Paralegal salary in Lexington-Fayette, KY

Pay in Lexington-Fayette against Kentucky and the US

The middle half of paralegals in Lexington-Fayette earns $49,390–$74,790. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $79,750, only 1.8 times the bottom tenth, against 2.3 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. The mean ($63,350) is no higher than the median, so few high earners skew the figures here. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is $25,400 wide, between the figure for Kentucky ($23,700) and the US figure ($29,740).

What to budget for a paralegal here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $14,250 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $11,150, or about $14,387 once benefits are added. 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 25th percentile and the median in Lexington-Fayette, and the Kentucky statewide median of $59,830 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Lexington-Fayette

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 $18,476 to the $63,640 median and brings it to $82,116 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 Lexington-Fayette

Of the 17 roles we track in Lexington-Fayette, this one ranks #6 by median pay, between executive assistants ($64,840) and office managers ($59,300). Project Coordinator is the highest at $84,520.

Measured against the US median, this job is the best paid of the 17 roles we track in Lexington-Fayette (+1.2%); sales development representatives come last (-27.6%). The typical role here is at -7.8%, so, measured against the US, paralegals cost more in Lexington-Fayette than the area's general pay level would suggest. Paralegals hold 2.1% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Lexington-Fayette, 1.8% across Kentucky and 2.5% nationally. The job is a smaller part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Kentucky

Across the 10 areas of Kentucky with data for this job, the median runs from $38,480 in the West Kentucky nonmetro area to $63,640 in Lexington-Fayette, a gap of $25,160 a year. The one area in Kentucky with more paralegals, Louisville, KY-IN ($61,270), pays less: a bigger pool at a lower median.

Lexington-Fayette against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Lexington-Fayette is #86 of 503 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job and one of the better-paying ones. Outside Kentucky, Lexington Park and Kansas City pay just above Lexington-Fayette and Pittsburgh and Bakersfield-Delano just below. All four are within $240 a year of the median in Lexington-Fayette. Of the three markets with about as many paralegals, none pays as much.

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