How much should I pay a judicial law clerks in 2026?

A competitive 2026 offer for Judicial Law Clerks is $64,917 to $80,434 (market median to the 75th percentile). BLS ECI shows professional services wages growing about 2.5% a year, so budget a similar annual increase to stay at market.

Is a salary competitive for a judicial law clerks?

Compare it to the BLS OEWS range: below $52,874 is below market, $64,917 to $80,434 is competitive, and above $80,434 is above market for Judicial Law Clerks.

How is judicial law clerks pay changing in 2026?

Median pay for this role rose 7.5% between the May 2024 and May 2025 BLS surveys, outpacing the 2.5% wage growth of Professional & Business Services (BLS ECI). Professional & Business Services is running a 5.5% job-openings rate with quits at 2.2% (BLS JOLTS). Demand has cooled for 2 straight months (6.2% down to 5.5%).

Judicial Law Clerks Salary - BLS OEWS Wage Benchmarks

SOC 23-1012 · National · May 2025 OEWS Data

Median Annual Salary

$64,917

$31.21/hr

Verified BLS OEWS data · Updated May 18, 2026

Is this a competitive Judicial Law Clerks salary in 2026?

Based on BLS OEWS wage percentiles, JOLTS June 2026 demand signals, and ECI Q2 2026 wage growth.

Check a salary or offer:$Competitive · ~P50

P10$46K

P25$53K

P50$65K

P75$80K

P90$113K

Drag the dot or type an amount above.

🔥

Demand: HOT. Demand is hot -- professional & business services job openings are running at 5.5% (JOLTS, June 2026), a tight market. Candidates have leverage, so a competitive offer sits at or above the median; below-median offers often will not close.

📈

Merit budget: Wages in professional services are rising about 2.5% a year (BLS ECI, Q2 2026). Budget a 2.1-2.6% merit increase to hold this role at market.

Our read

For a competitive 2026 offer, target $64,917 to $80,434 (market median to the 75th percentile). Lean toward the top of the range for senior or hard-to-fill roles.

Figures are market benchmarks from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; apply professional judgment before making pay decisions.

How Judicial Law Clerks pay is moving in 2026

Trend, demand, and spread context from BLS OEWS, JOLTS, and ECI

Pay trend

Median pay for this role rose 7.5% between the May 2024 and May 2025 BLS surveys, outpacing the 2.5% wage growth of Professional & Business Services (BLS ECI).

Hiring demand · HOT

Professional & Business Services is running a 5.5% job-openings rate with quits at 2.2% (BLS JOLTS). Demand has cooled for 2 straight months (6.2% down to 5.5%).

Pay spread

Top earners (P90) make about 2.5 times what entry-level (P10) workers make in this role. That spread is in the typical range for U.S. occupations; standard 80% to 120% pay bands around the median work well.

What changed recently

Aug 4, 2026JOLTS June 2026: sector openings eased to 5.5% (down 0.3pp), still the highest of any major sector. Quits held at 2.2%.
Jul 31, 2026ECI Q2 2026: sector wages growing 2.5% per year. Nationally, wages rose 3.2% while CPI hit 3.5%, so real wages turned negative.

Commentary is generated from published BLS figures (OEWS May 2025 vs May 2024, JOLTS June 2026, ECI Q2 2026) and refreshed each release. It is interpretation, not a BLS product.

Source: BLS OEWS · Published May 15, 2026

Next refresh: May 2027

Get notified when this number updates

Personal or work email, both work. No account needed. Unsubscribe anytime.

The national median salary for Judicial Law Clerks is $64,917 per year ($31.21/hr) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. The middle 50% of earners make between $52,874 and $80,434 annually. Top earners at the 90th percentile reach $113,152 per year. There are approximately 13,290 judicial law clerks employed in the United States.

About This Role

BLS Standard Occupational Classification 2018

Assist judges in court or by conducting research or preparing legal documents.

Career Outlook

BLS Employment Projections · 2024-2034

10-year growth

+2.5%

About as fast as average

Annual openings

per year, on avg

Workforce today

15K

as of 2024

Why those openings exist

4% from new growth96% from people leaving the role

Most openings come from replacement, not growth. Retention matters more than recruiting here.

Typical entry requirements

Education

Doctoral or professional degree

Experience

None

On-the-job training

None

Industry Wage Breakdown

Top 2 industries by employment · median annual wage, sector-specific

Industry	Workforce	Median Pay
State Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation) NAICS 999200	8K	$67,340
Local Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation) NAICS 999300	6K	$62,760

Wage Percentiles

Hourly & annualized (2,080 hours)

Percentile	Hourly Rate	Annual Salary
P10	$22.20	$46,176
P25	$25.42	$52,874
P50MEDIAN	$31.21	$64,917
P75	$38.67	$80,434
P90	$54.40	$113,152

Market Context Signal

JOLTS · professional sector

Hot

Openings Rate

5.5%

Quits Rate

2.2%

Professional & Business Services openings eased to 1.30M in June (-71K), rate 5.5% -- still the highest of any major sector. Quits held at 2.2%. White-collar demand is cooling at the edges but remains the tightest market.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average judicial law clerks salary?

The national median salary for Judicial Law Clerks is $64,917 per year ($31.21/hr) according to BLS OEWS May 2025 data. The middle 50% earn between $52,874 and $80,434 annually.

How much do top-earning judicial law clerks make?

The 90th percentile salary for Judicial Law Clerks is $113,152 per year ($54.40/hr). The 75th percentile is $80,434 per year.

What is the entry-level salary for judicial law clerks?

Entry-level Judicial Law Clerks (10th percentile) earn approximately $46,176 per year ($22.20/hr). The 25th percentile is $52,874 per year.

Related Salary Data

Compare with other occupations

Lawyers23-1011$160K/yr Paralegals and Legal Assistants23-2011$63K/yr Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers23-2093$59K/yr Legal Support Workers, All Other23-2099$72K/yr Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates23-1023$154K/yr Browse all 770+ occupations →

Judicial Law Clerks Salary by State

Top 5 states by employment

California1,800 workers Florida1,300 workers Pennsylvania970 workers New York850 workers Utah630 workers

About This Data

Wage figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025 release. OEWS surveys roughly 1.1 million establishments annually. It is the most comprehensive employer-reported wage dataset in the United States.

P10 through P90 percentiles represent the wage distribution across all surveyed employers (not self-reported by workers). Geographic adjustments use BLS-derived cost multipliers calibrated from regional wage variation.

Wages are estimates. Individual compensation depends on experience, education, employer size, industry, and negotiation. Use this as benchmark context, not absolute ground truth.

Next OEWS release: May 2027Verify on BLS.gov →

About CompSignal

CompSignal is a free labor market intelligence tool built for HR, compensation, and talent acquisition teams. We make BLS data, the same primary source Mercer and Radford cross-reference in their paid surveys, searchable and actionable without an enterprise subscription.

Built and maintained by Falcon Incentives, a compensation strategy and incentive design consultancy.

Open the full app →About Falcon Incentives →Privacy Policy

Explore more occupations on CompSignal →

Free BLS wage benchmarks, JOLTS talent signals, and AI analyst briefs

CompSignal by Falcon Incentives · BLS data, made usable · Verify on BLS.gov