Paralegal salary in Charleston-North Charleston, SC

Pay in Charleston-North Charleston against South Carolina and the US

The middle half of paralegals in Charleston-North Charleston earns $46,840–$63,140. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $79,920, only 2.0 times the bottom tenth, against 2.3 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is $16,300 wide, between the figure for South Carolina ($14,990) and the US figure ($29,740).

What to budget for a paralegal here

Local pay is bunched just above the median: the 75th percentile is only $6,110 over it, while the 25th sits $10,190 below. Moving an offer from the median to the 75th percentile costs about $7,884 more a year with benefits. These percentiles describe what people in the job earn locally, not experience levels, so place your offer by the tasks and seniority you need.

For scale, the US median of $62,890 falls between the median and the 75th percentile in Charleston-North Charleston, and the South Carolina statewide median of $53,880 falls between the 25th percentile and the median.

What a hire really costs in Charleston-North Charleston

Pay is only part of it. Benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², which adds about $16,557 to the $57,030 median and brings it to $73,587 a year. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

We place executive assistants, customer support and e-commerce staff today; for paralegals we answer within one business day whether we can help. Enter the monthly pay you have in mind to compare it with a local hire. The fee field shows our standard fee³; Deel's contractor plan is the default payroll tool⁴.

Other roles in Charleston-North Charleston

Of the 17 roles we track in Charleston-North Charleston, this one ranks #8 by median pay, between sales development representatives ($62,600) and payroll specialists ($53,930). Project Coordinator is the highest at $94,730.

Measured against the US median, paralegals rank #14 of the 17 roles we track in Charleston-North Charleston (-9.3%), between payroll specialists (-7.4%) and sales development representatives (-10.6%). The typical role here is at -5.2%, so, measured against the US, paralegals cost less in Charleston-North Charleston than the area's general pay level would suggest. Paralegals hold 3.5% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Charleston-North Charleston, 3.0% across South Carolina and 2.5% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in South Carolina

Across the 11 areas of South Carolina with data for this job, the median runs from $46,690 in the Northeastern South Carolina nonmetro area to $57,780 in Greenville-Anderson, a gap of $11,090 a year. All 2 areas in South Carolina with more paralegals than Charleston-North Charleston also pay more, among them Columbia, SC ($57,220) and Greenville-Anderson, SC ($57,780).

Charleston-North Charleston against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Charleston-North Charleston is #52 of 503 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job, with pay near the middle of the US range. Outside South Carolina, Great Falls and Providence-Warwick pay just above Charleston-North Charleston and Davenport-Moline and Sebastian-Vero Beach just below. All four are within $70 a year of the median in Charleston-North Charleston. Of the three markets with about as many paralegals, all three pay more.

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Sources

How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.