Because of Biglaw’s bountiful compensation, the authorized career has lengthy been identified for its flashy salaries, however even with their beneficiant paychecks, some associates live a lot bigger than others — and it’s all due to the place they dwell.
The National Jurist not too long ago determined to dig into the info to find out which cities, when adjusted for price of residing, “strike the precise steadiness between compensation and affordability” for regulation college graduates. Right here’s their methodology:
To establish the highest cities for regulation agency jobs, we used imply wage information from the Nationwide Affiliation for Legislation Placement’s Class of 2023 report and adjusted it for cost-of-living variations throughout the nation.
So, which cities are the most effective for regulation agency associates based mostly on this calculation? The place can they get the most effective mixture of excessive compensation with a low price of residing?
With out additional ado, these are the ten cities the place associates can stretch their salaries the furthest (adjusted salaries famous):
- Houston, TX: $291,436
- Austin, TX: $265,151
- Dallas, TX: $260,436
- Washington, DC: $259,341
- Chicago, IL: $243,116
- Los Angeles, CA: $241,341
- Minneapolis, MN: $231,640
- Charlotte, NC: $229,400
- Boston, MA: $225,990
- Salt Lake Metropolis, UT: $225,330
Click on here to see the remainder of the checklist.
And what in regards to the worst cities for associates when it comes to making their cash work for them? Right here’s extra from the National Jurist:
The perfect cities for brand spanking new grads aren’t at all times the flashiest — they’re locations the place salaries stretch additional, debt turns into extra manageable, and younger attorneys can construct careers with out sacrificing way of life.
It might be time for attorneys to say sayonara to large East and West Coast cities and transfer to Texas to really get pleasure from their salaries.
Biggest salaries, recalculated [National Jurist]
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Legislation, the place she’s labored since 2011. She’d love to listen to from you, so please be happy to email her with any ideas, questions, feedback, or critiques. You may comply with her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or join along with her on LinkedIn.