{"meta":{"dataset":"legal-profession-figures","title":"Legal profession figures: lawyer and paralegal jobs and pay, and the civil legal-help gap, each re-read at the issuing source","version":"1.0.0","doi":"10.5281/zenodo.23851292","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23851292","conceptDoi":"10.5281/zenodo.23851291","license":"CC BY 4.0","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Source: Probative, Legal profession figures: lawyer and paralegal jobs and pay, and the civil legal-help gap, each re-read at the issuing source, version 1.0.0, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23851292, licensed CC BY 4.0.","citation":"Probative. (2026). Legal profession figures: lawyer and paralegal jobs and pay, and the civil legal-help gap, each re-read at the issuing source (Version 1.0.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23851292","disclaimer":"Not legal advice. These are figures as the issuing agencies published them on the date read; agencies revise them, so check the source page.","notice":"Probative is a marketing firm, not a law firm; not legal advice.","lastChecked":"2026-10-31","url":"https://probativegrowth.com/data/v1/legal-profession-figures/index.json","humanUrl":"https://probativegrowth.com/data/legal-profession-figures/","statusCodes":{"P":"primary source","S":"secondary source"}},"summary":"7 public figures a law firm uses to size its market: lawyer and paralegal jobs and pay from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and how much of low-income Americans' civil legal need goes without help from the Legal Services Corporation. Each row carries the series code or verbatim sentence from the issuing agency's own source and the date it was read.","key":"group","count":7,"keys":[{"key":"FIGURE-LAWYERS-JOBS","url":"https://probativegrowth.com/data/v1/legal-profession-figures/groups/FIGURE-LAWYERS-JOBS.json","records":1},{"key":"FIGURE-LAWYERS-PAY","url":"https://probativegrowth.com/data/v1/legal-profession-figures/groups/FIGURE-LAWYERS-PAY.json","records":1},{"key":"FIGURE-LSC-COST","url":"https://probativegrowth.com/data/v1/legal-profession-figures/groups/FIGURE-LSC-COST.json","records":1},{"key":"FIGURE-LSC-DOUBT","url":"https://probativegrowth.com/data/v1/legal-profession-figures/groups/FIGURE-LSC-DOUBT.json","records":1},{"key":"FIGURE-LSC-UNMET","url":"https://probativegrowth.com/data/v1/legal-profession-figures/groups/FIGURE-LSC-UNMET.json","records":1},{"key":"FIGURE-PARALEGALS-JOBS","url":"https://probativegrowth.com/data/v1/legal-profession-figures/groups/FIGURE-PARALEGALS-JOBS.json","records":1},{"key":"FIGURE-PARALEGALS-PAY","url":"https://probativegrowth.com/data/v1/legal-profession-figures/groups/FIGURE-PARALEGALS-PAY.json","records":1}],"endpoints":{"key":"https://probativegrowth.com/data/v1/legal-profession-figures/groups/{group}.json","all":"https://probativegrowth.com/data/v1/legal-profession-figures/legal-profession-figures.json","search":"https://probativegrowth.com/data/v1/legal-profession-figures/search.json","changes":"https://probativegrowth.com/data/v1/legal-profession-figures/changes.json","csv":"https://probativegrowth.com/data/v1/legal-profession-figures/legal-profession-figures.csv","openapi":"https://probativegrowth.com/data/v1/legal-profession-figures/openapi.json"},"records":[{"id":"legal-profession-figures:FIGURE-LAWYERS-JOBS","dataset":"legal-profession-figures","group":"FIGURE-LAWYERS-JOBS","groupType":"lawyers","segment":"lawyers-jobs","status":"P","text":"Employed lawyers (employees only), May 2025: 754,500 employees. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), lawyers, Public Data API, read 2026-10-31.","value":754500,"unit":"754,500 employees","displayValue":"754,500","figure":"Employed lawyers (employees only), May 2025","sourceName":"U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), lawyers, Public Data API","sourceUrl":"https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/OEUN000000000000023101101","quote":"series OEUN000000000000023101101, 2025: 754500","read":"2026-10-31","version":"1.0.0","sources":[{"label":"U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), lawyers, Public Data API (read 2026-10-31)","url":"https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/OEUN000000000000023101101","kind":"official"}],"lastChecked":"2026-10-31","confidence":"medium","confidenceBasis":"one primary source, no second check"},{"id":"legal-profession-figures:FIGURE-LAWYERS-PAY","dataset":"legal-profession-figures","group":"FIGURE-LAWYERS-PAY","groupType":"lawyers","segment":"lawyers-pay","status":"P","text":"Median annual wage of lawyers, May 2025: $159,670 per year. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), lawyers, Public Data API, read 2026-10-31.","value":159670,"unit":"$159,670 per year","displayValue":"$159,670","figure":"Median annual wage of lawyers, May 2025","sourceName":"U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), lawyers, Public Data API","sourceUrl":"https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/OEUN000000000000023101113","quote":"series OEUN000000000000023101113, 2025: 159670","read":"2026-10-31","version":"1.0.0","sources":[{"label":"U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), lawyers, Public Data API (read 2026-10-31)","url":"https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/OEUN000000000000023101113","kind":"official"}],"lastChecked":"2026-10-31","confidence":"medium","confidenceBasis":"one primary source, no second check"},{"id":"legal-profession-figures:FIGURE-PARALEGALS-JOBS","dataset":"legal-profession-figures","group":"FIGURE-PARALEGALS-JOBS","groupType":"paralegals","segment":"paralegals-jobs","status":"P","text":"Employed paralegals and legal assistants (employees only), May 2025: 392,880 employees. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), paralegals and legal assistants, Public Data API, read 2026-10-31.","value":392880,"unit":"392,880 employees","displayValue":"392,880","figure":"Employed paralegals and legal assistants (employees only), May 2025","sourceName":"U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), paralegals and legal assistants, Public Data API","sourceUrl":"https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/OEUN000000000000023201101","quote":"series OEUN000000000000023201101, 2025: 392880","read":"2026-10-31","version":"1.0.0","sources":[{"label":"U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), paralegals and legal assistants, Public Data API (read 2026-10-31)","url":"https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/OEUN000000000000023201101","kind":"official"}],"lastChecked":"2026-10-31","confidence":"medium","confidenceBasis":"one primary source, no second check"},{"id":"legal-profession-figures:FIGURE-PARALEGALS-PAY","dataset":"legal-profession-figures","group":"FIGURE-PARALEGALS-PAY","groupType":"paralegals","segment":"paralegals-pay","status":"P","text":"Median annual wage of paralegals and legal assistants, May 2025: $62,890 per year. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), paralegals and legal assistants, Public Data API, read 2026-10-31.","value":62890,"unit":"$62,890 per year","displayValue":"$62,890","figure":"Median annual wage of paralegals and legal assistants, May 2025","sourceName":"U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), paralegals and legal assistants, Public Data API","sourceUrl":"https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/OEUN000000000000023201113","quote":"series OEUN000000000000023201113, 2025: 62890","read":"2026-10-31","version":"1.0.0","sources":[{"label":"U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), paralegals and legal assistants, Public Data API (read 2026-10-31)","url":"https://api.bls.gov/publicAPI/v2/timeseries/data/OEUN000000000000023201113","kind":"official"}],"lastChecked":"2026-10-31","confidence":"medium","confidenceBasis":"one primary source, no second check"},{"id":"legal-profession-figures:FIGURE-LSC-UNMET","dataset":"legal-profession-figures","group":"FIGURE-LSC-UNMET","groupType":"access","segment":"lsc-unmet","status":"P","text":"Civil legal problems of low-income Americans with no or not enough legal help, 2022: 92% of problems. Source: Legal Services Corporation, The Justice Gap (2022), read 2026-10-31.","value":92,"unit":"92% of problems","displayValue":"92%","figure":"Civil legal problems of low-income Americans with no or not enough legal help, 2022","sourceName":"Legal Services Corporation, The Justice Gap (2022)","sourceUrl":"https://justicegap.lsc.gov/","quote":"any or enough legal help for 92% of their civil legal problems","read":"2026-10-31","version":"1.0.0","sources":[{"label":"Legal Services Corporation, The Justice Gap (2022) (read 2026-10-31)","url":"https://justicegap.lsc.gov/","kind":"official"}],"lastChecked":"2026-10-31","confidence":"medium","confidenceBasis":"one primary source, no second check"},{"id":"legal-profession-figures:FIGURE-LSC-COST","dataset":"legal-profession-figures","group":"FIGURE-LSC-COST","groupType":"access","segment":"lsc-cost","status":"P","text":"Low-income Americans who did not seek help and cite cost, 2022: 46% of those who did not seek help. Source: Legal Services Corporation, The Justice Gap (2022), read 2026-10-31.","value":46,"unit":"46% of those who did not seek help","displayValue":"46%","figure":"Low-income Americans who did not seek help and cite cost, 2022","sourceName":"Legal Services Corporation, The Justice Gap (2022)","sourceUrl":"https://justicegap.lsc.gov/","quote":"Nearly one-half (46%) of those who did not seek legal help","read":"2026-10-31","version":"1.0.0","sources":[{"label":"Legal Services Corporation, The Justice Gap (2022) (read 2026-10-31)","url":"https://justicegap.lsc.gov/","kind":"official"}],"lastChecked":"2026-10-31","confidence":"medium","confidenceBasis":"one primary source, no second check"},{"id":"legal-profession-figures:FIGURE-LSC-DOUBT","dataset":"legal-profession-figures","group":"FIGURE-LSC-DOUBT","groupType":"access","segment":"lsc-doubt","status":"P","text":"Low-income Americans who doubt they could find an affordable lawyer, 2022: 53% of low-income Americans. Source: Legal Services Corporation, The Justice Gap (2022), read 2026-10-31.","value":53,"unit":"53% of low-income Americans","displayValue":"53%","figure":"Low-income Americans who doubt they could find an affordable lawyer, 2022","sourceName":"Legal Services Corporation, The Justice Gap (2022)","sourceUrl":"https://justicegap.lsc.gov/","quote":"more than one-half (53%) of low-income Americans doubt their ability to find a lawyer","read":"2026-10-31","version":"1.0.0","sources":[{"label":"Legal Services Corporation, The Justice Gap (2022) (read 2026-10-31)","url":"https://justicegap.lsc.gov/","kind":"official"}],"lastChecked":"2026-10-31","confidence":"medium","confidenceBasis":"one primary source, no second check"}]}