These Are The 10 Best Cities For Attorneys
We used the most recent data to determine the best cities in America for Attorneys to open up shop.
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:
- San Francisco
- San Jose
- Wilmington
- Los Angeles
- Newark
- Dallas
- Bridgeport
- Houston
- Philadelphia
- 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:
- Fort Smith
- Michigan City
- Staunton
Detailed List Of The Best Cities For Attorneys
| Rank | State | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco,CA | $178,110 |
| 2 | San Jose,CA | $204,010 |
| 3 | Wilmington,DE | $152,480 |
| 4 | Los Angeles,CA | $173,100 |
| 5 | Newark,NJ | $157,290 |
| 6 | Dallas,TX | $152,030 |
| 7 | Bridgeport,CT | $181,860 |
| 8 | Houston,TX | $161,590 |
| 9 | Philadelphia,PA | $139,530 |
| 10 | Harrisburg,PA | $131,220 |
| 11 | Oxnard,CA | $166,360 |
| 12 | New York,NY | $167,990 |
| 13 | Anaheim,CA | $159,630 |
| 14 | Atlanta,GA | $137,390 |
| 15 | New Orleans,LA | $129,630 |
| 16 | Lubbock,TX | $159,230 |
| 17 | Morgantown,WV | $126,360 |
| 18 | New Bern,NC | $162,980 |
| 19 | Austin,TX | $138,860 |
| 20 | Seattle,WA | $135,590 |
| 21 | Orlando,FL | $163,210 |
| 22 | Charleston,WV | $103,880 |
| 23 | Manchester,NH | $137,940 |
| 24 | Miami,FL | $141,430 |
| 25 | Great Falls,MT | $145,400 |
| 26 | Ann Arbor,MI | $142,990 |
| 27 | Knoxville,TN | $135,710 |
| 28 | Montgomery,AL | $111,590 |
| 29 | Hartford,CT | $136,160 |
| 30 | Birmingham,AL | $121,630 |
| 31 | Oakland,CA | $156,280 |
| 32 | Montgomery County,PA | $130,060 |
| 33 | Richmond,VA | $135,080 |
| 34 | Gulfport,MS | $142,920 |
| 35 | Phoenix,AZ | $131,970 |
| 36 | Sacramento,CA | $133,150 |
| 37 | El Paso,TX | $138,560 |
| 38 | Indianapolis,IN | $123,360 |
| 39 | Lake County,IL | $157,390 |
| 40 | Trenton,NJ | $128,850 |
| 41 | North Port,FL | $134,420 |
| 42 | Dover,DE | $156,640 |
| 43 | Anchorage,AK | $125,380 |
| 44 | Pittsburgh,PA | $139,500 |
| 45 | Salt Lake City,UT | $121,360 |
| 46 | Tulsa,OK | $151,830 |
| 47 | Cincinnati,OH | $121,660 |
| 48 | Boston,MA | $164,230 |
| 49 | Salem,OR | $118,320 |
| 50 | Denver,CO | $142,700 |
| 51 | San Diego,CA | $139,440 |
| 52 | Cleveland,OH | $114,510 |
| 53 | Columbus,OH | $110,810 |
| 54 | Portland,OR | $124,970 |
| 55 | Las Vegas,NV | $121,450 |
| 56 | Huntsville,AL | $137,400 |
| 57 | Jackson,TN | $139,780 |
| 58 | Kansas City,MO | $119,280 |
| 59 | Mobile,AL | $113,010 |
| 60 | Fayetteville,AR | $133,050 |
| 61 | Dayton,OH | $123,240 |
| 62 | Chicago,IL | $129,220 |
| 63 | Bismarck,ND | $100,320 |
| 64 | San Antonio,TX | $121,460 |
| 65 | Greenville,SC | $157,380 |
| 66 | Beaumont,TX | $122,000 |
| 67 | Santa Fe,NM | $94,350 |
| 68 | Carson City,NV | $99,970 |
| 69 | Silver Spring,MD | $149,580 |
| 70 | Minneapolis,MN | $134,460 |
| 71 | Lincoln,NE | $121,010 |
| 72 | Warren,MI | $119,340 |
| 73 | Rapid City,SD | $103,440 |
| 74 | Pocatello,ID | $106,940 |
| 75 | Nashville,TN | $125,250 |
| 76 | Santa Maria,CA | $139,230 |
| 77 | Boise City,ID | $102,990 |
| 78 | Reno,NV | $117,680 |
| 79 | Providence,RI | $127,700 |
| 80 | West Palm Beach,FL | $120,690 |
| 81 | New Haven,CT | $125,740 |
| 82 | Columbus,GA | $144,070 |
| 83 | Columbia,SC | $100,670 |
| 84 | Springfield,MO | $118,470 |
| 85 | Reading,PA | $125,740 |
| 86 | Little Rock,AR | $98,660 |
| 87 | Camden,NJ | $128,920 |
| 88 | College Station,TX | $135,860 |
| 89 | Bloomington,IL | $124,730 |
| 90 | Omaha,NE | $113,670 |
| 91 | St. Louis,MO | $115,210 |
| 92 | Tampa,FL | $122,190 |
| 93 | Davenport,IA | $118,650 |
| 94 | Raleigh,NC | $125,030 |
| 95 | Midland,MI | $121,910 |
| 96 | Fort Wayne,IN | $114,320 |
| 97 | Waco,TX | $117,550 |
| 98 | Fort Collins,CO | $153,660 |
| 99 | Columbia,MO | $112,850 |
| 100 | Olympia,WA | $95,350 |
