---
title: "Judge"
description: "Arbitrate, advise, adjudicate, or administer justice in a court of law. May sentence defendant in criminal cases according to government statutes or…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/judge"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Judge

**Category:** Legal · **SOC code:** 23-1023 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 23-1023.00

Arbitrate, advise, adjudicate, or administer justice in a court of law. May sentence defendant in criminal cases according to government statutes or sentencing guidelines. May determine liability of defendant in civil cases. May perform wedding ceremonies.

Also advertised as: Circuit Court Judge; Circuit Judge; County Judge; Court of Appeals Judge; District Court Judge; Judge; Justice of the Peace; Magisterial District Judge.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $153,990 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $74.03/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $46,950 to $221,710, with the middle half between $85,710 and $194,950
- **Total US employment:** 24,030
- **Typical entry education:** Doctorate
- **Preparation required:** Considerable preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +2.8% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 800 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 16/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 24,030 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $46,950 |
| 25th | $85,710 |
| 50th (median) | $153,990 |
| 75th | $194,950 |
| 90th | $221,710 |
| Mean (average) | $143,830 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| RI | $239,760 | $234,415 | 120 |
| MA | $221,710 | $209,641 | 610 |
| CT | $217,760 | $210,173 | 230 |
| NY | $216,390 | $200,508 | 2,270 |
| HI | $211,810 | $192,640 | 120 |
| TN | $208,350 | $226,788 | 420 |
| NE | $208,180 | $231,047 | 160 |
| NM | $205,400 | $222,748 | 250 |
| NJ | $204,160 | $187,638 | 920 |
| CO | $198,790 | $192,903 | 620 |
| VT | $194,170 | $198,218 | 80 |
| MN | $190,110 | $192,768 | 590 |
| FL | $186,040 | $179,898 | 1,380 |
| AK | $183,310 | $179,085 | 140 |
| IN | $183,000 | $196,081 | 790 |

26 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 41 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/judge/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/judge.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 25,300 in the 2025–2035 base year to 26,000 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 700 jobs, or +2.8%. About as fast as average: 2.8% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 800 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Doctoral or professional degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Considerable preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** 5 years or more.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Short-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Doctoral Degree | 66.5% |
| First Professional Degree | 23.3% |
| Post-Doctoral Training | 9.8% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 0.2% |
| Some College Courses | 0.2% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 0.2% |

## What the work involves

- Monitor proceedings to ensure that all applicable rules and procedures are followed.
- Read documents on pleadings and motions to ascertain facts and issues.
- Rule on admissibility of evidence and methods of conducting testimony.
- Advise attorneys, juries, litigants, and court personnel regarding conduct, issues, and proceedings.
- Preside over hearings and listen to allegations made by plaintiffs to determine whether the evidence supports the charges.
- Issue arrest warrants.
- Write decisions on cases.
- Research legal issues and write opinions on the issues.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 5.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 4.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Negotiation — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Law and Government — importance 4.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Psychology — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 4.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Inductive Reasoning — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Expression — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Enterprising (E), Conventional (C), Social (S).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| E — Enterprising | 5.27 |
| C — Conventional | 4.11 |
| S — Social | 3.96 |
| I — Investigative | 3.81 |
| R — Realistic | 2.33 |
| A — Artistic | 2.19 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ESFJ | 72.6 |
| ESTJ | 72.5 |
| ENTJ | 69.2 |
| ENFJ | 67.1 |
| ISFJ | 54.3 |

Best-fitting types: ESFJ, ESTJ, ENTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Administrative Law Judge, Adjudicator, and Hearing Officer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/administrative-law-judge-adjudicator-and-hearing-officer) — median $117,860
- [Judicial Law Clerk](https://nuecareer.com/careers/judicial-law-clerk) — median $64,920
- [Lawyer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/lawyer) — median $159,670
- [Arbitrator, Mediator, and Conciliator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/arbitrator-mediator-and-conciliator) — median $75,530
- [Probation Officer and Correctional Treatment Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/probation-officer-and-correctional-treatment-specialist) — median $66,270
- [Equal Opportunity Representative and Officer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/equal-opportunity-representative-and-officer) — median $80,730
- [Paralegal](https://nuecareer.com/careers/paralegal) — median $62,890
- [Detective and Criminal Investigator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/detective-and-criminal-investigator) — median $93,790
- [Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/criminal-justice-and-law-enforcement-teacher-postsecondary) — median $76,590
- [Law Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/law-teacher-postsecondary) — median $128,500

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/judge