The annual salary statistics of paralegals and legal assistants in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California is shown in Table 1. The wage statistics of paralegals and legal assistants in Santa Cruz-Watsonville is based on the national compensation survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2022 and published in April 2023 [1].
| Percentile Bracket | Average Annual Salary |
|---|---|
| 10th Percentile Wage | $43,570 |
| 25th Percentile Wage | $55,800 |
| 50th Percentile Wage | $73,600 |
| 75th Percentile Wage | $81,780 |
| 90th Percentile Wage | $105,020 |
Table 1 shows the average annual salary for paralegals and legal assistants in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California in 5 percentile scales. The average annual salary for the 90th percentile (the top 10 percent of the highest paid) is $105,020. The median (50th percentile) annual salary is $73,600. The average annual salary for the bottom 10 percent earners is $43,570.
The table and chart below show the trend of the median salary of paralegals and legal assistants from 2012 to 2022.
| Year | Median Salary | Yearly Growth | 10-Year Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $73,600 | 16.39% | 34.08% |
| 2021 | $61,540 | 26.28% | - |
| 2017 | $45,370 | -24.84% | - |
| 2016 | $56,640 | -6.64% | - |
| 2015 | $60,400 | 0.53% | - |
| 2014 | $60,080 | -8.07% | - |
| 2013 | $64,930 | 25.27% | - |
| 2012 | $48,520 | - | - |
From Table 3 we note that the median annual salary of $73,600 in Santa Cruz-Watsonville is in the middle of salary range for paralegals and legal assistants in state of California. In comparison, the annual salary of paralegals and legal assistants in Santa Cruz-Watsonville is 13.9 percent (13.9%) lower than that in the highest paying San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara and 52.4 percent (52.4%) higher than that in the lowest paying Northern Mountains Region of California nonmetropolitan area.