Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of law clerk salary by state for the United States:
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New York has the highest law clerk salary of $83,585
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Oklahoma has the lowest law clerk salary of $32,804
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The national average salary for law clerks is $55,916
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The national hourly pay for law clerks is $26.88
You can read more on the specific methodology.
Background
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 law clerks get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for law clerk by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
The state with the best salary for law clerks after this adjustment? That would be New York.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for law clerk salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Law Clerks By State
| Rank | State | Average Law Clerk Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | $83,585 | $45,000 | $155,000 |
| 2 | Massachusetts | $79,314 | $42,000 | $147,000 |
| 3 | Vermont | $73,026 | $39,000 | $136,000 |
| 4 | Rhode Island | $71,508 | $37,000 | $134,000 |
| 5 | California | $70,394 | $39,000 | $126,000 |
| 6 | Maine | $70,225 | $37,000 | $131,000 |
| 7 | Delaware | $70,047 | $36,000 | $133,000 |
| 8 | Connecticut | $68,180 | $36,000 | $128,000 |
| 9 | North Dakota | $66,622 | $39,000 | $111,000 |
| 10 | Washington | $66,170 | $39,000 | $111,000 |
| 11 | New Hampshire | $65,583 | $34,000 | $123,000 |
| 12 | Nevada | $65,015 | $36,000 | $116,000 |
| 13 | Illinois | $63,363 | $35,000 | $113,000 |
| 14 | Montana | $57,706 | $35,000 | $94,000 |
| 15 | South Dakota | $57,666 | $33,000 | $98,000 |
| 16 | Colorado | $56,347 | $33,000 | $95,000 |
| 17 | Idaho | $54,852 | $31,000 | $94,000 |
| 18 | Virginia | $53,479 | $28,000 | $101,000 |
| 19 | New Jersey | $53,391 | $28,000 | $101,000 |
| 20 | Hawaii | $53,386 | $41,000 | $68,000 |
| 21 | Pennsylvania | $53,250 | $28,000 | $101,000 |
| 22 | Maryland | $53,022 | $27,000 | $100,000 |
| 23 | Minnesota | $52,745 | $30,000 | $92,000 |
| 24 | West Virginia | $51,741 | $27,000 | $96,000 |
| 25 | Tennessee | $51,591 | $28,000 | $92,000 |
| 26 | Ohio | $50,947 | $27,000 | $94,000 |
| 27 | Arizona | $50,316 | $28,000 | $89,000 |
| 28 | Michigan | $49,758 | $26,000 | $92,000 |
| 29 | Kansas | $49,031 | $28,000 | $84,000 |
| 30 | North Carolina | $47,789 | $25,000 | $88,000 |
| 31 | Kentucky | $46,945 | $25,000 | $85,000 |
| 32 | Oregon | $45,633 | $26,000 | $78,000 |
| 33 | Missouri | $45,050 | $25,000 | $79,000 |
| 34 | Wyoming | $44,439 | $26,000 | $74,000 |
| 35 | Iowa | $44,407 | $25,000 | $77,000 |
| 36 | Florida | $43,571 | $23,000 | $79,000 |
| 37 | South Carolina | $42,903 | $23,000 | $78,000 |
| 38 | New Mexico | $42,136 | $23,000 | $74,000 |
| 39 | Texas | $40,281 | $22,000 | $71,000 |
| 40 | Louisiana | $39,786 | $22,000 | $70,000 |
| 41 | Utah | $39,196 | $22,000 | $67,000 |
| 42 | Alaska | $38,917 | $32,000 | $47,000 |
| 43 | Arkansas | $38,512 | $21,000 | $67,000 |
| 44 | Wisconsin | $38,240 | $21,000 | $68,000 |
| 45 | Georgia | $38,085 | $21,000 | $68,000 |
| 46 | Indiana | $37,393 | $20,000 | $67,000 |
| 47 | Nebraska | $37,355 | $21,000 | $64,000 |
| 48 | Mississippi | $37,189 | $20,000 | $66,000 |
| 49 | Alabama | $36,384 | $20,000 | $65,000 |
| 50 | Oklahoma | $32,804 | $18,000 | $57,000 |
Methodology: Law Clerk Salary By State
To better understand law clerk pay by state, Zippia has aggregated data across a multitude of channels including the BLS, FLC, and OPM. We then supplement that data with actual listed salaries from job posts. Finally, the data science team calculates a weighted average of these inputs to create an average pay for law clerks by state.
We took the average annual salary data for law clerks from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for law clerks.
Law Clerk Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for law clerks?
The highest-paid state for law clerks is New York with an average salary of $83,585 per year.
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What city pays law clerks the most?
Washington, DC pays law clerks the most with an average salary of $107,457 per year.
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What is the worst state for law clerks?
The worst state for law clerks is Oklahoma with an average salary of $32,804 per year.
Author
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.
