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Paralegals and Legal Assistants vs Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Paralegals and Legal Assistants and Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Paralegals and Legal Assistants Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$61,010
$46,290
Employment · BLS OEWS
367,220
1,737,820
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
13th pct
82nd pct

At a glance

Dimension Paralegals and Legal Assistants Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
Median pay $61,010 $46,290
Employment 367,220 1,737,820
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+0.2%) Declining (-1.6%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 39,300 202,800
Typical education · O*NET Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 13th pct High · 82nd pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 76th pct · 39% of tasks 96th pct · 58% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index Augmentation-leaning (51.9%) Automation-leaning (51.5%)
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman Yes Yes

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: English Language, Administrative, Writing, Written Comprehension, Computers and Electronics, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Written Expression, Near Vision, Speech Recognition, Speech Clarity, Customer and Personal Service, Speaking, Problem Sensitivity, Administration and Management, Critical Thinking, Deductive Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning, Information Ordering, Active Learning, Monitoring, Social Perceptiveness, Service Orientation, Complex Problem Solving, Judgment and Decision Making, Time Management, Category Flexibility, Coordination, Selective Attention, Fluency of Ideas.

Specific to Paralegals and Legal Assistants

  • Law and Government
  • Flexibility of Closure
  • Perceptual Speed
  • Persuasion
  • Negotiation
  • Far Vision
  • Originality
  • Memorization

Specific to Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive

  • Mathematics
  • Time Sharing
  • Communications and Media
  • Economics and Accounting
  • Personnel and Human Resources
  • Public Safety and Security
  • Management of Personnel Resources
  • Education and Training

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Electronic mail software , Presentation software , Word processing software , Document management software , Accounting software , Data base user interface and query software , Project management software , Video conferencing software , Analytical or scientific software , Desktop publishing software .

Specific to Paralegals and Legal Assistants

Specific to Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Paralegals and Legal Assistants or Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

More comparisons

Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Paralegals and Legal Assistants vs Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/paralegals-and-legal-assistants-vs-secretaries-and-administrative-assistants-except-legal-medical-and-executive

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Paralegals and Legal Assistants vs Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/paralegals-and-legal-assistants-vs-secretaries-and-administrative-assistants-except-legal-medical-and-executive

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-paralegals-and-legal-assistants-vs-secretaries-and-administrative-assistants-except-legal-medical-and-executive,
  title  = {Paralegals and Legal Assistants vs Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/paralegals-and-legal-assistants-vs-secretaries-and-administrative-assistants-except-legal-medical-and-executive}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.