By Aijaz Alam
How many lawyers are there in the US?
The US had 1,377,600 resident active lawyers in 2025, per the American Bar Association's 2025 National Lawyer Population Survey (the survey PDF), which counts lawyers reported by state licensing bodies as of 31 December 2024. The ABA's own news release on the same survey (8 Dec 2025) gives a slightly lower 1,374,720; both are ABA figures. The survey PDF shows a rise of 1.38% on 2024 and 5.86% since 2015. Women were 41.3% of lawyers whose gender was reported.
- 1,377,600Resident active lawyers in the USABA 2025 National Lawyer Population Survey PDF, counts as of 31 Dec 2024; the ABA's 8 Dec 2025 release says 1,374,720
- 863,700Jobs held by lawyersBLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025
- 1,249,000People employed by US legal services firmsBLS, Sep 2026, preliminary; all staff, not only lawyers
- 41.3%Share of lawyers who are womenABA NLPS 2025, lawyers with reported gender; 34.7% in 2015
- 11%Share of lawyer jobs that are self-employedBLS, 2025; 52% work in legal services firms
The numbers
The full breakdown
The 10 states with the most resident active lawyers, 2025
| State | Resident active lawyers |
|---|---|
| New York | 190,015 |
| California | 181,048 |
| Texas | 99,867 |
| Florida | 80,976 |
| District of Columbia | 65,824 |
| Illinois | 61,945 |
| Pennsylvania | 47,764 |
| Massachusetts | 42,653 |
| New Jersey | 39,670 |
| Ohio | 37,086 |
From the ABA's release of 8 Dec 2025 on the 2025 Profile of the Legal Profession. 'Resident' can mean home or business address, depending on the state. The District of Columbia count covers members with an address in the DC metro area.
Women and men among US lawyers, 2015 to 2025
| Year | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 34.7% | 65.3% |
| 2016 | 35.6% | 64.4% |
| 2017 | 35.3% | 64.7% |
| 2018 | 34.0% | 65.8% |
| 2019 | 36.5% | 63.5% |
| 2020 | 37.1% | 63.0% |
| 2021 | 37.4% | 62.6% |
| 2022 | 38.5% | 61.4% |
| 2023 | 39.3% | 60.6% |
| 2024 | 40.5% | 59.2% |
| 2025 | 41.3% | 58.4% |
Shares of resident active lawyers whose gender the state reported; not every state reports it (over 70% of lawyers in recent years). The ABA calls its demographic data a convenience sample. Rounded from the survey file's two-decimal figures; 'Other' is too small to report.
US lawyers by race and ethnicity, 2025
| Race or ethnicity | Share of lawyers with reported data |
|---|---|
| White | 78.5% |
| Asian | 6.4% |
| Hispanic | 5.9% |
| Black | 4.9% |
| Multiracial | 3.8% |
| Native American | 0.4% |
| Hawaiian or Pacific Islander | 0.1% |
Only 28 states reported race or ethnicity, covering 43.6% of lawyers, so treat these as rough shares. The ABA notes that licensing bodies do not share one set of race and ethnicity categories; 'Multiracial' has been offered since 2016.
Lawyer jobs and who employs lawyers, BLS
| Measure | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Jobs held by lawyers | 863,700 | 2025 |
| Projected jobs held by lawyers | 904,300 | 2035 |
| Openings for lawyers each year, on average | 28,700 | 2025-35 |
| Share of lawyer jobs in legal services firms | 52% | 2025 |
| Share of lawyer jobs that are self-employed | 11% | 2025 |
| Share in local government | 8% | 2025 |
| Share in state government | 7% | 2025 |
| Share in the federal government | 5% | 2025 |
BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Lawyers (2025-35 projections; page modified 27 Aug 2026). The local and state government shares exclude education and hospitals, as BLS words them.
People employed by US legal services firms, every September
| Month | Employees |
|---|---|
| Sep 2016 | 1,125,900 |
| Sep 2017 | 1,138,700 |
| Sep 2018 | 1,143,600 |
| Sep 2019 | 1,154,200 |
| Sep 2020 | 1,123,100 |
| Sep 2021 | 1,159,800 |
| Sep 2022 | 1,176,700 |
| Sep 2023 | 1,190,100 |
| Sep 2024 | 1,199,700 |
| Sep 2025 | 1,226,200 |
| Sep 2026 (preliminary) | 1,249,000 |
BLS Current Employment Statistics series CES6054110001, all employees, legal services, seasonally adjusted. Counts everyone on the payroll of law firms and other legal services businesses (lawyers, paralegals, assistants and other staff); self-employed lawyers are not included.
Over time
Resident active lawyers in the US, ABA count since 1880
| Year | Resident active lawyers |
|---|---|
| 1880 | 64,137 |
| 1900 | 114,460 |
| 1950 | 221,605 |
| 1960 | 285,933 |
| 1970 | 326,842 |
| 1980 | 574,810 |
| 1990 | 755,694 |
| 2000 | 1,022,462 |
| 2005 | 1,104,766 |
| 2010 | 1,203,097 |
| 2015 | 1,301,357 |
| 2016 | 1,312,630 |
| 2017 | 1,335,976 |
| 2018 | 1,341,630 |
| 2019 | 1,350,864 |
| 2020 | 1,363,043 |
| 2021 | 1,363,080 |
| 2022 | 1,365,260 |
| 2023 | 1,366,076 |
| 2024 | 1,358,824 |
| 2025 | 1,377,600 |
From the ABA 2025 National Lawyer Population Survey PDF (historical trend table). From 1998 each year's figure is the count states report as of 31 December of the year before (the 2025 figure is as of 31 Dec 2024); before 1998 the ABA says the source is its archives. States corrected past years in 2025, so these totals differ from older editions. Both documents are the ABA's own: its 8 Dec 2025 news release gave 1,374,720 for 2025 and 1,355,963 for 2024 (and 73,363, or 5.6%, of growth over ten years), while the survey PDF linked from that release shows 1,377,600 and 1,358,824 (76,243, or 5.86%). The ABA does not explain the gap; this page uses the survey PDF.
Why sources differ
Same question, different answers
| Number | When | Who measured | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,377,600 | 2025 (as of 31 Dec 2024) | ABA, 2025 National Lawyer Population Survey PDF | Resident active lawyers reported by state licensing bodies, 57 responding jurisdictions including territories; the figure this page uses |
| 1,374,720 | 2025 | ABA, news release of 8 Dec 2025 | The same ABA survey as announced; the survey PDF linked from the release shows 2,880 more and the ABA does not explain the difference |
| 863,700 | 2025 | BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook | Jobs held by people working as lawyers, employed and self-employed |
| 1,249,000 | Sep 2026 | BLS Current Employment Statistics | Payroll employees of legal services firms, including non-lawyer staff; preliminary |
US lawyer counts range from about 864,000 to almost 1.4 million because they count different things. The ABA counts licences: state bars and other licensing bodies report how many lawyers are resident and active. The ABA has published two totals for 2025: 1,377,600 in its survey PDF and 1,374,720 in its 8 December 2025 news release. A licence count includes everyone with active status, whatever work they do, so it can be larger than a count of lawyer jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts jobs held by people whose work is being a lawyer: 863,700 in 2025, of which 11% were self-employed. The third figure, about 1.25 million, is not a lawyer count at all: it is everyone on the payroll of law firms and other legal services businesses, including paralegals and office staff. The ABA also warns that states define 'resident' and 'active' differently, and that some states did not send new data, so last year's figures were carried over. Quote the ABA number for licensed lawyers and the BLS number for lawyer jobs.
What it means
How to use these numbers
The US has about 1.38 million licensed, active lawyers, and the number grows slowly: 5.86% in ten years in the ABA's survey PDF (5.6% in its news release), or roughly 0.6% a year. The 2025 rise of 1.38% was the largest since 2017, and the ABA links it to the large law school class that graduated in 2024.
Where lawyers are matters more than the total. New York (190,015) and California (181,048) together hold more than a quarter of all resident active lawyers, and the District of Columbia alone has 65,824. In those markets, a firm competes with many others for the same searches, so local search visibility, reviews and a clear practice focus carry more weight.
The profession is changing slowly. Women were 41.3% of lawyers with reported gender in 2025, up from 34.7% in 2015.
For the size of the market a law firm sells into, the BLS figures help more: 863,700 lawyer jobs, 52% of them in legal services firms and 11% self-employed, plus about 1.25 million people working in legal services firms in total.
Method and sources
How it was measured
Method
- Publisher
- American Bar Association, National Lawyer Population Survey (Profile of the Legal Profession), and US Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Sample
- ABA: not a sample; state bars and other licensing bodies report a single count of resident, active lawyers, and where a state sends nothing the ABA carries the previous year forward. Gender and race shares come from the states that report them. BLS: Occupational Outlook Handbook employment estimate and the Current Employment Statistics payroll survey.
- Definition
- Resident active lawyer: licensed to practise, active status and resident in the state, each as the state defines it. BLS lawyer jobs: jobs held by workers whose occupation is lawyer.
- Released
- ABA 2025 survey, 8 Dec 2025 (counts as of 31 Dec 2024); BLS Lawyers page modified 27 Aug 2026; CES legal services data for Sep 2026, preliminary
- Checked at source
- 31 Oct 2026: ABA release page and the 2025 National Lawyer Population Survey PDF on americanbar.org; BLS Lawyers page; series CES6054110001 via the BLS public API
- Next release
- The ABA publishes the survey once a year (the 2025 edition came out on 8 Dec 2025); BLS legal services employment is monthly
- Last changed
- 30 Oct 2026
- Data files
- CSV · JSON (stable links)
Sources
- Legal Technology Survey (TechReport) and Profile of the Legal Profession, American Bar Association Industry body
- Occupational Outlook Handbook, US Bureau of Labor Statistics Official data
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FAQ
More questions people ask
How many female lawyers are there in the US?
Women were 41.3% of resident active lawyers whose gender was reported in 2025, up from 34.7% in 2015, per the ABA. Not every state reports gender, so the ABA gives a share rather than a count.
Which state has the most lawyers?
New York, with 190,015 resident active lawyers in 2025, followed by California (181,048) and Texas (99,867), per the ABA.
How many Black and Hispanic lawyers are there?
In 2025, 4.9% of lawyers with reported race were Black and 5.9% Hispanic, per the ABA. Only 28 states reported race, covering 43.6% of lawyers, so these are rough shares.
Is the number of lawyers in the US growing?
Slowly. The ABA count rose from 1,301,357 in 2015 to 1,377,600 in 2025, with a small dip in 2024 (minus 0.53%). BLS projects lawyer jobs to grow from 863,700 in 2025 to 904,300 in 2035.
Every number on this page was checked at its original source (American Bar Association, US Bureau of Labor Statistics). Free to cite with a link to this page.