Paralegals and Legal Assistants pay in Illinois
$72,310avg. a year
$34.76 an hour · 14,130 employed
Paralegals and Legal Assistants in Illinois earn an average of $72,310 a year. That is $2,610 (4%) more than the U.S. average of $69,700. The best-paying metro area is Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN at $74,920.
$63,670Median pay
$34.76Average hourly
+20%Avg. pay since 2020
#11Of 50 states + D.C.
Top-paying Illinois metro areas
Average pay for paralegals and legal assistants by metro area. Swipe to see all 11.
111,590 jobs
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
$74,920
$36.02 an hour
2370 jobs
Peoria, IL
$66,090
$31.77 an hour
34,030 jobs
St. Louis, MO-IL
$64,720
$31.12 an hour
4260 jobs
Bloomington, IL
$63,660
$30.61 an hour
5230 jobs
Springfield, IL
$62,490
$30.04 an hour
630 jobs
Decatur, IL
$61,830
$29.73 an hour
7200 jobs
Rockford, IL
$61,790
$29.71 an hour
8100 jobs
Champaign-Urbana, IL
$61,400
$29.52 an hour
9280 jobs
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL
$58,240
$28.00 an hour
1090 jobs
Paducah, KY-IL
$57,640
$27.71 an hour
1160 jobs
Cape Girardeau, MO-IL
$51,630
$24.82 an hour
Why people trust JobPayFacts
Official government dataEvery number comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey of employers, not self-reported salaries.
Every state and city830 jobs across all 50 states, D.C. and 199 large metro areas.
Updated every yearNew figures each spring when BLS releases them. This site uses May 2025 data.
Paralegals and Legal Assistants pay in Illinois, charted
Pay over time
Illinois, annual wage, May of each year
AverageMedian
Where Illinois paralegals and legal assistants work
Employment by metro area, May 2025
Related jobs in Illinois
- Legal Support Workers, All Other$69,730
- Lawyers$181,240
- Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers$55,480
- Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers$110,300
- Arbitrators, Mediators, and Conciliators$131,290
Average pay, Illinois, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS
Questions and answers
How much do paralegals and legal assistants make in Illinois?
The average is $72,310 a year, and the median is $63,670. That is $2,610 (4%) more than the U.S. average of $69,700.
What is the hourly wage in Illinois?
$34.76 an hour on average; the median is $30.61.
Where in Illinois do they earn the most?
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN ($74,920), followed by Peoria, IL ($66,090). The lowest average among 11 metro areas with data is Cape Girardeau, MO-IL ($51,630).
How does Illinois rank?
Illinois ranks #11 of 51 states (including D.C.) with published data for this job, by average pay.
Sources and notes. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 (trend: May 2020–May 2025), occupation code 23-2011. State rank compares average pay across states with published data. Metro figures cover metropolitan statistical areas; a metro area can cross state lines. See also the national paralegals and legal assistants page. Wages are gross pay before taxes and don't include overtime premiums, tips, bonuses or benefits; self-employed workers aren't included. Year-to-year changes can partly reflect survey method changes, so treat the trend as a guide. How we use the data. JobPayFacts isn't affiliated with BLS.