Lawyer Salary (2026), outlook and how to become one

Lawyers earn a median of $159,670 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). That is 213% above the $50,980 median for all US occupations. That works out at $76.76/hr. The middle half earn between $102,990 and $221,370. The top 10% earn $351,600 or more.

The median hourly wage for lawyers is $76.76 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). On a full-year basis the $159,670 annual median works out to about $13,310 a month before tax.

BLS does not publish a starting salary. The nearest measure is the low end of the pay range: the lowest-paid 10% of lawyers earn less than $78,360 a year and the bottom quarter less than $102,990 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). New workers often start near that end, but where a particular job starts depends on the employer, the state and the credentials you bring, so read these as the bottom of the range rather than a guaranteed entry wage.

Yes, more often than not. The median is $159,670, so more than half of lawyers earn over $100,000 a year; even the 25th percentile is $102,990 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). In 51 states the median itself is above $100,000: New York ($207,860), District of Columbia ($195,190), California ($195,080), Massachusetts ($176,680), and 47 more.

The highest state medians for Lawyers are New York ($207,860), District of Columbia ($195,190), California ($195,080) (BLS OEWS, May 2025).

BLS does not split lawyers' pay by specialty or employer, but its range shows how far the top end runs: the highest-paid 10% earn more than $351,600, against a median of $159,670 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Location moves pay the most in the published data: the best-paying states are New York ($207,860), District of Columbia ($195,190), California ($195,080). Among the specialty careers inside this occupation, industry sources put typical pay at $3,400,000 for public company general counsels (Equilar and BarkerGilmore, 2025 General Counsel Pay Trends, 2024); $1,095,465 for biglaw equity partners (The American Lawyer, Am Law 100 and Am Law 200 (2025 rankings), as reported by Above the Law and Legal.io, 2024); $558,000 for non-equity partners (Major, Lindsey & Africa 2024 Partner Compensation Survey, 2023). Those are not BLS figures.

Yes, and beyond a bachelor's: BLS lists a doctoral or professional degree as the typical entry requirement for Lawyers. In O*NET's survey of people already doing the job, 77.2% hold doctoral degree.

Yes. Employment is projected to grow 4.7% over 2025–2035, faster than the 3.5% average for all occupations (BLS EP, 2025–2035). BLS still projects about 28,700 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.

Lawyers advise and represent clients on legal proceedings or transactions. A core O*NET task: interpret laws, rulings and regulations for individuals and businesses. Employers most often ask for Data base user interface and query software, Data mining software, Document management software.

Most work more than 40. In O*NET's survey of people in the job, 66% of lawyers usually work more than 40 hours a week, 21% work exactly 40 and 13% work fewer. 100% say their schedule is regular and 0% irregular. Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, Work Context.

O*NET scores Lawyers highest on the Enterprising, Conventional and Investigative interest areas, so the work mixes leading, persuading, selling and making decisions with organising, following procedures and working precisely with data. On NueCareer's MBTI-to-interest mapping that lines up most closely with ENTJ personalities. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 1,731 careers in the bank.

3 years of law school. Becoming a lawyer usually takes about 7 years of full-time study after high school: 4 years of undergraduate study followed by 3 years of law school.

Yes, and it is issued by the state you work in, not nationally. Each state's highest court establishes its own rules for bar admission, and rules for federal courts differ again. Most states require applicants to graduate from an accredited law school, pass the written bar exam, and be found by an admitting board to have the character to represent and advise others; prior felony convictions, academic misconduct and a history of substance abuse are examples of factors that may disqualify an applicant. Jurisdictions are also on different timetables for the NextGen bar exam — 52 of the 56 jurisdictions NCBE lists have adopted it (the exceptions being Arkansas, Louisiana, Nevada and Puerto Rico), 10 administered it for the first time in July 2026, and most will transition between July 2026 and July 2028. Lawyers who want to practice in more than one state usually must meet the licensing requirements of each, although most states have reciprocity agreements that streamline the process. States may require lawyers to participate in continuing legal education to maintain licensure.

The LSAT (Law School Admission Test), the NextGen UBE (NextGen Uniform Bar Examination), the MBE, MEE, MPT (Legacy bar exam components: Multistate Bar Examination, Multistate Essay Examination, Multistate Performance Test), the MPRE (Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination). Taken before applying to law school. Questions cover reasoning, writing and other aptitudes needed for the study of law, and law schools may consider the score as part of admissions.

Women make up 42.9% of lawyers, close to their 47.1% share of all employed people. 30.5% are 55 or older (23.2% across all jobs), so a larger-than-usual share of the workforce reaches retirement age over the next decade. Those exits are counted in the BLS openings figure. The median worker is 46.4 years old (all workers: 42.1). Source: BLS Current Population Survey, 2025 annual averages.