{"id":30828,"date":"2020-01-07T10:40:33","date_gmt":"2020-01-07T15:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/blog\/prep\/?p=30828"},"modified":"2020-09-11T20:40:13","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T20:40:13","slug":"average-lawyer-salaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/lsat\/average-lawyer-salaries\/","title":{"rendered":"Average Lawyer Salaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

The average salary of a lawyer can be an important consideration when you are deciding what industry you want to work in or whether <\/span>you want to pursue a law degree<\/span><\/a>. There are many factors to weigh when considering becoming a lawyer, and knowing about how much money you might make can help with financial planning and give you a good estimate of when you can expect to pay off your law school loans.<\/span>
\nAccording to the <\/span>U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/span><\/a>, lawyers in the United States earned a median of $120,910 in 2018.\u00a0<\/span>
\n[ <\/span>RELATED: <\/b>How long is law school?<\/span><\/a> ]<\/span>
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Top Earning States for Lawyers<\/h3>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\nHere are the top 5 states ranked by average income for lawyers:\u00a0<\/span>
\n\"average
\n
\n

Expand for specific numbers by state: <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

    \n
  1. Washington D.C.: $192,530<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. California: $171,550<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. New York: $167,110<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Massachusetts: $165,610<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Connecticut: $153,640<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n <\/div> <\/div> <\/div><\/section>\n<\/div>
    \n 
    \n

    Top Earning Metro Areas for Lawyers<\/h3>
    <\/div><\/div><\/div>
    \nThe numbers above represent state-wide averages. Average salaries for lawyers in metropolitan areas tend to be higher. Here are the top 10 metro areas in which lawyers are paid the highest average annual salary, <\/span>according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>
    \nAccording to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, top 10 metro areas are (by mean salary):<\/span><\/p>\n
      \n
    1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA: $207,950<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA: $183,070<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV: $179,980<\/span><\/li>\n
    4. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA: $176,020<\/span><\/li>\n
    5. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX: $175,380<\/span><\/li>\n
    6. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA: $172,900<\/span><\/li>\n
    7. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY, NJ, PA: $172,020<\/span><\/li>\n
    8. Bridgeport, Stamford, Norwalk, CT: $171,690<\/span><\/li>\n
    9. Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH: $170,720<\/span><\/li>\n
    10. Sheboygan, WI: $170,350<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      The top-paying non-metropolitan areas, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, are as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. North Valley-Northern Mountains Region of California: $159,320<\/span><\/li>\n
      2. West Texas Region of Texas: $153,490<\/span><\/li>\n
      3. Central New Hampshire: $130,300<\/span><\/li>\n
      4. Arizona Nonmetropolitan Area: $127,210<\/span><\/li>\n
      5. Alaska Nonmetropolitan Area: $126,940<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Lawyer Wage Gap Between Men and Women<\/h3>
        <\/div><\/div><\/div>
        \nParallelling a national trend across all fields, male lawyers tend to earn more than female lawyers. The <\/span>U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported<\/span><\/a> that in 2018, female lawyers\u2019 weekly salary was about 80% of male lawyers\u2019 weekly salary. This gap, however, is narrowing each year; in 2006, female lawyers earned just 70.5% of what their male counterparts earned.\u00a0<\/span>
        \n

        Choosing an Industry<\/h3>
        <\/div><\/div><\/div>
        \nThe annual mean wages for the top-paying industries for law, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, are as follows:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
          \n
        1. Cable and other subscription programming: $234,310<\/span><\/li>\n
        2. Pipeline transportation of crude oil: $215,700<\/li>\n
        3. Motor vehicle manufacturing: $205,610<\/li>\n
        4. Computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing: $204,710<\/li>\n
        5. Petroleum and coal products manufacturing: $200,830<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          As of May 2018, the median annual earnings for the four industries with the highest level of employment for lawyers are as follows:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Federal government: $145,160<\/span><\/li>\n
          2. Legal services: $122,150<\/span><\/li>\n
          3. Local government, excluding education and hospitals: $94,490<\/span><\/li>\n
          4. State government, excluding education and hospitals: $86,900<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Lawyers who own their own practices usually make less than lawyers who work in law firms or other companies.\u00a0<\/span>
            \n

            Public vs. Private Sector Earnings<\/h3>
            <\/div><\/div><\/div>
            \nWhether you work in the public or the private sector will affect your potential earnings significantly. According to the <\/span>National Association for Law Placement<\/span><\/a>, the median annual salaries for public service attorneys are as follows:<\/span>
            \n
            \"average

            Source: National Association for Law Placement, \u201cMedian Salaries for Lawyers by Type of Organization and Years of Experience–2004-2018\u201d<\/p><\/div>
            \nWhen compared to the national median income for lawyers ($120,910), it\u2019s clear that private-sector lawyers make significantly more than those working in public service. In 2018, the median income for private-sector attorneys was more than double that of the highest median figures for entry-level public-sector lawyers.<\/span>
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            \nRELATED:
            \n            What to Expect as an L1<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0Top Tips for Law School Success<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0What is law school like?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>
            \n[ <\/span>NEXT: <\/b>            Law School Admissions: Choosing a Law School<\/span><\/a> ]<\/span><\/strong>
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            <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div>
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            \n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            The average salary of a lawyer can be an important consideration when you are deciding what industry you want to work in or whether you want to pursue a law degree. There are many factors to weigh when considering becoming a lawyer, and knowing about how much money you might make can help with financial […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[25],"tags":[22,23,24,26],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30828"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30828"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33900,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30828\/revisions\/33900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}