BLS lawyer salaries at every level and in every state, government vs law-firm pay, salary per hour worked and take-home after 2026 tax
Lawyers earned a median salary of $159,670 in May 2025 — $76.76 an hour on BLS's 2,080-hour basis — according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which counted 754,500 lawyers on payrolls. The range is enormous: the bottom tenth earned under $78,360 and the top tenth over $351,600. Those figures don't include year-end bonuses, partners in unincorporated firms or solo practitioners.
This is the BLS line for lawyers (SOC 23-1011) on employers' payrolls. It leaves out self-employed lawyers and partners in unincorporated firms (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook), so solo practitioners and many law-firm partners aren't in these numbers. Judges and paralegals are separate occupations. Take-home assumes a single filer with 2026 federal tax and FICA and no state tax.
| Pay level | Hourly | Annual | Monthly | Take-home a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $37.67 | $78,360 | $6,530 | $63,956 |
| 25th percentile | $49.51 | $102,990 | $8,583 | $81,283 |
| Median | $76.76 | $159,670 | $13,306 | $120,400 |
| 75th percentile | $106.43 | $221,370 | $18,448 | $164,386 |
| 90th percentile | $169.04 | $351,600 | $29,300 | $247,504 |
New York pays lawyers the most at $207,860, then Washington, D.C. ($195,190) and California ($195,080). Those three plus Texas hold more than a third of all employed lawyers: California 95,770, New York 91,870, Texas 56,580 at $154,200. Mississippi's median, $91,690, is the lowest and well under half of New York's.
| State | Median hourly | Median annual | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $99.93 | $207,860 | 91,870 |
| District of Columbia | $93.84 | $195,190 | 33,070 |
| California | $93.79 | $195,080 | 95,770 |
| Massachusetts | $84.94 | $176,680 | 23,560 |
| Delaware | $83.42 | $173,510 | 2,920 |
| Colorado | $81.02 | $168,520 | 16,720 |
| Virginia | $80.39 | $167,210 | 18,580 |
| Connecticut | $78.66 | $163,600 | 8,420 |
| New Jersey | $77.61 | $161,430 | 23,160 |
| Illinois | $77.31 | $160,800 | 33,590 |
| Pennsylvania | $75.57 | $157,180 | 27,170 |
| Minnesota | $74.59 | $155,140 | 12,380 |
| Texas | $74.13 | $154,200 | 56,580 |
| Washington | $74.10 | $154,130 | 12,770 |
| Nevada | $72.36 | $150,510 | 6,490 |
| Alaska | $72.09 | $149,940 | 1,120 |
| Maryland | $66.88 | $139,110 | 13,810 |
| Rhode Island | $66.81 | $138,960 | 1,840 |
| Oregon | $66.45 | $138,210 | 7,150 |
| Tennessee | $65.47 | $136,180 | 9,010 |
| Georgia | $64.82 | $134,830 | 23,930 |
| Arizona | $64.55 | $134,260 | 11,640 |
| Missouri | $64.16 | $133,450 | 11,560 |
| Florida | $64.03 | $133,180 | 55,210 |
| Utah | $63.86 | $132,830 | 7,020 |
| Alabama | $63.45 | $131,970 | 6,730 |
| Ohio | $62.99 | $131,020 | 19,950 |
| Michigan | $62.75 | $130,520 | 16,620 |
| North Carolina | $61.40 | $127,710 | 17,000 |
| Vermont | $61.21 | $127,310 | 1,330 |
| Indiana | $60.99 | $126,860 | 8,970 |
| Wisconsin | $60.94 | $126,760 | 9,160 |
| Hawaii | $60.09 | $124,990 | 2,270 |
| Iowa | $59.40 | $123,550 | 3,550 |
| New Hampshire | $58.08 | $120,810 | 2,250 |
| South Carolina | $57.84 | $120,310 | 7,890 |
| New Mexico | $57.54 | $119,680 | 3,380 |
| Maine | $54.39 | $113,120 | 2,280 |
| Nebraska | $52.49 | $109,170 | 3,490 |
| North Dakota | $51.39 | $106,880 | 1,050 |
| Kansas | $51.28 | $106,650 | 4,190 |
| Louisiana | $50.05 | $104,100 | 10,200 |
| Montana | $49.87 | $103,720 | 2,380 |
| Idaho | $49.71 | $103,400 | 2,490 |
| Oklahoma | $49.55 | $103,060 | 6,980 |
| West Virginia | $49.24 | $102,420 | 2,440 |
| South Dakota | $49.06 | $102,040 | 1,360 |
| Kentucky | $48.82 | $101,550 | 5,770 |
| Wyoming | $48.14 | $100,130 | 900 |
| Arkansas | $47.54 | $98,880 | 3,430 |
| Mississippi | $44.08 | $91,690 | 3,100 |
Federal government lawyers have the highest median, $178,380, above lawyers in legal services firms ($157,870), which employ 52% of lawyers. Local government lawyers earn $131,390 and state government lawyers $115,330 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook).
| Industry | Median annual wage |
|---|---|
| Federal government | $178,380 |
| Legal services | $157,870 |
| Local government, excluding education and hospitals | $131,390 |
| State government, excluding education and hospitals | $115,330 |
Lawyers work for law firms, corporations as in-house counsel, and federal, state and local governments, usually in offices. Most work full time and some work more than 40 hours a week; self-employed lawyers can set their own schedules (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). For a salaried lawyer, long weeks don't raise the paycheck — they lower the pay per hour, which the table further down shows.
A lawyer who holds a license to practice and is actually practicing is exempt from federal overtime, and the salary test that applies to other professionals doesn't apply to practitioners of law or medicine (DOL Fact Sheet #17D). So there's no overtime line in this calculator: enter the hours you really work to see your salary per hour. Year-end and other non-production bonuses aren't in BLS's wage figures (BLS OEWS FAQ).
Because practicing lawyers are exempt from overtime at any salary, every hour past 40 comes out of the hourly value of the salary. The table divides the BLS median and 75th-percentile lawyer salaries by the hours a week a lawyer actually works, over 52 weeks. If you bill clients by the hour, this is the number to compare with your billing rate.
| Hours a week | Median salary per hour | 75th percentile per hour |
|---|---|---|
| 35 | $87.73 | $121.63 |
| 40 | $76.76 | $106.43 |
| 45 | $68.24 | $94.60 |
| 50 | $61.41 | $85.14 |
| 55 | $55.83 | $77.40 |
| 60 | $51.18 | $70.95 |
Becoming a lawyer usually takes 7 years of full-time study after high school — a bachelor's degree, then 3 years of law school for a Juris Doctor — and passing the bar exam. Each state's highest court sets its own admission rules, lawyers who want to practice in another state generally need that state's license too, and many states require continuing legal education. Patent lawyers also pass the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office exam, and some tax lawyers earn an LL.M. (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook).
More ways to work with your lawyer pay:
$159,670 a year ($76.76 an hour) at the BLS median for May 2025. The middle half earned $102,990 to $221,370.
New York ($99.93 an hour, $207,860 a year), then District of Columbia and California; Mississippi pays least among the 51 states where BLS released a figure (BLS, May 2025).
No. A licensed lawyer who is practicing law is exempt from the FLSA's overtime requirement whatever the salary (DOL Fact Sheet #17D). Firms may pay bonuses for hours, but BLS's wage figures exclude non-production and year-end bonuses.
It depends on the level of government. In the Occupational Outlook Handbook's industry table, federal government lawyers have a higher median than lawyers in legal services firms, while state and local government lawyers have lower ones. The table on this page has the figures.
Tax rules, limits and pay data change. Check the current figures with the primary source before acting on them.