California · SOC 23-0000 · Annual, 2025
Legal occupations in California
Employment and average annual wage for SOC 23-0000 in California, 2004–2025, from DTG's OEWS-based estimates.
In 2025, about 158,600 people in California worked in legal occupations (SOC 23-0000), with an average annual wage of $219,460.
Employment in legal occupations in California grew 10.0% from 2020 to 2025. The average wage in this occupation group is 126.5% above the all-occupations average in California. Employment reached its 2004–2025 peak in 2025, at about 158,600. Quarterly values, full occupation detail and projections to 2036 for California are included with a free account. County-level detail is part of every paid plan, or one county free for seven days.
- 158,600Employment, 2025
- $219,460Mean annual wage
- 0.9%Share of California jobs
- 1.04Location quotient
Employment, 2004 to 2025
Annual average · all ownerships
Annual employment, 2004–2025: 2004 127,900; 2005 128,500; 2006 128,200; 2007 128,100; 2008 127,600; 2009 124,100; 2010 123,100; 2011 122,800; 2012 123,600; 2013 125,000; 2014 125,400; 2015 127,600; 2016 130,200; 2017 131,300; 2018 133,900; 2019 141,700; 2020 144,100; 2021 147,000; 2022 151,000; 2023 151,100; 2024 155,600; 2025 158,600.
Last ten years
Annual · 10 years
| Year | Employment | Mean annual wage | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 158,552 | $219,456 | 1.9% |
| 2024 | 155,645 | $209,157 | 3.0% |
| 2023 | 151,110 | $195,181 | 0.1% |
| 2022 | 150,998 | $182,657 | 2.7% |
| 2021 | 147,007 | $181,801 | 2.0% |
| 2020 | 144,140 | $170,123 | 1.7% |
| 2019 | 141,723 | $160,760 | 5.8% |
| 2018 | 133,935 | $155,101 | 2.0% |
| 2017 | 131,262 | $147,947 | 0.8% |
| 2016 | 130,207 | $143,730 | 2.0% |
The full history from 2004 and quarterly values are available with a free account.
Where these numbers come from
Reading these figures
The figures on this page come from one named vintage, stated below, and are annual values for all ownerships combined. Every occupation value is a DTG estimate: there is no published county or state census of occupations to report, so no value here is marked as published or estimated, and none carries a reliability score. Quarterly figures, county figures, detailed occupations and projected years are in the app.
How these figures are built
DTG’s industry employment fixes how many jobs there are in each industry in the state. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ national industry-occupation matrix says how each industry is staffed, and the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey says how many people work in each occupation in the area and what they earn. DTG makes the three agree, so occupation employment sums to the same totals as industry employment. Employment is the annual average; the mean annual wage is the year’s total occupation wages divided by that average employment. The construction is described in full on the occupation data page.
Notes
Data Tactical Group is an independent company and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any federal agency.
Legal occupations in California, quarterly, at full depth
This page shows annual figures for legal occupations in California. A free account shows every detailed occupation in the group, quarterly, for every state, with projections to ten years. No card.
County figures, file export and the API are on paid plans.