For a number of years NALP has prepared a graphic to illustrate the bi-modal nature of the distribution of salaries obtained by law school graduates. See current years here.
Since 2009, an "adjusted" mean has been calculated in addition to the mean calculated based on reported salaries. Essentially, the adjusted mean compensates for the fact that the distribution of reported full-time salaries is not the same as the distribution of reported full-time jobs, particularly when it comes to law firm jobs. Whereas salaries for most jobs in large law firms are reported, only about half the salaries for jobs in small law firms are reported, meaning that their contribution to the mean is understated whereas the contribution of large firm salaries is overstated. The adjustment is accomplished by giving more “weight” to the mean or average salary in small firms and less “weight” to the mean or average salary in large firms to calculate the adjusted mean.
Class of 2011
Read more here: The NALP Salary Curve for the Class of 2011
Distribution of Reported Full-Time Salaries — Class of 2011
Note: The graph above is based on 18,630 salaries reported for full-time jobs lasting a year or more — a few salaries above $200,000 are excluded from the graph for clarity, but not from the percentage calculations. The left-hand peaks of the graph reflect salaries of $40,000 to $65,000, which collectively accounted for about 52% of reported salaries. The right-hand peak shows that salaries of $160,000 accounted for about 14% of reported salaries. However, more complete salary coverage for jobs at large law firms heightens this peak and diminishes the left-hand peaks — and shows that the unadjusted mean overstates the average starting salary by just over 6%. Nonetheless, as both the arithmetic mean and the adjusted mean show, relatively few salaries are close to either mean. For purposes of this graph, all reported salaries were rounded to the nearest $5,000.
Class of 2010
Read more here: The NALP Salary Curve Morphs with the Class of 2010
Distribution of Reported Full-Time Salaries — Class of 2010
Note: The graph above is based on 18,398 salaries. A few salaries above $200,000 are excluded for clarity. The left-hand peaks of the graph reflect salaries of $40,000 to $65,000, which collectively accounted for about 48% of reported salaries. The right-hand peak shows that salaries of $160,000 accounted for about 18% of reported salaries. However, more complete salary coverage for jobs at large law firms heightens this peak and diminishes the left-hand peaks — and shows that the unadjusted mean overstates the average starting salary by about 9%. Nonetheless, as both the arithmetic mean and the adjusted mean show, relatively few salaries are close to either mean figure. For purposes of this graph, all reported salaries were rounded to the nearest $5,000.
Class of 2009
Read more here: Salary Distribution Curve for the Class of 2009 Shows Relatively Few Salaries Were Close to the Mean
Distribution of Reported Full-Time Salaries — Class of 2009
Note: The graph is based on 19,513 salaries. A few salaries above $200,000 are excluded for clarity. The left-hand peaks of the graph reflect salaries of $40,000 to $65,000, which collectively accounted for 42% of reported salaries.The right-hand peak shows that salaries of $160,000 accounted for 25% of reported salaries. However, more complete salary coverage for jobs at large law firms heightens this peak and diminishes the left-hand peaks — and shows that the unadjusted mean overstates the average starting salary by about 10%. Nonetheless, as both the arithmetic mean and the adjusted mean show, relatively few salaries are close to either mean figure. For purposes of this graph, all reported salaries were rounded to the nearest $5,000.
Class of 2008
Read more here: Starting Salary Distribution for Class of 2008 More Dramatic than Previous Years
Distribution of Full-Time Salaries — Class of 2008
Note: Graph is based on 22,305 salaries; a few salaries about $200,000 are excluded for clarity. Collectively, salaries of $40,000 - $65,000 accounted for 42% of reported salaries.
Class of 2007
Read more here: Another Picture Worth 1,000 Words
Source: Jobs & JD's, Class of 2007
Note: The graph is based on 23,337 salaries. A few salaries above $200,000 are excluded for clarity.
Class of 2006
Read more here: A Picture Worth 1,000 Words
Source: Jobs & JD's, Class of 2006. For the purposes of the Jobs and JD's report, the curve was smoothed to more clearly illustrate the bimodal nature of the curve, and thus does not appear identical to the curve shown for the Class of 2006 in the January 2008 Bulletin column here. The curve presented in the January 2008 Bulletin article is also shown on a different scale for ease of comparison with previous years.
Note: The graph is based on 22,665 salaries. A few salaries above $200,000 are excluded for clarity. The first peak in this graph reflects salaries of both $40,000 and $50,000 (each about 11% of reported salaries). The second peak reflects salaries of $135,000 (10% of reported salaries) and $145,000 (7% of reported salaries).
