A corporate attorney earns an average salary of $105,000 annually. This is comparable to the average salary of a New York City lawyer. In the large and diverse city that is New York, the cost of living can vary greatly depending on where you call home in the city. The cost of living in Manhattan is much higher than in certain areas of New York City and surrounding boroughs.
If you’re a corporate attorney looking for a new job, you want to know what the salary range is for your position.
The first step in getting that information is to figure out what kind of job you want. Do you want to work for a big firm? An in-house legal department at a company? The government? Each of these jobs has different pay structures and requirements, so it’s important to know which kind of attorney you are before you start looking at salaries.
Once you know where you want to work, it’s time to look at the numbers. According to Glassdoor, the average salary for a corporate lawyer is $102K per year with an additional bonus of $19K. If this number sounds high, it’s because it is! Corporate attorneys are known for earning some of the highest salaries in all of law. This is because these attorneys are responsible for large amounts of money and must ensure that their clients stay compliant with laws and regulations at all times—which isn’t easy!
If this sounds like something you’re interested in doing and learning more about, check out our other articles on becoming a corporate attorney!
Salary for corporate 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 |
Percentage increase and decrease are relative to the previous value
Attorney Salary Comparison By Education
How do education levels affect salaries?
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
