{ "question": "How much do lawyers make in the US?", "answer": "Lawyers in the US earned a median annual wage of $159,670 in May 2025, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a figure that leaves out self-employed lawyers and partners in unincorporated firms. Pay varies widely: the lowest 10% earned under $78,360 and the top 10% over $351,600. New York had the highest state median, $207,860.", "period": "May 2025", "key_numbers": [ { "value": "$159,670", "label": "Median annual wage, US lawyers", "note": "BLS, May 2025", "stat": "law-firm-marketing/lawyer-median-pay" }, { "value": "$185,840", "label": "Mean annual wage, US lawyers", "note": "BLS OEWS, May 2025" }, { "value": "$76.76", "label": "Median hourly wage, US lawyers", "note": "BLS OEWS, May 2025; mean $89.35" }, { "value": "5%", "label": "Projected growth in lawyer jobs, 2025-2035", "note": "BLS; 3% for all occupations", "stat": "law-firm-marketing/lawyer-job-growth-2025-2035" } ], "tables": [ { "id": "pay-spread", "title": "How lawyer pay is spread, May 2025", "columns": [ "Measure", "Lawyers" ], "rows": [ [ "Lowest 10% earned less than", "$78,360" ], [ "25th percentile", "$102,990" ], [ "Median", "$159,670" ], [ "75th percentile", "$221,370" ], [ "Highest 10% earned more than", "$351,600" ], [ "Mean annual wage", "$185,840" ], [ "Median hourly wage", "$76.76" ], [ "Mean hourly wage", "$89.35" ] ], "row_ids": [ "pay-p10", "pay-p25", "pay-median", "pay-p75", "pay-p90", "pay-mean", "pay-hourly-median", "pay-hourly-mean" ], "note": "Median and the 10th and 90th percentiles from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook Pay tab; the other rows are Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2025 national estimates for lawyers (23-1011), read through the BLS public API. BLS says these wage data do not cover self-employed workers or owners and partners of unincorporated businesses.", "source": "bls" }, { "id": "by-industry", "title": "Median annual wage of lawyers in the top industries, May 2025", "columns": [ "Industry", "Median annual wage" ], "rows": [ [ "Federal government", "$178,380" ], [ "Legal services (law firms)", "$157,870" ], [ "Local government, excluding education and hospitals", "$131,390" ], [ "State government, excluding education and hospitals", "$115,330" ] ], "row_ids": [ "ind-federal", "ind-legal-services", "ind-local-gov", "ind-state-gov" ], "source": "bls" }, { "id": "by-state", "title": "Lawyers' median annual wage by state, May 2025: highest, largest and lowest", "columns": [ "State", "Median annual wage", "Lawyers employed" ], "rows": [ [ "New York", "$207,860", "91,870" ], [ "District of Columbia", "$195,190", "33,070" ], [ "California", "$195,080", "95,770" ], [ "Massachusetts", "$176,680", "23,560" ], [ "Delaware", "$173,510", "2,920" ], [ "Illinois", "$160,800", "33,590" ], [ "Texas", "$154,200", "56,580" ], [ "Florida", "$133,180", "55,210" ], [ "South Dakota", "$102,040", "1,360" ], [ "Kentucky", "$101,550", "5,770" ], [ "Wyoming", "$100,130", "900" ], [ "Arkansas", "$98,880", "3,430" ], [ "Mississippi", "$91,690", "3,100" ] ], "row_ids": [ "state-new-york", "state-dc", "state-california", "state-massachusetts", "state-delaware", "state-illinois", "state-texas", "state-florida", "state-south-dakota", "state-kentucky", "state-wyoming", "state-arkansas", "state-mississippi" ], "note": "The five highest and five lowest medians among the 50 states and DC, with Illinois, Texas and Florida, which with California and New York are the five states employing the most lawyers. OEWS May 2025 state estimates for occupation 23-1011, read through the BLS public API; wage and salary lawyers only.", "source": "bls" }, { "id": "outlook", "title": "Lawyer jobs and outlook, BLS", "columns": [ "Measure", "Value" ], "rows": [ [ "Lawyer jobs, 2025", "863,700" ], [ "Projected lawyer jobs, 2035", "904,300" ], [ "Projected growth, 2025-2035", "5% (3% for all occupations)" ], [ "Openings each year, on average", "About 28,700" ], [ "Share of lawyers who are self-employed", "11%" ], [ "Share working in legal services firms", "52%" ] ], "row_ids": [ "out-jobs-2025", "out-jobs-2035", "out-growth", "out-openings", "out-self-employed", "out-legal-services" ], "note": "BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025-35 projections. Jobs here include self-employed lawyers, so they are more than the 754,500 wage and salary lawyers in the OEWS pay data.", "source": "bls" }, { "id": "history", "title": "Lawyers' pay in May of each year", "columns": [ "Year", "Median annual wage", "Mean annual wage", "Employed" ], "rows": [ [ "2016", "$118,160", "$139,880", "619,530" ], [ "2017", "$119,250", "$141,890", "628,370" ], [ "2018", "$120,910", "$144,230", "642,750" ], [ "2019", "$122,960", "$145,300", "657,170" ], [ "2020", "$126,930", "$148,910", "658,120" ], [ "2021", "$127,990", "$148,030", "681,010" ], [ "2022", "$135,740", "$163,770", "707,160" ], [ "2023", "$145,760", "$176,470", "731,340" ], [ "2025", "$159,670", "$185,840", "754,500" ] ], "row_ids": [ "hist-2016", "hist-2017", "hist-2018", "hist-2019", "hist-2020", "hist-2021", "hist-2022", "hist-2023", "hist-2025" ], "note": "OEWS national estimates for lawyers (23-1011), from the BLS May archive page for each year (2016-2023) and the BLS public API (2025). The May 2024 archive page was not reachable on bls.gov, so 2024 is missing. Not adjusted for inflation.", "source": "bls" } ], "sources": [ { "name": "Occupational Outlook Handbook", "publisher": "US Bureau of Labor Statistics", "type": "official", "url": "https://www.bls.gov/" } ], "content_changed_on": "2026-10-31", "page_url": "https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/law-firm-marketing/lawyer-salary", "csv_url": "https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/law-firm-marketing/lawyer-salary.csv" }