September 2013
This information is being made available for prospective law school applicants and others interested in the starting salaries of new law school graduates. Want to learn more about the entry-level job market for recent law school graduates? See NALP's annual Jobs & JDs report.
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Median Reported Salaries by Employer Type in the 20 Cities Providing
the Most Jobs to the Class of 2012
| PRIVATE PRACTICE | BUSINESS | GOVERNMENT | ||||
| Median | Number of Salaries Reported |
Median | Number of Salaries Reported |
Median | Number of Salaries Reported |
|
| Atlanta | $85,000 | 231 | $57,500 | 38 | $59,987 | 30 |
| Baltimore | 76,500 | 48 | 60,004 | 12 | 60,000 | 21 |
| Boston | 160,000 | 274 | 65,000 | 47 | 46,500 | 48 |
| Charlotte | 117,500 | 50 | 55,500 | 24 | 45,000 | 5 |
| Chicago | 145,000 | 581 | 70,000 | 88 | 59,340 | 82 |
| Columbus | 90,000 | 51 | 65,000 | 17 | 47,000 | 36 |
| Dallas | 115,000 | 231 | 64,000 | 30 | 65,000 | 10 |
| Denver | 85,500 | 108 | 68,000 | 23 | 62,000 | 13 |
| Houston | 143,000 | 264 | 70,000 | 75 | 59,000 | 20 |
| Indianapolis | 90,000 | 64 | 63,750 | 22 | 45,000 | 30 |
| Los Angeles | 160,000 | 420 | 70,000 | 41 | 56,000 | 17 |
| Miami | 75,000 | 135 | 57,500 | 16 | 40,000 | 51 |
| Minneapolis/St. Paul | 100,000 | 127 | 62,500 | 56 | 45,000 | 19 |
| New York City | 160,000 | 1,800 | 83,000 | 251 | 60,000 | 141 |
| Philadelphia | 125,000 | 155 | 70,000 | 29 | 50,000 | 31 |
| Phoenix | 102,500 | 69 | 72,000 | 17 | 58,000 | 17 |
| San Diego | 100,000 | 112 | 75,000 | 13 | 59,000 | 31 |
| San Francisco | 160,000 | 259 | 74,000 | 46 | 63,000 | 19 |
| Seattle | 95,500 | 96 | 43,700 | 52 | 60,000 | 21 |
| Washington, DC | 160,000 | 655 | 70,000 | 70 | 62,467 | 336 |
Note: Figures are based on salaries for reported for full-time jobs lasting at least a year. The median is the mid-point in a ranking of reported salaries. However, because salaries in large firms are quite uniform and are disproportionately reported relative to salaries in small firms, law firm medians are generally more applicable to large firms in that city. In the case of Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC, the median is best thought of as a prevailing salary since at least half of the reported firm salaries in these cities were $160,000. Thus, in cities such as New York and Washington, DC, where most law firm jobs are in large firms, the law firm median provides a truer measure of prevailing salaries than in a city such as San Diego where many jobs are in small firms.
Source: NALP Employment Report and Salary Survey for the Class of 2012
