The prospects for paralegals in New Hampshire haven’t been better. Not only does the New Hampshire Employment Security office project 30 paralegal job openings every year through 2024. The US Department of Labor reports that over the past five the average annual paralegal salary has increased by $6,570.
In fact New Hampshire ranks in the top half of states nationwide for its annual paralegal salary – $50,820 in 2016 according to the Department of Labor. Those earning the top-10th percentile salary grossed $70,610 that year.
The Department of Labor reports that the highest paying industry for paralegals in the nation is the semiconductor and electronic component manufacturing industry. As of June 2017 when you conduct a search for paralegal jobs in the state, one of the first results you’ll find are paralegal jobs with Hubbell Incorporated out of Manchester, a company that manufactures, designs, and sells electronic products.
While the overall statewide average salary for paralegals is good across the board, your salary will still depend a lot on where you live. You might be able to find a job easier in the central rural New Hampshire region – it has the second-highest concentration of paralegal jobs of all rural areas in the nation. However if you were to work in Portsmouth you would earn an average of $4,680 more per year.
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And the salary discrepancy with Portsmouth is even higher in rural northern New Hampshire. In Portsmouth you would make $15,760 more per year.
What makes Portsmouth so special for paralegals? It’s all about supply and demand.
The legal industry makes up the bulk of the employment for paralegals. Across the state the density of law firms mirrors the population density, and so too with paralegals to lawyers. Except in Portsmouth.
In 2016 the Department of Labor reported that 100 of the state’s 1,120 total paralegals work in Portsmouth; about nine percent. Compare this with the number of attorneys who work there: 230 of the state’s 1,590 total; about 14 percent. In other words, there’s not enough paralegals for all the law firms in Portsmouth, and that drives up the average paralegal salary.
It’s all relative though. In New Hampshire the average annual salary is still in top-half of all states.
Paralegal Salary Figures in New Hampshire
The following statistics are sourced from the US Department of Labor, 2016:
Dover-Durham:
- Average annual – $42,940
- Average hourly – $20.64
- Top-10th annual – $57,920
- Top-10th hourly – $27.85
Manchester:
- Average annual – $50,790
- Average hourly – $24.42
- Top-10th annual – $68,810
- Top-10th hourly – $33.08
Nashua:
- Average annual – $49,760
- Average hourly – $23.92
- Top-10th annual – $61,870
- Top-10th hourly – $29.75
Portsmouth:
- Average annual – $57,210
- Average hourly – $27.51
- Top-10th annual – $80,330
- Top-10th hourly – $38.62
Rural Northern New Hampshire:
- Average annual – $41,450
- Average hourly – $19.93
- Top-10th annual – $60,090
- Top-10th hourly – $28.89
Rural West Central New Hampshire:
- Average annual – $52,360
- Average hourly – $25.18
- Top-10th annual – $83,920
- Top-10th hourly – $40.35
Rural Central New Hampshire:
- Average annual – $52,530
- Average hourly – $25.25
- Top-10th annual – $76,070
- Top-10th hourly – $36.57
Salary and employment data from the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2016.