District court judge vs municipal court judge

The differences between district court judges and municipal court judges can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 8-10 years to become both a district court judge and a municipal court judge. Additionally, a district court judge has an average salary of $58,184, which is higher than the $31,278 average annual salary of a municipal court judge.

The top three skills for a district court judge include district court, bench trials and oral arguments. The most important skills for a municipal court judge are municipal court, legal research, and court judge.

District court judge vs municipal court judge overview

	District Court Judge	Municipal Court Judge
Yearly salary	$58,184	$31,278
Hourly rate	$27.97	$15.04
Growth rate	-1%	-1%
Number of jobs	8,410	1,005
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Doctoral Degree, 43%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	10	10

District court judge vs municipal court judge salary

District court judges and municipal court judges have different pay scales, as shown below.

	District Court Judge	Municipal Court Judge
Average salary	$58,184	$31,278
Salary range	Between $38,000 And $87,000	Between $24,000 And $40,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between district court judge and municipal court judge education

There are a few differences between a district court judge and a municipal court judge in terms of educational background:

	District Court Judge	Municipal Court Judge
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Doctoral Degree, 43%
Most common major	Law	Law
Most common college	Stanford University	Stanford University

District court judge vs municipal court judge demographics

Here are the differences between district court judges' and municipal court judges' demographics:

	District Court Judge	Municipal Court Judge
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 55.2% Female, 44.8%	Male, 62.4% Female, 37.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 5.6% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 6.5% White, 75.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 5.7% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 6.5% White, 75.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between district court judge and municipal court judge duties and responsibilities

District court judge example responsibilities.

Manage, and update all scheduling of events, meetings, and appointments for mediation and arbitration for family law cases.
Perform extensive research and prepare legal memoranda on domestic relations and probate issues.
Train in Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis.
Perform clerical work by cross-referencing voters' names with their identification.

Municipal court judge example responsibilities.

Prepare and manage the annual budget of the court, manage oversight regarding billing procedures in accordance with state regulations.
Process and review all post-conviction appeals motions file by defendants serving long sentences.
Patrol areas in an undercover capacity to combat organize burglary, drug manufacturing/sales and prostitution.
Patrol areas in an undercover capacity to combat organize burglary, drug manufacturing/sales and prostitution.

District court judge vs municipal court judge skills

Common district court judge skills

District Court, 30%
Bench Trials, 18%
Oral Arguments, 10%
Legal Issues, 7%
Court Orders, 5%
Pre-Trial Conferences, 5%

Common municipal court judge skills

Municipal Court, 42%
Legal Research, 12%
Court Judge, 9%
Jury Trials, 9%
Subpoenas, 7%
Court Administration, 4%

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District Court Judge vs Municipal Court Judge

Updated January 8, 2025

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