Paralegal salary in Philadelphia-Camden, PA-NJ

Pay in Philadelphia-Camden against Pennsylvania and the US

The middle half of paralegals in Philadelphia-Camden earns $60,110–$81,660. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $97,950, 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 only $21,550 wide, against $28,270 across Pennsylvania and $29,740 nationally: employers in Philadelphia-Camden pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a paralegal here

An offer at the 75th percentile instead of the median adds $11,230 a year in pay and about $14,490 in employer cost. Going down to the 25th percentile saves $10,320 in pay. 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 Philadelphia-Camden, and the Pennsylvania statewide median of $63,370 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Philadelphia-Camden

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 $20,447 to the $70,430 median and brings it to $90,877 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 Philadelphia-Camden

Of the 17 roles we track in Philadelphia-Camden, this one ranks #8 by median pay, between sales development representatives ($71,020) and payroll specialists ($58,810). Project Coordinator is the highest at $104,160.

Measured against the US median, this job is the best paid of the 17 roles we track in Philadelphia-Camden (+12.0%); data entry specialists come last (-0.1%). The typical role here is at +2.6%, so, measured against the US, paralegals cost more in Philadelphia-Camden than the area's general pay level would suggest. Paralegals hold 3.9% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Philadelphia-Camden, 2.6% across Pennsylvania and 2.5% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Pennsylvania

Across the 19 areas of Pennsylvania with data for this job, the median runs from $49,110 in Altoona to $70,430 in Philadelphia-Camden, a gap of $21,320 a year. No other area in Pennsylvania has as many paralegals, and all 18 others pay less.

Philadelphia-Camden against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Philadelphia-Camden is #6 of 503 US areas, one of the ten largest markets for this job. Outside Pennsylvania, Stockton-Lodi and Chicago-Naperville pay just above Philadelphia-Camden and Carson City and Hanford-Corcoran just below. All four are within $830 a year of the median in Philadelphia-Camden. Of the three markets with about as many paralegals, one pays more.

Questions

Sources

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