Lawyers
The national median wage for lawyers is $145,760 across 814K jobs. After cost of living, New York goes furthest at $231,909, and 41 of 78 metros beat the national median once prices are counted.
What the job pays, metro to metro
Each line runs from the lowest metro to the highest. The mark is the national median.
BLS OES, latest release
78 metro areas tracked
Best value: top metros by cost-adjusted wage
Wages adjusted for local cost of living. A longer blue bar means the salary goes further there.
All metro areas
Sorted by cost-adjusted wage. Tap a column head to re-sort; metro names link to the city page where we track one.
| # | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | NY | $250,462 | $231,909 | 16,235 | 13.0 |
| 2 | San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA | CA | $256,029 | $226,574 | 7,320 | 16.3 |
| 3 | Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH | MA | $208,826 | $193,357 | 6,810 | 13.6 |
| 4 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | IL | $182,483 | $184,326 | 9,147 | 11.4 |
| 5 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | VA | $177,978 | $176,216 | 11,239 | 18.7 |
| 6 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT | CT | $177,052 | $170,242 | 1,419 | 18.9 |
| 7 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | PA | $163,831 | $167,174 | 8,515 | 15.5 |
| 8 | Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX | TX | $161,209 | $166,195 | 4,180 | 16.7 |
| 9 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | NC | $152,425 | $162,154 | 3,362 | 13.4 |
| 10 | Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN | TN | $149,454 | $160,703 | 3,424 | 17.1 |
| 11 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $174,540 | $160,128 | 7,018 | 17.6 |
| 12 | Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | WI | $148,642 | $159,830 | 2,598 | 17.3 |
| 13 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | TX | $154,770 | $159,557 | 12,316 | 18.9 |
| 14 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA | GA | $154,109 | $158,875 | 9,555 | 17.4 |
| 15 | Raleigh-Cary, NC | NC | $148,386 | $157,857 | 2,782 | 18.6 |
| 16 | St. Louis, MO-IL | MO | $143,991 | $156,512 | 4,973 | 19.9 |
| 17 | Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | OH | $143,356 | $155,822 | 3,376 | 16.9 |
| 18 | Anchorage, AK | AK | $158,569 | $155,460 | 948 | 19.0 |
| 19 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | TX | $150,544 | $155,200 | 11,866 | 16.9 |
| 20 | Madison, WI | WI | $144,109 | $154,956 | 1,551 | 20.7 |
| 21 | Columbus, OH | OH | $142,429 | $154,814 | 2,793 | 14.0 |
| 22 | Salt Lake City, UT | UT | $146,970 | $154,705 | 2,276 | 15.2 |
| 23 | Cleveland-Elyria, OH | OH | $141,955 | $154,299 | 2,615 | 17.4 |
| 24 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | CA | $173,745 | $153,757 | 13,207 | 13.2 |
| 25 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | MN | $150,472 | $153,543 | 6,479 | 18.5 |
| 26 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | MD | $158,859 | $152,749 | 3,338 | 13.3 |
| 27 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | MI | $143,289 | $152,435 | 8,361 | 20.9 |
| 28 | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | CO | $153,514 | $151,994 | 6,283 | 20.9 |
| 29 | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA | RI | $152,215 | $150,708 | 2,849 | 19.0 |
| 30 | Oklahoma City, OK | OK | $132,229 | $150,260 | 2,910 | 19.4 |
| 31 | Charleston-North Charleston, SC | SC | $139,321 | $149,808 | 1,113 | 14.8 |
| 32 | Burlington-South Burlington, VT | VT | $144,609 | $149,081 | 505 | 20.2 |
| 33 | Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | KY | $134,110 | $149,011 | 2,024 | 13.5 |
| 34 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL | FL | $152,416 | $147,977 | 8,508 | 15.5 |
| 35 | Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ | DE | $146,225 | $147,702 | 848 | 17.0 |
| 36 | Honolulu, HI | HI | $160,669 | $147,403 | 1,097 | 14.6 |
| 37 | Kansas City, MO-KS | MO | $135,091 | $146,838 | 4,034 | 20.2 |
| 38 | Tulsa, OK | OK | $129,152 | $146,764 | 1,542 | 15.4 |
| 39 | Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT | CT | $152,423 | $146,561 | 1,893 | 18.9 |
| 40 | Albuquerque, NM | NM | $131,709 | $146,343 | 1,873 | 18.7 |
| 41 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | OR | $153,432 | $146,126 | 4,413 | 17.6 |
| 42 | Boise City, ID | ID | $132,354 | $145,444 | 1,193 | 15.9 |
| 43 | Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN | IN | $133,094 | $144,667 | 4,035 | 20.2 |
| 44 | New Orleans-Metairie, LA | LA | $127,258 | $144,611 | 1,186 | 11.9 |
| 45 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR | TN | $133,364 | $143,402 | 1,616 | 16.2 |
| 46 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | IA | $127,573 | $143,340 | 1,572 | 21.0 |
| 47 | Birmingham-Hoover, AL | AL | $128,923 | $143,248 | 2,091 | 20.9 |
| 48 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | AZ | $143,946 | $142,521 | 6,506 | 14.5 |
| 49 | Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA | NE | $128,264 | $142,516 | 1,545 | 15.4 |
| 50 | Fargo, ND-MN | ND | $126,286 | $141,894 | 695 | 17.4 |
| 51 | Sioux Falls, SD | SD | $124,721 | $141,728 | 600 | 15.0 |
| 52 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | TX | $136,801 | $141,032 | 4,334 | 17.3 |
| 53 | Grand Rapids-Kentwood, MI | MI | $131,715 | $140,122 | 2,073 | 20.7 |
| 54 | Manchester-Nashua, NH | NH | $146,473 | $139,498 | 580 | 11.6 |
| 55 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | CA | $157,296 | $139,200 | 3,831 | 12.8 |
| 56 | Baton Rouge, LA | LA | $121,815 | $138,426 | 1,352 | 18.0 |
| 57 | Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | NV | $133,485 | $137,613 | 2,630 | 13.2 |
| 58 | Richmond, VA | VA | $137,888 | $136,523 | 2,435 | 16.2 |
| 59 | Pittsburgh, PA | PA | $133,452 | $136,176 | 3,248 | 16.2 |
| 60 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | CA | $153,567 | $135,900 | 3,053 | 15.3 |
| 61 | Columbia, SC | SC | $126,028 | $135,514 | 1,458 | 19.4 |
| 62 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | VA | $136,757 | $135,403 | 2,156 | 14.4 |
| 63 | Jacksonville, FL | FL | $138,696 | $134,656 | 2,857 | 19.1 |
| 64 | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR | AR | $117,106 | $134,605 | 1,526 | 20.4 |
| 65 | Cheyenne, WY | WY | $122,469 | $134,581 | 236 | 15.7 |
| 66 | Knoxville, TN | TN | $124,774 | $134,166 | 1,464 | 14.6 |
| 67 | Portland-South Portland, ME | ME | $128,940 | $132,928 | 512 | 12.8 |
| 68 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | FL | $136,632 | $132,652 | 5,073 | 20.3 |
| 69 | Wichita, KS | KS | $118,772 | $131,969 | 795 | 15.9 |
| 70 | Jackson, MS | MS | $111,515 | $128,178 | 713 | 14.3 |
| 71 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | FL | $132,018 | $128,173 | 4,005 | 13.3 |
| 72 | Billings, MT | MT | $115,239 | $128,043 | 396 | 15.8 |
| 73 | Tucson, AZ | AZ | $127,420 | $126,158 | 1,923 | 19.2 |
| 74 | Charleston, WV | WV | $111,256 | $123,618 | 497 | 19.9 |
| 75 | Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY | NY | $133,487 | $123,599 | 1,382 | 13.8 |
| 76 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | CA | $136,550 | $120,841 | 6,840 | 17.1 |
| 77 | El Paso, TX | TX | $116,640 | $120,247 | 884 | 11.8 |
| 78 | Rochester, NY | NY | $128,794 | $119,254 | 1,720 | 17.2 |
Frequently asked questions
What is the median salary for Lawyers?
The national median annual wage for lawyers is $145,760, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) data.
Where do lawyers earn the most after adjusting for cost of living?
After adjusting for local cost of living, the top-paying metro areas for lawyers are New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($231,909), San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA ($226,574), Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH ($193,357).
How many metro areas have data for lawyers?
We show wage and employment estimates for lawyers across 78 metro areas in the United States. The national median wage is the latest BLS OES figure; individual metro values are modeled from it using local cost of living and regional labor-market patterns rather than taken from the published metro-level OES tables.