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These Are The 10 Best Cities For Attorneys

By Chris Kolmar
Oct. 18, 2016

Find a Job You Really Want In

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Whether you’re just starting out your career, or looking to make a move, it can be important to know what part of the country offers the best chance for your long term career prospects. And for a very common profession like Attorneys, the regional differences can have a big impact on your salary and career options.

To help you make the best decision possible, we at Zippia wanted to look at the cities that offer attorneys the most for their career. These are the cities across the US where attorneys get paid well relative to the cost of living and jobs are plentiful.

So we did what we do best and dove into the numbers from the BLS to figure out which cities have the best opportunities for attorneys.The result is this list of the best cities attorneys:

  1. San Francisco
  2. San Jose
  3. Wilmington
  4. Los Angeles
  5. Newark
  6. Dallas
  7. Bridgeport
  8. Houston
  9. Philadelphia
  10. Harrisburg

So there you have it — San Francisco is the best city when it comes to being a attorney.

And where should you consider avoiding if you’re a attorney? That would be Fort Smith.

Read on to see how we completed our research on the best cities for attorneys and for more on the top ten cities.

How we determined the best cities to be a attorneys?

Here at Zippia, we talk to a lot of people of all different backgrounds looking for jobs. Our research has concluded that there are two common things people want in a job:

  • Availability of jobs
  • Pay

So in order to find out the best cities for attorneys in America we needed to figure out where the jobs are and how well attorneys get paid. This led to the following criteria taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Occupational Employment Statistics for 2015:

  • Location quotient. A measure of how common a job is a given city.
  • Average annual salary.
  • Average annual salary for entry level work.

To make all the salary numbers more apples to apples across cities, we compared the salary data relative to the state’s cost of living from MIT’s living wage index.

This left us with enough data for 373 metro areas across the country. We then took the primary area of the metro and labeled that the ‘city’ for this analysis. So, for example, “Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA NECTA Division” became simply Boston.

In order to develop an overall ranking, we ranked each city for each criteria from 1 to 373 where 1 was the best.

We then averaged all the rankings for a city into a Job Score with the city having the lowest overall Job Score earning the distinction of being the best city for attorneys in America.

So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each city so great for attorneys.

1. San Francisco, CA

Total Jobs: 10,320
Average Annual Salary: $178,110
Average Entry Level Salary: $81,450
Location Quotient: 2.29

2. San Jose, CA

Total Jobs: 5,430
Average Annual Salary: $204,010
Average Entry Level Salary: $91,390
Location Quotient: 1.21

3. Wilmington, DE

Total Jobs: 2,780
Average Annual Salary: $152,480
Average Entry Level Salary: $76,240
Location Quotient: 1.84

4. Los Angeles, CA

Total Jobs: 24,040
Average Annual Salary: $173,100
Average Entry Level Salary: $76,550
Location Quotient: 1.32

5. Newark, NJ

Total Jobs: 8,400
Average Annual Salary: $157,290
Average Entry Level Salary: $77,400
Location Quotient: 1.65

6. Dallas, TX

Total Jobs: 10,590
Average Annual Salary: $152,030
Average Entry Level Salary: $75,270
Location Quotient: 1.03

7. Bridgeport, CT

Total Jobs: 2,210
Average Annual Salary: $181,860
Average Entry Level Salary: $76,700
Location Quotient: 1.2

8. Houston, TX

Total Jobs: 12,650
Average Annual Salary: $161,590
Average Entry Level Salary: $63,400
Location Quotient: 0.98

9. Philadelphia, PA

Total Jobs: 9,120
Average Annual Salary: $139,530
Average Entry Level Salary: $58,290
Location Quotient: 2.34

10. Harrisburg, PA

Total Jobs: 2,150
Average Annual Salary: $131,220
Average Entry Level Salary: $62,630
Location Quotient: 1.55

And that’s our list of the best cities for attorneys

If you’re looking to start out your career as a attorney these are the cities that should be at the top of your list. You’ll find high pay, available jobs, and chances for career advancement.

If you’re curious, here are the worst cities to be a attorney in America:

  1. Fort Smith
  2. Michigan City
  3. Staunton

Detailed List Of The Best Cities For Attorneys

Rank State Average Salary Entry Level Salary # Of People
1 San Francisco,CA $178,110 $81,450 10,320
2 San Jose,CA $204,010 $91,390 5,430
3 Wilmington,DE $152,480 $76,240 2,780
4 Los Angeles,CA $173,100 $76,550 24,040
5 Newark,NJ $157,290 $77,400 8,400
6 Dallas,TX $152,030 $75,270 10,590
7 Bridgeport,CT $181,860 $76,700 2,210
8 Houston,TX $161,590 $63,400 12,650
9 Philadelphia,PA $139,530 $58,290 9,120
10 Harrisburg,PA $131,220 $62,630 2,150
11 Oxnard,CA $166,360 $89,710 1,070
12 New York,NY $167,990 $67,380 58,650
13 Anaheim,CA $159,630 $72,680 7,160
14 Atlanta,GA $137,390 $57,130 12,200
15 New Orleans,LA $129,630 $57,430 3,130
16 Lubbock,TX $159,230 $63,230 480
17 Morgantown,WV $126,360 $58,730 250
18 New Bern,NC $162,980 $67,230 140
19 Austin,TX $138,860 $55,090 5,080
20 Seattle,WA $135,590 $62,230 7,550
21 Orlando,FL $163,210 $59,690 5,360
22 Charleston,WV $103,880 $59,110 880
23 Manchester,NH $137,940 $70,740 510
24 Miami,FL $141,430 $58,320 9,060
25 Great Falls,MT $145,400 $55,120 150
26 Ann Arbor,MI $142,990 $67,980 630
27 Knoxville,TN $135,710 $62,700 1,180
28 Montgomery,AL $111,590 $56,140 910
29 Hartford,CT $136,160 $82,140 3,610
30 Birmingham,AL $121,630 $54,060 2,280
31 Oakland,CA $156,280 $67,970 4,530
32 Montgomery County,PA $130,060 $63,150 4,080
33 Richmond,VA $135,080 $63,070 3,650
34 Gulfport,MS $142,920 $65,440 370
35 Phoenix,AZ $131,970 $60,700 8,130
36 Sacramento,CA $133,150 $69,590 5,100
37 El Paso,TX $138,560 $68,620 740
38 Indianapolis,IN $123,360 $54,830 3,730
39 Lake County,IL $157,390 $63,340 1,110
40 Trenton,NJ $128,850 $65,300 1,870
41 North Port,FL $134,420 $57,970 1,360
42 Dover,DE $156,640 $83,350 140
43 Anchorage,AK $125,380 $75,600 710
44 Pittsburgh,PA $139,500 $54,750 5,110
45 Salt Lake City,UT $121,360 $53,750 3,190
46 Tulsa,OK $151,830 $50,930 1,650
47 Cincinnati,OH $121,660 $53,390 3,740
48 Boston,MA $164,230 $61,580 12,970
49 Salem,OR $118,320 $65,560 740
50 Denver,CO $142,700 $56,720 8,750
51 San Diego,CA $139,440 $64,910 6,770
52 Cleveland,OH $114,510 $51,410 4,790
53 Columbus,OH $110,810 $58,030 3,570
54 Portland,OR $124,970 $60,450 4,750
55 Las Vegas,NV $121,450 $63,280 4,000
56 Huntsville,AL $137,400 $63,440 450
57 Jackson,TN $139,780 $59,220 140
58 Kansas City,MO $119,280 $49,860 4,660
59 Mobile,AL $113,010 $55,810 550
60 Fayetteville,AR $133,050 $51,140 610
61 Dayton,OH $123,240 $58,150 870
62 Chicago,IL $129,220 $54,180 23,150
63 Bismarck,ND $100,320 $61,480 300
64 San Antonio,TX $121,460 $54,810 3,240
65 Greenville,SC $157,380 $50,660 1,110
66 Beaumont,TX $122,000 $64,070 390
67 Santa Fe,NM $94,350 $57,900 480
68 Carson City,NV $99,970 $65,010 220
69 Silver Spring,MD $149,580 $61,040 2,670
70 Minneapolis,MN $134,460 $53,820 9,120
71 Lincoln,NE $121,010 $54,740 570
72 Warren,MI $119,340 $51,550 6,020
73 Rapid City,SD $103,440 $58,430 210
74 Pocatello,ID $106,940 $53,370 120
75 Nashville,TN $125,250 $51,520 2,830
76 Santa Maria,CA $139,230 $78,670 430
77 Boise City,ID $102,990 $52,660 1,250
78 Reno,NV $117,680 $63,840 740
79 Providence,RI $127,700 $61,420 1,870
80 West Palm Beach,FL $120,690 $52,820 5,030
81 New Haven,CT $125,740 $72,750 1,060
82 Columbus,GA $144,070 $57,350 230
83 Columbia,SC $100,670 $52,190 1,860
84 Springfield,MO $118,470 $51,450 570
85 Reading,PA $125,740 $57,110 460
86 Little Rock,AR $98,660 $48,220 1,890
87 Camden,NJ $128,920 $58,700 2,800
88 College Station,TX $135,860 $64,890 170
89 Bloomington,IL $124,730 $50,270 740
90 Omaha,NE $113,670 $52,950 1,620
91 St. Louis,MO $115,210 $45,910 5,670
92 Tampa,FL $122,190 $50,580 8,010
93 Davenport,IA $118,650 $56,070 490
94 Raleigh,NC $125,030 $45,630 2,980
95 Midland,MI $121,910 $64,510 70
96 Fort Wayne,IN $114,320 $58,010 470
97 Waco,TX $117,550 $62,610 230
98 Fort Collins,CO $153,660 $64,780 270
99 Columbia,MO $112,850 $54,010 220
100 Olympia,WA $95,350 $60,900 490
Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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