Law & Public
What you can do with Legal Studies
Law without (or before) law school. The foundation for paralegal, compliance, and pre-law paths.
- Careers
- 3
- Early career
- $55,000
- Mid-career
- $80,000
- Growing fast
- 1 of 3
How these numbers work: A major does not have its own salary. Early and mid-career pay is what people who hold this degree earn at the start of their careers and midway through them. Career pay comes from the 3 careers a Legal Studies degree commonly leads to, and counts everyone in those jobs, including people who have been doing them for thirty years. The two answer different questions, which is why they do not match.
The New York Fed does not report Legal Studies on its own. Its early and mid-career figures here are for Public Policy and Law, the broader group it places this major in.
47% of people with this degree go on to a graduate degree, so the higher-paying careers below usually mean more school after the bachelor's.
1 of 3 careers this degree leads to is projected to grow faster than average from 2024 to 2034. Of those, Financial Examiner has the most openings, about 5,700 a year.
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3 careers this degree leads to
Financial Examiner
$94,160Audit banks and financial institutions for solvency and legal compliance on behalf of regulators.
- Middle half of workers
- $70,660 to $129,600
- Growth
- Much faster than average
- Openings a year
- 5,700
Work-life62Remote73- Regulatory Examination
- Financial Analysis
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
Compliance Officer
$80,730Keep organizations on the right side of laws and regulations by evaluating practices, licenses, and controls.
- Middle half of workers
- $61,280 to $109,010
- Growth
- About average
- Openings a year
- 33,300
- Regulatory Analysis
- Auditing
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
Paralegal
$62,890Do the legal legwork behind every case: research precedent, draft documents, and keep matters moving for attorneys.
- Middle half of workers
- $50,340 to $80,080
- Growth
- Slower than average
- Openings a year
- 39,300
Work-life69Remote66- Legal Research
- Document Drafting
- Writing
- Organization
Related majors
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Where these pay figures come from
Early and mid-career pay is the median annual wage of full-time workers who hold a bachelor's degree in that major, ages 22 to 27 and ages 35 to 45, from 2024 data. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (IPUMS). Published as Outcomes by Major by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Career pay is the annual wage of everyone working in that occupation, not only recent graduates, so it includes people who have done the job for decades. The middle half is the 25th to the 75th percentile. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*NET OnLine (median and percentile annual wages May 2025; employment projections 2024-2034).
All figures are national. What you earn depends on where you work, who you work for, and how far you take the degree.