Look at The Crazy Amount Of Money Lawyers Make
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook, the employment of lawyers is projected to increase by 50,100 from 2018 to 2028. That’s a substantial amount of growth for most occupations, but with the current number of lawyer jobs being 823,900, it’s only an increase of 6%, which is about as fast as the average growth for all occupations. So, it’s not exactly a career path that’s on fire, but neither is it declining.
One of the many draws of pursuing a career as a lawyer is the financial compensation; namely, it pays well. Using occupational data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we’ve analyzed and compiled an overview of the average lawyer salary by state in the U.S. Read on for a full breakdown of where lawyers make the most money, and where they’re making the least.
10 States Where Lawyers Earn the Most Money
The national average annual wage of an lawyer is $144,230, according to the BLS, which is not far from being three-times the average annual salary for all occupations, $51,960. However, that average salary is for the U.S. overall, which hides significant differences depending on geography, such as the state you reside in.
Below is a list of the top-10 highest-paying states for lawyers:
California average lawyer salary: $171,550
New York average lawyer salary: $167,110
Massachusetts average lawyer salary: $165,610
Connecticut average lawyer salary: $153,640
Illinois average lawyer salary: $152,980
Texas average lawyer salary: $150,250
Colorado average lawyer salary: $147,560
Arizona average lawyer salary: $145,750
Virginia average lawyer salary: $139,180
New Jersey average lawyer salary: $139,020
Massachusetts has not only the third-highest average annual wage for lawyers. It has seen the third-largest growth in its average lawyer salary over the last five years: 23.2%, from $134,380 in 2013 to $165,610 in 2018.
10 States Where Lawyers Earn the Least Money
The bottom-10 states where lawyers make the least money tend to be ones less densely populated, and either in the South or the Mountain states of the West. Check them out below, with No. 1 being the lowest-paying state:
Montana average lawyer salary: $88,600
Mississippi average lawyer salary: $97,990
West Virginia average lawyer salary: $98,630
Arkansas average lawyer salary: $98,780
Idaho average lawyer salary: $99,360
Kentucky average lawyer salary: $100,100
South Carolina average lawyer salary: $105,320
Louisiana average lawyer salary: $105,490
Wyoming average lawyer salary: $105,600
New Mexico average lawyer salary: $105,910
For some of these states, the prospects for lawyers is actually looking bright, as average lawyer wages have risen by 17.6% in Montana and by 18.3% in Wyoming from 2013 to 2018. On the other hand, many of the other 10 worst states have seen declining wages for lawyers. The fifth-lowest paying state for lawyers, Idaho, has seen its average annual wage decline by 5.7% in the last five years, one of the worst rates in the country.
How Much Do Lawyers Make in Each State
Below you’ll find the average annual wage for lawyers in all 50 states from 2013 to 2018. Unfortunately, there was no 2018 data available for the average lawyer salary in Delaware from the BLS. The rank is included, as well as the five-year change in average annual wage in percent.
