68,760
- Arbitrators, mediators, and conciliators$67,710
- Paralegals and legal assistants$61,010
- Judicial law clerks$60,400
- Title examiners, abstractors, and searchers$54,980
Majors that lead into this field
CampusPin majors whose program maps to occupations in this field via the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk.
Frequently asked questions
What careers are in the legal field?
CampusPin lists 8 legal occupations from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, including Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates, Lawyers, Administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers, Legal support workers, all other. Each links to a career page with median pay, projected job growth, and typical entry-level education.
How much do legal careers pay?
Across these occupations, BLS 2024 median pay ranges from $54,980 to $156,210 per year, with a midpoint (the median of the occupations' medians) near $68,235. Median pay is occupation-wide, not a starting wage, and varies by state, employer, and experience.
What education do legal careers require?
Typical entry-level education varies by occupation; the most common in this field is doctoral or professional degree. 4 occupations list doctoral or professional degree; 2 occupations list associate's degree; 1 occupation list bachelor's degree; 1 occupation list high school diploma or equivalent.
Which legal careers are projected to grow fastest?
Over 2024–2034, BLS projects the fastest growth for Arbitrators, mediators, and conciliators (+4.3%), Lawyers (+4.1%), Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates (+2.5%), Judicial law clerks (+2.5%), Title examiners, abstractors, and searchers (+2%). Projections are BLS model estimates, not guarantees.
Put this field in context
The pay and growth numbers above are field-wide BLS medians and national projections across legal occupations, not a starting salary or a guarantee for any single job. These CampusPin guides explain how to read them and how a field connects to majors and college choices.
Why a median wage is not a starting salary
How to read a BLS median, and why early-career pay usually sits below it.
How one major connects to many careers
A major points toward several occupations in a field, not a single destination.
Does a pricier college pay off?
How college cost lines up with graduation and earnings, an association, not a ranking.
Compare cost, earnings, and debt together
Weigh price, earnings, and debt side by side without reducing a field to one number.
Occupation data is from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program (Employment Projections); wages are 2024 and projections cover 2024–2034. Figures are national, not institution-specific, and projections are estimates, not guarantees.