What Paralegals and Legal Assistants earn in Queens County, NY
The median pay for Paralegals and Legal Assistants in Queens County, NY is $75,330 per year, which works out to $36.22 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metropolitan area, the labor market that Queens County, NY belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $80,260, which is 6.5% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 33,850 people working in this occupation across the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Queens County, NY has roughly 2,323,052 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Paralegals and Legal Assistants in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $49,180 a year ($23.64 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $121,170 or more ($58.25 an hour). That is a gap of $71,990 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $61,040 at the 25th percentile and $97,720 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.5 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Paralegals and Legal Assistants in Queens County, NY is $36.22. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $75,330, and the same salary is $6,278 a month before taxes or about $2,897 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $27.89 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Queens County, NY compares
Compared with the New York average
Queens County, NY pays above the state benchmark. The New York employment-weighted average for Paralegals and Legal Assistants is $72,173; the local median of $75,330 beats it by $3,157, or 4.4%. Within New York, Queens County, NY already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Paralegals and Legal Assistants is $65,930 across the contiguous United States. At $75,330, Queens County, NY pays $9,400 more, which is 14.3% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Queens County, NY
Among the 671 occupations with published wages in Queens County, NY, Paralegals and Legal Assistants ranks number 332 by median pay, ahead of about 51% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Financial Managers at $221,010 a year, which is $145,680 more than the median for Paralegals and Legal Assistants.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $75,330 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $17,323 a year, which leaves $58,008, or $4,834 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $23 goes to taxes and $77 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 23.0%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $59,580. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 22% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $8,022, an effective 10.6% of gross pay, well below the 22% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $4,670 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,092. FICA totals $5,763, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in New York
New York income tax on this salary is $3,538 a year, or 4.7% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 44% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $295 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Queens County, NY
IRS Statistics of Income data for Queens County, NY show an average adjusted gross income of $65,967 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 12.5% across all filers. Filers in the $75,000 to under $100,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 9.9%, compared with the 10.6% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Queens County, NY
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Queens County, NY: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $58,008 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Queens County, NY is $2,729 a month, or $32,748 a year. A two-bedroom costs $2,971 a month. For Paralegals and Legal Assistants, a one-bedroom absorbs 56.5% of take-home pay and 43.5% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 4.6% of gross pay for Paralegals and Legal Assistants in Queens County, NY. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using New York residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $2,581 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $653, for $3,235 in total. Gasoline in New York averages $3.17 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,467.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $40,885 a year, 70% of take-home pay. That leaves $17,122 a year, or $1,427 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 22.7% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Can Paralegals and Legal Assistants afford to live in Queens County, NY?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $75,330 that ceiling is $1,883 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,729 is $846 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $52.48 an hour; the median for Paralegals and Legal Assistants is $36.22, which is 31% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $27.89 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 22.6 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,971 a month means $1,486 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $14,922 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $32,044.
How fast you can save
At $1,427 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 8 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 16 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Paralegals and Legal Assistants pay in Queens County, NY
What is the hourly wage for Paralegals and Legal Assistants in Queens County, NY?
The median is $36.22 per hour, based on $75,330 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $23.64 at the 10th percentile to $58.25 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Paralegals and Legal Assistants in Queens County, NY?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $75,330 becomes $58,008 a year. That is $4,834 a month, $2,231 every two weeks or $1,116 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Paralegals and Legal Assistants in Queens County, NY?
Total taxes are $17,323 a year, an effective rate of 23.0%: $8,022 federal income tax, $5,763 FICA and $3,538 New York income tax.
Is pay for Paralegals and Legal Assistants in Queens County, NY above the New York average?
Yes. The local median of $75,330 is +4.4% versus the New York average of $72,173, a difference of $3,157 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Paralegals and Legal Assistants salary in Queens County, NY?
A one-bedroom costs $2,729 a month against take-home pay of $4,834, which is 56.5% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,883 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Paralegals and Legal Assistants in Queens County, NY?
About $1,427 a month ($17,122 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $40,885 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Queens County, NY at the 30% guideline?
$52.48 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $32,748 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Paralegals and Legal Assistants is $36.22.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the New York rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.