Lawyer Salary 2026: BigLaw, In-House, Gov, by State

TL;DR — Lawyer Salary national + state, real-wage adjusted

National distribution where the spread is

Where the spread is.

FIG. 02 · National distribution · SOC 23-1011 n = $747,750 workers

P50 $151,160

$72,780P10 P25 $99,760 P75 $215,420 P90—

The amber band is the 10th-to-90th percentile. The thicker inner band is the central half — half of all Lawyers in the federal sample earn between $99,760 and $215,420 in nominal W-2 wages.

State-by-state — ranked by real P50 P50 wage from BLS OEWS · real wage divides nominal by state RPP

The same job, fifty-one wages.

Sorted by real P50 descending. Real wage is the BLS nominal P50 divided by the state's BEA RPP — the dollar that buys the same basket as the national average. Each row links to the full state page.

Rank	ST	State	Real P50	Nom. P50	RPP	Emp
01	CA	California	$176,291▼11%	$197,790	112.2	93K
02	DE	Delaware	$174,880▲1%	$172,710	98.8	3K
03	DC	District of Columbia	$173,313▼10%	$191,880	110.7	33K
04	MA	Massachusetts	$166,287▼7%	$179,050	107.7	22K
05	CO	Colorado	$164,909▼2%	$167,970	101.9	17K
06	NY	New York	$164,324▼7%	$177,210	107.8	91K
07	IL	Illinois	$159,308▲1%	$157,320	98.8	33K
08	VA	Virginia	$155,905▼1%	$157,980	101.3	18K
· · · · · 37 states omitted · · · · ·
46	MS	Mississippi	$106,703▲15%	$92,610	86.8	3K
47	HI	Hawaii	$105,749▼9%	$116,010	109.7	2K
48	VT	Vermont	$104,064▲3%	$101,090	97.1	1K
49	ME	Maine	$102,425▲2%	$100,340	98	2K
50	AR	Arkansas	$100,184▲15%	$86,970	86.8	4K
RPP source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2023 release. P10–P90 from BLS OEWS May 2024.				Real P50 = Nominal P50 × (100 / RPP)

All 51 state pages P10–P90 + RPP per state

FIG. · LAWYER · REAL P50 BY STATE n = 51 jurisdictions · darker = higher

AK 128K ME 102K VT 104K NH 116K WA 140K ID 111K MT 111K ND 119K MN 140K WI 129K MI 134K NY 164K MA 166K RI 126K OR 135K

NV —

WY 109K SD 110K IA 122K IL 159K IN 141K OH 137K PA 131K NJ 145K CT 153K CA 176K UT 131K CO 165K NE 116K MO 136K KY 114K WV 114K VA 156K MD 137K DE 175K DC 173K AZ 132K NM 124K KS 125K AR 100K TN 142K NC 132K SC 111K HI 106K TX 138K OK 111K LA 127K MS 107K AL 143K GA 131K FL 123K

Real P50 (BLS ÷ RPP)

Top 20% $161K+

60–80% $146K

40–60% $131K

20–40% $115K

Bottom 20% $100K

Each tile shows the BLS OEWS P50 wage divided by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity (real take-home, normalized to US-100). Darker amber = higher real wage. Click any tile for the full state page with P10–P90 percentiles, RPP, and rank. Source: BLS OEWS May 2024 + BEA RPP 2023.

Reader questions profession-specific FAQ

Lawyer Salary 2026 — BigLaw vs In-House vs Government, Partner Profit Excluded

Where the spread is.

The same job, fifty-one wages.