Legal services

Industry Group

Add Comparison
Workforce
1.15M
2019 BLS Estimate
Average Employee Age
45.1
Estimated Job Growth
−0.826%
10-Year Projection
Average Salary
$108,361
Average Male Salary
$158,884
Average Female Salary
$157,856

About

The top three occupations in the Legal services Industry Group are Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers, Paralegals & legal assistants, Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive, Legal secretaries and administrative assistants, and Office clerks, general. On average, full-time employees in the Legal services Industry Group work 44.9 hours per week and have an average annual salary of $118,893. Part-time employees in the same industry work 21.7 hours and earn an average annual salary of $41,643.

The locations with the highest concentration of employees in the Legal services Industry Group are District of Columbia (Central) PUMA, DC, District of Columbia (West) PUMA, DC, and Near North Side, Loop & Near South Side PUMA, IL. The industry that purchases the most products or services from the Hospitals Industry Group is Legal services.

cameraPhoto by Douglas Palmer

briefcaseWorkforce

A snapshot of jobs, wages, and opportunities in the Legal services Industry Group. Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers are the most common position, but the Legal services Industry Group employs a relatively high number of Paralegals & legal assistants, compared to other industries. 

The highest average salary in Legal services goes to Chief executives & legislators.

Monthly Employment

Start Year
Y-Axis
3.74%
Year-over-year growth
Employment change between May 2020 and May 2021

As of May 2021, there are 903k people employed in the Legal Services industry. This represents a 3.74% increase in employment when compared to May 2020.

This chart shows monthly employment numbers for Legal Services over time (non-seasonally adjusted).

View Data
Save Image
Add Data to Cart

Occupations by Share

1.15M
Workforce (BLS Estimate)
ACS Estimate: 1.46M
1.13%
1 Year Growth
± 2.83%

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there were 1.15M people employed in the Legal services Industry Group in 2019.

According to ACS estimates, the number of people employed in the Legal services Industry Group has been growing at a rate of 1.13%, , from 1.45M people in 2019 to 1.46M people in 2020.

The following graphic shows the share of employment in Legal services by various occupations according to ACS estimates. Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers represent the largest share of positions held in Legal services at 43.9%, followed by Paralegals & legal assistants with 22.2% and Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive with 6.45%.

View Data
Save Image
Add Data to Cart

Most Common

The most common occupations in the Legal services Industry Group, by number of employees, are Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers, Paralegals & legal assistants, Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive, Legal secretaries and administrative assistants, and Office clerks, general.

View Data
Save Image
Add Data to Cart
View Data
Save Image
Add Data to Cart

Most Specialized

Compared to other Industry Groups, Legal services employs an unusually high number of Paralegals & legal assistants, Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers, and Legal secretaries and administrative assistants.

View Data
Save Image
Add Data to Cart
View Data
Save Image
Add Data to Cart

Highest Paid

The highest paid occupations in Legal services, by average wage, are Chief executives & legislators, Public relations specialists, and Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers.

View Data
Save Image
Add Data to Cart
View Data
Save Image
Add Data to Cart

Average Salary

$108,361
AVERAGE WAGE
± $2,588

On average, employees in the Legal services Industry Group make $108,361 per year. This number makes Legal services the 8 highest paying Industry Group in the United States out of a total of 269 Industry Groups.

View Data
Save Image
Add Data to Cart

Wage by Location

HIGHEST PAYING PUBLIC USE MICRODATA AREA
HIGHEST PAYING PUMAS
  1. Bethesda, Potomac & North Bethesda PUMA, MD
  2. Bethesda, Potomac & North Bethesda PUMA, MD
  3. Chinatown & Lower East Side PUMA, NY

This map shows which public use microdata areas (PUMAs) pay the highest average salary to employees in the Legal services Industry Group.

View Data
Save Image
Add Data to Cart

Wage Distribution

0.506
WAGE GINI

Legal services has a wage GINI of 0.506, which is more than than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed less evenly in Legal services (shown in red) in comparison to the national average for those wage buckets (shown in gray).

View Data
Save Image

Spatial Concentration

Public Use Microdata Areas with RCA
  1. District of Columbia (Central) PUMA, DC
  2. District of Columbia (West) PUMA, DC
  3. Near North Side, Loop & Near South Side PUMA, IL

This map shows the PUMAs in the United States that have revealed comparative advantage in the Legal services Industry Group.

These are locations that employ more people in the Legal services Industry Group than expected given both the size of that location's overall labor pool and the national size of the Legal services Industry Group.

View Data
Save Image
Add Data to Cart

geosearchDiversity

Demographic information on the Legal services Industry Group in the US. Male employees tend to earn more than Female employees, with average respective salaries of $158,884 and $157,856. So too tend to earn more than other races and ethnicities in this industry.

Composition by Sex

875k
FEMALE WORKFORCE
±22.9k
586k
MALE WORKFORCE
±18.8k

59.9% of workers in the Legal services Industry Group are Female, making them the more common sex in the workforce. This chart shows the sex breakdown of the Legal services Industry Group.

View Data
Save Image
Add Data to Cart

Wage by Sex in Common Jobs

$158,884
AVERAGE MALE SALARY
±$5,081
$157,856
AVERAGE FEMALE SALARY
±$5,059

On average, Male workers in the Legal services Industry Group make 1.01 times more than their Female counterparts. This chart shows the sex-based wage disparity in the 5 most common occupations in the Legal services Industry Group.

View Data
Save Image
Add Data to Cart

Wage by Race & Ethnicity in Common Jobs

RACE OR ETHNICITY WITH THE HIGHEST AVERAGE SALARY
  1. White
  2. Asian
  3. Two or More Races

On average, White employees in the Legal services Industry Group earn 1.06 times more than other races and ethnicities. This chart shows the race and ethnicity-based wage disparities in the 5 most common occupations in the Legal services Industry Group.

View Data
Save Image
Add Data to Cart

refreshInput/Output

Estimates of the sources of the costs and the purchasers of the products in the Legal services Industry Group. Based on estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, this section indicates the amount of money spent by a specific industry in other industries. Professional and business services has the highest single input, by dollars, to the Legal services Industry Group, and the largest industry purchasing services from the Legal services Industry Group is Professional and business services.

In this flow diagram, all of the industries listed to the left are those places from which the highlighted industry has made purchases. They are the intermediate inputs to the highlighted industry. All those industries listed on the right side are those industries that have made purchases from the highlighted industry. They are the use of outputs of the highlighted industry. The visualizations below offer alternative ways to see and understand this data.

Industrial Flow

The closest comparable data for Legal services is from Professional, Scientific & Management, and Administrative & Waste Management Services.
View Data
Save Image

Intermediate Inputs

The closest comparable data for Legal services is from Professional, Scientific & Management, and Administrative & Waste Management Services.
HIGHEST INPUT INDUSTRY
  1. Professional and business services
  2. Manufacturing
  3. Finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing

The Legal services Industry Group gets the most input, by its share of the cost of all intermediate inputs, from the Professional and business services Industry. This visualization does not include labor and capital costs.

View Data
Save Image
Add Data to Cart

Use of Output by Other Industries

The closest comparable data for Legal services is from Professional, Scientific & Management, and Administrative & Waste Management Services.
LARGEST PURCHASING INDUSTRY
  1. Professional and business services
  2. Manufacturing
  3. Finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing

The Professional and business services Industry purchases the greatest share of products and services from the Legal services Industry Group in order to produce other goods and services. Purchases of the Legal services Industry Group for final consumption by consumers, businesses, or government are not included here.

View Data
Save Image
Add Data to Cart

timeline-line-chartProjections

Growth projections of the Legal services industry, both by number of employees and output, from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. The national workforce is projected to grow 7.66% in the next ten years. The Legal services industry has a lower projected workforce growth at −0.826%. Its projected 10-year growth in output (16.8%) is lower than the projected national growth in output (24.2%).

Job Growth

−0.826%
Estimated Job Growth
10-year Projection
7.66%
National Growth
10-year Projection

This line chart shows the projected 10-year growth in the number of jobs for Legal services. This industry is expected to grow less than than 7.66%, the average rate of national job growth.

View Data
Save Image

Output Growth

16.8%
Estimate Growth
10-year Projection

This line chart shows the projected 10-year growth in output of the Legal services industry.

View Data
Save Image