Paralegals are one of the least happy careers in the United States.

At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, paralegals rate their career happiness 2.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 11% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy paralegals are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:

Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers

Career Satisfaction Avg Salary
Court reporter
3.0
$57k
Judicial law clerk
3.0
$51k
Probation officer
2.9
$60k
Customs inspector
2.9
$84k
Legal secretary
2.7
$48k
Paralegal
2.7
$56k
Compliance manager
2.7
$125k
Lawyer
2.6
$128k
Underwriter
2.5
$76k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are paralegals happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do paralegals find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as paralegals?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are paralegal’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are paralegals making the best use of their abilities?

Are paralegals happy with their salary?

Paralegals rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.9/5. Paralegals tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

We asked paralegals how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.9 out of 5 stars

2024 paralegals

5 Star
10%

10% of paralegals rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
24%

24% of paralegals rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of paralegals rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
24%

24% of paralegals rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
17%

17% of paralegals rated their compensation 1 stars

Do paralegals find their jobs meaningful?

On average, paralegals rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.5/5. The majority of paralegals struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.

We asked paralegals how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

2.5 out of 5 stars

2032 paralegals

5 Star
9%

9% of paralegals rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
14%

14% of paralegals rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of paralegals rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
27%

27% of paralegals rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
28%

28% of paralegals rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as paralegals?

Paralegals rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.5/5. The majority of paralegals find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked paralegals how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

3.5 out of 5 stars

2189 paralegals

5 Star
23%

23% of paralegals rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
33%

33% of paralegals rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
27%

27% of paralegals rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
12%

12% of paralegals rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
6%

6% of paralegals rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a paralegal’s work environment?

As a whole, paralegals rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.2/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.

We asked paralegals how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.2 out of 5 stars

2182 paralegals

5 Star
15%

15% of paralegals rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
29%

29% of paralegals rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
28%

28% of paralegals rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
19%

19% of paralegals rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
10%

10% of paralegals rated their work environment 1 stars

Are paralegals making the best use of their abilities?

Former paralegals on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.8/5. Paralegals tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.

We asked paralegals how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

2.8 out of 5 stars

2179 paralegals

5 Star
12%

12% of paralegals rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
20%

20% of paralegals rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
26%

26% of paralegals rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
25%

25% of paralegals rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
18%

18% of paralegals rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars