Paralegal salary in Portland-Vancouver, OR-WA

Pay in Portland-Vancouver against Oregon and the US

The middle half of paralegals in Portland-Vancouver earns $59,360–$82,800. The top tenth earns $100,350 or more, 2.0 times the bottom tenth, close to the US pattern of 2.3 times. The mean ($73,580) 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 only $23,440 wide, against $25,460 across Oregon and $29,740 nationally: employers in Portland-Vancouver pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a paralegal here

Local pay is bunched just above the median: the 75th percentile is only $7,370 over it, while the 25th sits $16,070 below. Moving an offer from the median to the 75th percentile costs about $9,510 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 25th percentile and the median in Portland-Vancouver, and the Oregon statewide median of $61,490 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Portland-Vancouver

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 $21,899 to the $75,430 median and brings it to $97,329 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 Portland-Vancouver

Of the 17 roles we track in Portland-Vancouver, this one ranks #7 by median pay, between office managers ($76,380) and sales development representatives ($74,900). Project Coordinator is the highest at $108,340.

Measured against the US median, this job is the best paid of the 17 roles we track in Portland-Vancouver (+19.9%); executive assistants come last (+2.8%). The typical role here is at +9.9%, so, measured against the US, paralegals cost more in Portland-Vancouver than the area's general pay level would suggest. Paralegals hold 2.9% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Portland-Vancouver, 2.5% across Oregon and 2.5% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Oregon

Across the 11 areas of Oregon with data for this job, the median runs from $51,620 in the Eastern Oregon nonmetro area to $75,430 in Portland-Vancouver, a gap of $23,810 a year. No other area in Oregon has as many paralegals, and all 10 others pay less.

Portland-Vancouver against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Portland-Vancouver is #24 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 Oregon, Minneapolis-St. Paul and San Diego-Chula Vista pay just above Portland-Vancouver and New York-Newark and Wenatchee-East Wenatchee just below. All four are within $870 a year of the median in Portland-Vancouver. 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.