There’s a lot of uncertainty during the early years of being an attorney. You’re working towards getting hired in a law firm while paying off your student loans and trying to find balance between work and a social life. This article will help you find out the average lawyer salary for your first few years in private practice. The survey was conducted by Autodesk and the American Bar Association, so the information is pretty reliable.
The average salary for an attorney is $76,000.
That’s the median salary. It means that half of all attorneys make more than $76,000 and half make less.
In order to get a more accurate idea of what you might be able to expect as a starting attorney, though, you should look at salaries for entry-level attorneys in your area. To find that information, go to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website at bls.gov and search for “attorney” in the Occupational Outlook Handbook section. The Handbook will give you data on employment trends and median salaries for lawyers in your state or region.
Salary for an attorney
A person working as an Attorney in United States typically earns around 192,000 USD per year. Salaries range from 88,400 USD (lowest) to 306,000 USD (highest).
This is the average yearly salary including housing, transport, and other benefits. Attorney salaries vary drastically based on experience, skills, gender, or location. Below you will find a detailed breakdown based on many different criteria.
Attorney Salary Distribution in United States
The median, the maximum, the minimum, and the range
- Salary RangeAttorney salaries in United States range from 88,400 USD per year (minimum salary) to 306,000 USD per year (maximum salary).
- Median SalaryThe median salary is 208,000 USD per year, which means that half (50%) of people working as Attorney(s) are earning less than 208,000 USD while the other half are earning more than 208,000 USD. The median represents the middle salary value. Generally speaking, you would want to be on the right side of the graph with the group earning more than the median salary.
- PercentilesClosely related to the median are two values: the 25th and the 75th percentiles. Reading from the salary distribution diagram, 25% of Attorney(s) are earning less than 133,000 USD while 75% of them are earning more than 133,000 USD. Also from the diagram, 75% of Attorney(s) are earning less than 277,000 USD while 25% are earning more than 277,000 USD.
Attorney Salary Comparison by Years of Experience
How does experience and age affect your pay?
The experience level is the most important factor in determining the salary. Naturally the more years of experience the higher your wage. We broke down Attorney salaries by experience level and this is what we found.
An Attorney with less than two years of experience makes approximately 100,000 USD per year.
While someone with an experience level between two and five years is expected to earn 134,000 USD per year, 34% more than someone with less than two year’s experience.
Moving forward, an experience level between five and ten years lands a salary of 198,000 USD per year, 48% more than someone with two to five years of experience.
Additionally, Attorney(s) whose expertise span anywhere between ten and fifteen years get a salary equivalent to 242,000 USD per year, 22% more than someone with five to ten years of experience.
If the experience level is between fifteen and twenty years, then the expected wage is 263,000 USD per year, 9% more than someone with ten to fifteen years of experience.
Lastly, employees with more than twenty years of professional experience get a salary of 285,000 USD per year, 8% more than people with fifteen to twenty years of experience.
Attorney average salary change by experience in United States
| 0 – 2 Years | 100,000 USD | |
| 2 – 5 Years | +34% | 134,000 USD |
| 5 – 10 Years | +48% | 198,000 USD |
| 10 – 15 Years | +22% | 242,000 USD |
| 15 – 20 Years | +9% | 263,000 USD |
| 20+ Years | +8% | 285,000 USD |
Attorney Salary Comparison By Education
We all know that higher education equals a bigger salary, but how much more money can a degree add to your income? We broke down Attorney salaries by education level in order to make a comparison.
When the education level is Bachelor’s Degree, the average salary of an Attorney is 115,000 USD per year.
While someone with a Master’s Degree gets a salary of 180,000 USD per year, 57% more than someone having a Bachelor’s Degree degree.
A PhD gets its holder an average salary of 301,000 USD per year, 68% more than someone with a Master’s Degree.
Attorney average salary difference by education level in United States
| Bachelor’s Degree | 115,000 USD | |
| Master’s Degree | +57% | 180,000 USD |
| PhD | +68% | 301,000 USD |
Percentage increase and decrease are relative to the previous value
