You've probably heard of the term 'D.A.' in crime shows and police movies, but what exactly does a D.A. or district attorney do?
By definition, a district attorney is a lawyer who is elected by local government officials to represent the state government in criminal cases that are brought in a judicial district. Their duties include reviewing police reports, determining whether to charge the arrested people and prosecuting cases in court.
As you would probably expect, the job of a district attorney is far from easy. They usually manage a large amount of caseload to prepare for hearings or litigation. On top of that, they also perform various admin tasks like issuing subpoenas and screening depositions apart from their main duties in court.
The road to becoming a district attorney is a long one. An aspiring D.A. will have to earn an American Bar Association (ABA) accredited bachelor's degree, go to law school, complete an internship, pass the bar, get trial experience, and finally, succeed in enough cases to become selected as the district attorney.
If this sounds like a lot of work, consider it as an investment for a yearly salary that can go up to around $76,000 a year.
District Attorney Overview
District Attorney Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a district attorney. For example, did you know that they make an average of $30.46 an hour? That's $63,353 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 50,100 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a District Attorney Do
There are certain skills that many district attorneys have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, interpersonal skills and problem-solving skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a district attorney, we found that a lot of resumes listed 12.9% of district attorneys included legal advice, while 11.7% of resumes included criminal cases, and 10.9% of resumes included pre-trial motions. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the district attorney job title. But what industry to start with? Most district attorneys actually find jobs in the health care and non profits industries.
How To Become a District Attorney
If you're interested in becoming a district attorney, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 26.6% of district attorneys have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 8.9% of district attorneys have master's degrees. Even though most district attorneys have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a district attorney. When we researched the most common majors for a district attorney, we found that they most commonly earn doctoral degree degrees or bachelor's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on district attorney resumes include master's degree degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a district attorney. In fact, many district attorney jobs require experience in a role such as law clerk. Meanwhile, many district attorneys also have previous career experience in roles such as internship or legal extern.
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District Attorney Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a district attorney can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as attorney, progress to a title such as partner and then eventually end up with the title partner.
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Average Salary for a District Attorney
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Gwinnett County District Attorney-Legal Associate District Attorney-Legal Associate | Gwinnett County Gwinnett County | 01/25/2021 01/25/2021 | $36,71901/25/2021 $36,719 |
Santa Cruz County, Ca Attorney I-District Attorney Attorney I-District Attorney | Santa Cruz County, Ca Santa Cruz County, Ca | 01/17/2021 01/17/2021 | $108,00001/17/2021 $108,000 |
County of El Dorado Deputy District Attorney I/II/III/IV Deputy District Attorney I/II/III/IV | County of El Dorado County of El Dorado | 01/14/2021 01/14/2021 | $81,26601/14/2021 $81,266 |
Trinity County Deputy District Attorney Deputy District Attorney | Trinity County Trinity County | 12/31/2020 12/31/2020 | $76,77212/31/2020 $76,772 |
Gwinnett County District Attorney-Legal Associate District Attorney-Legal Associate | Gwinnett County Gwinnett County | 12/23/2020 12/23/2020 | $36,71912/23/2020 $36,719 |
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District Attorney Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a District Attorney. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a District Attorney Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless District Attorney resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for District Attorneys
1. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Public
2. University of Chicago
Chicago, IL • Private
3. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Public
4. Northeastern University
Boston, MA • Private
5. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Public
6. University of Richmond
University of Richmond, VA • Private
7. University of California - Davis
Davis, CA • Public
8. University of Washington
Seattle, WA • Public
9. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
10. University of Georgia
Athens, GA • Public
Top Skills For a District Attorney
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 12.9% of district attorneys listed legal advice on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and interpersonal skills are important as well.
- Legal Advice, 12.9%
- Criminal Cases, 11.7%
- Pre-Trial Motions, 10.9%
- Law Enforcement, 8.2%
- Legal Documents, 5.5%
- Other Skills, 50.8% See All District Attorney Skills
Best States For a District Attorney
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a district attorney. The best states for people in this position are Illinois, California, Hawaii, and Arizona. District attorneys make the most in Illinois with an average salary of $86,736. Whereas in California and Hawaii, they would average $78,644 and $76,846, respectively. While district attorneys would only make an average of $75,715 in Arizona, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. California
$78,644
Avg. Salary
2. Arizona
$75,715
Avg. Salary
3. Illinois
$86,736
Avg. Salary