The 10 Cities With The Highest Attorney Salaries For 2019

Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do attorneys get paid where I live?

And while there are many things to go into how much you can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for attorneys by city across America broken down by seniority level. These averages give you a very good sense of what to expect for your salary.

So to better understand how attorney salaries change across American cities, we decided to take a look the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on average pay for attorneys in the biggest cities across America.

Additionally, we wanted to adjust the salary based on the cost of living — because your salary goes further in Cleveland than it does in San Francisco.

So what’s the city with the best salary for attorneys after this adjustment? That would be Lawyers.

Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten cities for attorney salaries:

Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of the top 100 cities.

If you’re interested, you can read more about the job scene here:

How we determined an attorney pay by city in America

As we mentioned earlier, we took the average annual salary data for attorneys from the 2015 Bureau of Labor Statistics — specifically their ‘Occupational Employment Statistics’.

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.

This left us with enough data for 341 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.

We then created an index by dividing the average wage for a city by the living wage in that state. As an example, the living wage in CA is $57,315 and the average attorney pay in San Jose is $207,950, so our index value would be:

$57,315 / $207,950 = $0.3

We then ranked every city on this criteria with the city with the highest salary index ranking as highest average salary for attorneys.

Here’s a quick look at the top ten.

1. San Jose, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Sanjosecaliforn | CC BY-SA 3.0

Total Jobs: 5,610
Average Annual Salary: $207,950
Average Entry Level Salary: $91,220
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 1.13

2. San Francisco, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Bernard Gagnon | GFDL

Total Jobs: 16,490
Average Annual Salary: $183,070
Average Entry Level Salary: $77,570
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 1.53

3. Boulder, CO

Source: Public domain

Total Jobs: 820
Average Annual Salary: $162,050
Average Entry Level Salary: $83,910
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 1.01

4. Houston, TX

Source: Public domain

Total Jobs: 12,670
Average Annual Salary: $175,380
Average Entry Level Salary: $74,510
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 0.96

5. Denver, CO

Source: Wikipedia User Hogs555 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Total Jobs: 9,650
Average Annual Salary: $156,000
Average Entry Level Salary: $70,430
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 1.47

6. Dallas, TX

Source: Flickr User TexasExplorer98 | CC BY 2.0

Total Jobs: 13,810
Average Annual Salary: $160,860
Average Entry Level Salary: $71,660
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 0.87

7. Philadelphia, PA

Source: Wikipedia User en:User:Jleon ( | CC BY-SA 3.0

Total Jobs: 18,280
Average Annual Salary: $152,100
Average Entry Level Salary: $60,950
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 1.44

8. Seattle, WA

Source: Public domain

Total Jobs: 8,300
Average Annual Salary: $147,670
Average Entry Level Salary: $72,720
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 0.94

9. Los Angeles, CA

Source: Wikipedia User Nserrano | CC BY-SA 3.0

Total Jobs: 37,320
Average Annual Salary: $176,020
Average Entry Level Salary: $69,050
Average Experienced Salary: $0
Location Quotient: 1.37

10. Montgomery, AL

Source: Wikipedia User User:TantalumTe | GFDL

Total Jobs: 970
Average Annual Salary: $119,120
Average Entry Level Salary: $61,800
Average Experienced Salary: $186,490
Location Quotient: 1.33

And that’s our list of the cities with the highest salaries for attorneys

If you’re looking to start out your career as an attorney and want to get paid the most, check out these cities.

If you’re curious, here are the cities with the lowest pay for attorneys in America:

Hickory
Elkhart
Kankakee

For more reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Cities With The Highest Salaries For Attorneys

Rank	City	Average Salary	Entry Level Salary	# Of People
1	San Jose, CA	$207,950	$91,220	5,610
2	San Francisco, CA	$183,070	$77,570	16,490
3	Boulder, CO	$162,050	$83,910	820
4	Houston, TX	$175,380	$74,510	12,670
5	Denver, CO	$156,000	$70,430	9,650
6	Dallas, TX	$160,860	$71,660	13,810
7	Philadelphia, PA	$152,100	$60,950	18,280
8	Seattle, WA	$147,670	$72,720	8,300
9	Los Angeles, CA	$176,020	$69,050	37,320
10	Montgomery, AL	$119,120	$61,800	970
11	New Orleans, LA	$122,640	$63,250	3,600
12	Austin, TX	$126,120	$63,300	5,880
13	Phoenix, AZ	$154,200	$70,760	7,340
14	Boston, MA	$170,720	$72,250	16,460
15	Hartford, CT	$147,370	$83,970	3,350
16	Chicago, IL	$159,900	$62,380	26,860
17	New York, NY	$172,020	$69,330	80,900
18	Milwaukee, WI	$147,650	$64,880	3,740
19	Richmond, VA	$147,500	$67,260	3,330
20	Las Vegas, NV	$139,080	$75,880	3,840
21	Bridgeport, CT	$171,690	$70,130	2,210
22	San Diego, CA	$156,650	$69,090	7,390
23	Cheyenne, WY	$114,400	$62,910	270
24	Beaumont, TX	$144,910	$67,860	450
25	Raleigh, NC	$135,700	$58,570	2,960
26	Atlanta, GA	$136,890	$53,300	15,920
27	Greenville, NC	$144,640	$67,730	210
28	Cincinnati, OH	$135,400	$55,460	3,690
29	Sacramento, CA	$133,860	$74,390	5,610
30	Wheeling, WV	$111,120	$56,790	270
31	Napa, CA	$157,900	$99,640	200
32	Davenport, IA	$143,390	$70,200	450
33	St. Louis, MO	$121,630	$55,460	6,000
34	Oxnard, CA	$172,900	$65,820	1,210
35	Harrisburg, PA	$120,960	$60,500	1,800
36	Morgantown, WV	$124,210	$56,060	210
37	Portland, OR	$127,370	$68,590	4,310
38	Jackson, MS	$107,090	$60,300	1,230
39	Dover, DE	$140,170	$68,110	200
40	Huntsville, AL	$129,190	$62,860	570
41	Columbia, SC	$119,180	$55,500	1,690
42	Birmingham, AL	$127,170	$51,780	2,220
43	Fargo, ND	$119,880	$68,190	370
44	Santa Fe, NM	$98,280	$65,460	450
45	Fayetteville, AR	$128,900	$56,870	630
46	Portsmouth, NH	$146,270	$66,720	310
47	Santa Rosa, CA	$154,980	$83,100	480
48	Cleveland, OH	$121,920	$50,730	4,750
49	Nashville, TN	$126,870	$57,110	2,950
50	Hilton Head Island, SC	$121,290	$59,800	210
51	Trenton, NJ	$120,950	$69,190	1,950
52	Miami, FL	$145,430	$53,000	20,140
53	Durham, NC	$141,830	$54,770	1,210
54	Provo, UT	$123,660	$66,480	620
55	Santa Cruz, CA	$158,890	$94,910	200
56	Bismarck, ND	$104,680	$58,570	350
57	Kansas City, MO	$122,750	$50,350	4,820
58	Sioux Falls, SD	$139,800	$57,300	350
59	Flagstaff, AZ	$141,610	$68,790	140
60	Salt Lake City, UT	$117,600	$55,290	3,170
61	Louisville/jefferson County, KY	$109,690	$52,980	2,100
62	Olympia, WA	$111,430	$68,260	490
63	Knoxville, TN	$122,280	$56,040	1,250
64	Canton, OH	$128,320	$54,530	480
65	Omaha, NE	$115,160	$60,410	1,630
66	Oklahoma City, OK	$114,400	$50,540	3,950
67	Charleston, WV	$95,990	$53,990	920
68	Little Rock, AR	$96,500	$55,210	1,760
69	Anchorage, AK	$120,820	$71,400	680
70	Lubbock, TX	$134,830	$55,210	410
71	Tulsa, OK	$143,080	$48,950	1,570
72	Longview, TX	$127,130	$66,700	190
73	Salem, OR	$117,900	$63,600	700
74	Manchester, NH	$125,050	$64,610	580
75	Casper, WY	$123,350	$58,960	100
76	Columbus, OH	$121,030	$48,840	4,680
77	Indianapolis, IN	$111,430	$54,360	4,200
78	Fayetteville, NC	$120,350	$63,540	360
79	Albuquerque, NM	$110,370	$54,920	1,880
80	Detroit, MI	$115,140	$54,450	9,350
81	Madison, WI	$122,980	$57,460	1,700
82	Pittsburgh, PA	$132,330	$51,400	5,340
83	Boise City, ID	$106,070	$55,000	1,230
84	New Bern, NC	$127,060	$60,210	110
85	Lexington, KY	$114,470	$46,680	990
86	New Haven, CT	$154,930	$64,870	1,000
87	Parkersburg, WV	$109,670	$53,630	110
88	Minneapolis, MN	$123,970	$56,100	9,620
89	Wausau, WI	$133,870	$59,320	190
90	Providence, RI	$122,250	$65,110	1,790
91	Mobile, AL	$117,240	$49,270	640
92	Amarillo, TX	$115,190	$76,290	230
93	Springfield, IL	$117,660	$58,150	490
94	Ann Arbor, MI	$119,210	$66,660	450
95	Dayton, OH	$109,020	$56,080	1,000
96	Tallahassee, FL	$118,010	$54,420	2,190
97	Reno, NV	$154,370	$54,550	680
98	Greenville, SC	$118,730	$56,850	930
99	York, PA	$123,050	$66,660	360
100	Pittsfield, MA	$163,150	$71,970	80

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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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