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Depending on whether they enter the private or public sector, law school graduates range widely in what they get paid at their first jobs.
However, most positions offer a salary well above the national annual average of $61,900 across all occupations in 2022, according to the National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimate Report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Private vs. Public Sector Lawyer Jobs
Median salaries of first-year associates at law firms have increased since 2021, regardless of the size of the law firm, according to a report recently published by the National Association for Law Placement, an association of more than 3,000 legal career professionals who advise law students, lawyers, law offices and law schools. The survey included only respondents who work for a law firm, and did not include graduates who entered the public sector.
Law school graduates “can expect a starting salary in the range of anywhere from a low of $50,000 all the way up to $205,000, and those are median salaries,” says NALP executive director Nikia Gray.
Salaries at law firms with 100 or fewer lawyers showed the biggest growth percentage-wise. The median first-year salary in those firms grew from $120,000 in 2021 to $155,000 in 2023, a 29.2% increase.
But larger firms with 501 to 700 lawyers had a greater numerical increase, with the median first-year salary rising from $155,000 in 2021 to $200,000 in 2023.
Janet Hutchinson, associate dean for career development at the University of Richmond School of Law in Virginia, says a law firm’s size significantly affects how much a first-year employee earns.
Although definitions vary on what constitutes a large law firm, Hutchinson defines large law firms as those with more than 1,000 lawyers, several offices, summer associate programs and a tendency to hire many years in advance, to cite a few criteria.
“Some of them are paying $215,000 as an entry-level salary,” she says.
For students who go into public interest law, salaries may start in the $50,000 range, she says. Public interest law includes those who go to work for nonprofits or public defender offices, which routinely offer lower salaries.
The average pay for entry-level lawyers in 2022 was $57,500 in civil legal services, $59,700 for public defenders and $63,200 for attorneys at public interest organizations, according to the American Bar Association’s Profile of the Legal Profession 2022 report.
“But, there are a few public defender offices that are able to pay exceptionally well and a few nonprofits that are able to pay exceptionally well,” Hutchinson says.
For example, entry-level lawyers can earn about $121,000 as a public defender in San Jose, California, according to Biglaw Investor research, and $112,000 as a legal counsel at the nonprofit Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C., per an online job posting.
In the last few years, Hutchinson says, there has been a strong legal market and lawyer salaries have increased regardless of employer size or sector.
Pay Variance and Other Considerations
The size of the law firm, whether it’s in the private or public sector, and the geographical market are the most important factors in determining salary, says Matt Moody, managing director with Empire Search Partners, a legal recruiting and consulting firm.
He says many big law firms in major cities have increased their starting salaries in recent years, citing the Biglaw Salary Scale.
“Generally, the top firms in New York pay the same as the top firms in San Francisco or in Boston or in D.C. or Austin,” Moody says. “It can be a great deal to get one of those salaries in a much-lower-cost-of-living city, like Atlanta as opposed to New York. Atlanta has a much lower cost of living and there are some firms that tap into the market that are paying $215,000.”
According to NALP, 11 cities and metro regions currently have a median starting salary of $215,000: Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles/Orange County, New York City, San Diego, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and the D.C. area.
Law school graduates shouldn’t focus solely on salary, Gray says.
“Their standard of living that their salary allows them to have depends much more on the cost of living where they are versus the actual salary figure,” she says. “A student taking a $100,000 position in Indianapolis is going to have a better standard of living than a student receiving a $250,000 salary in New York City because of the cost of living in those places.”
A common misconception is that if students want to make a lot of money, they should aim for private practice and big law, Gray says. “And that’s a fallacy and I think we do a disservice when we perpetuate that story.”
Law school grads should also consider the benefits they’ll receive as they try to determine the best compensation package in any job offer.
“Benefits are an area where law firms are notoriously stingy, and when we talk about the total compensation package, if you look at a position for government or business, the total compensation package may actually look more competitive,” she says, “especially when you start adding in things like 401(k) matching and the cost of health care and other benefits factors like that.”
Salary is reflected in the specific type of government work, Hutchinson says. “Federal government generally pays better than state government work.”
Moody adds that top 14 law schools, often referred to as “T14,” are more likely to have graduates who work in bigger law firms. He cites Harvard in Massachusetts, Columbia in New York, Stanford in California, Yale in Connecticut, Penn in Pennsylvania and Duke in North Carolina as among T14 law schools.
Graduates often get their first job in the city they went to law school, Hutchinson adds.
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