Judicial Law Clerks
SOC 23-1012 · 2024-2034
Assist judges in court or by conducting research or preparing legal documents.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $81,242per year
- Projected openings
- 1,380
- Projected change
- +5.6%
- Usually needs
- Doctoral or professional degree
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Writing
- Speaking
- Active Learning
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $78,487 | 210 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $77,045 | 80 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | Not reported | 50 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | Not reported | 90 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | Not reported | 140 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $61,289
- A quarter earn under
- $67,580
- Half earn under
- $81,242
- Three quarters earn under
- $84,501
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $93,218
A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawyers | $200,541 | 46,090 | +9.8% |
| Paralegals and Legal Assistants | $79,556 | 52,900 | +6% |
| Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants | $64,347 | 36,250 | 0% |
| Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners | $119,268 | 1,690 | -5.3% |
| Compliance Officers | $98,607 | 43,870 | +7% |
Programs that train for this job — 1
Criminal and Constitutional Law Certificate of Achievement
City College of San Francisco · San Francisco · $860