NextChapter

Best cities for legal jobs

New York has the most openings in this job family in the United States: 854 openings.November 2026 edition. Updated monthly, from open jobs we verified on employer career sites.

Key facts

  • #1 New York, NY: 854 openings
  • #2 Chicago, IL: 367 openings
  • #3 Los Angeles, CA: 339 openings
  • 36 cities ranked in the United States
  • Data as of November 2026
  1. 1New York NY854 openings
  2. 2Chicago IL367 openings
  3. 3Los Angeles CA339 openings
  4. 4San Francisco CA339 openings
  5. 5Washington DC299 openings
  6. 6Atlanta GA294 openings
  7. 7Dallas TX252 openings
  8. 8Boston MA242 openings
  9. 9Houston TX224 openings
  10. 10San Diego CA162 openings

What stands out

  • The lead is wide: New York (854 openings) is well clear of San Diego at #10 (162 openings).
  • New York is the largest market in the top ten, with 854 openings behind its figure.
  • Cities with fewer than 50 openings are not ranked, and small differences between neighbouring ranks are not meaningful.

Why this ranking matters

What it shows

The cities with the most openings in one job family show where that kind of work is concentrated. It counts the open professional roles on employer career sites that we verified in the last week.

How to use it

Pick your job family, look at the top cities and their employers, then open the family page for titles and pay.

The top 25

  1. 1

    New York NY

    854 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    4%
    Median posted pay
    $125k
    All openings in the city
    20,589

    Hiring most here: Amazon, Publicis Groupe, Morgan Stanley

    Based on 854 openings.

    Jobs and employers in New York

  2. 2

    Chicago IL

    367 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    5%
    Median posted pay
    $123k
    All openings in the city
    7,607

    Hiring most here: Publicis Groupe, Northern Trust, Confidential

    Based on 367 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Chicago

  3. 3

    Los Angeles CA

    339 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    7%
    Median posted pay
    $158k
    All openings in the city
    5,126

    Hiring most here: K2 Space, Cedars-sinai Medical Center, Apex Space

    Based on 339 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Los Angeles

  4. 4

    San Francisco CA

    339 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    3%
    Median posted pay
    $225k
    All openings in the city
    11,798

    Hiring most here: OpenAI, Anthropic, University Of California San Francisco Foundation

    Based on 339 openings.

    Jobs and employers in San Francisco

  5. 5

    Washington DC

    299 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    7%
    Median posted pay
    $165k
    All openings in the city
    4,457

    Hiring most here: Anduril Industries, CACI International, Shield AI

    Based on 299 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Washington

  6. 6

    Atlanta GA

    294 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    5%
    Median posted pay
    $88k
    All openings in the city
    5,566

    Hiring most here: Emory University, Oxford College of Emory University, Capgemini Invent

    Based on 294 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Atlanta

  7. 7

    Dallas TX

    252 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    6%
    Median posted pay
    $104k
    All openings in the city
    4,429

    Hiring most here: Amazon, Shield AI, Texas Instruments

    Based on 252 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Dallas

  8. 8

    Boston MA

    242 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    5%
    Median posted pay
    $194k
    All openings in the city
    5,143

    Hiring most here: Vertex Pharmaceuticals, State Street, Confidential

    Based on 242 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Boston

  9. 9

    Houston TX

    224 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    5%
    Median posted pay
    $121k
    All openings in the city
    4,330

    Hiring most here: Axiom Space, Trinzic, Fervo Energy

    Based on 224 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Houston

  10. 10

    San Diego CA

    162 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    5%
    Median posted pay
    $160k
    All openings in the city
    3,085

    Hiring most here: Qualcomm Inc/De, Qualcomm Technologies, General Atomics

    Based on 162 openings.

    Jobs and employers in San Diego

  11. 11

    Austin TX

    146 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    2%
    Median posted pay
    $162k
    All openings in the city
    5,903

    Hiring most here: Amazon, Advanced Micro Devices, Cloudflare

    Based on 146 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Austin

  12. 12

    Miami FL

    136 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    6%
    Median posted pay
    $160k
    All openings in the city
    2,344

    Hiring most here: University Of Miami, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Princess Cruises / Holland America Line

    Based on 136 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Miami

  13. 13

    Sacramento CA

    123 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    9%
    Median posted pay
    $130k
    All openings in the city
    1,364

    Hiring most here: Sutter Health, California Correctional Health Care Services, Nalu Medical

    Based on 123 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Sacramento

  14. 14

    Philadelphia PA

    122 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    7%
    Median posted pay
    $101k
    All openings in the city
    1,820

    Hiring most here: Confidential, GSK, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

    Based on 122 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Philadelphia

  15. 15

    Seattle WA

    116 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    2%
    Median posted pay
    $143k
    All openings in the city
    5,343

    Hiring most here: Amazon, Blue Origin, Shield AI

    Based on 116 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Seattle

  16. 16

    Charlotte NC

    114 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    4%
    Median posted pay
    $105k
    All openings in the city
    3,198

    Hiring most here: Truist Financial, Scout Motors, SMBC Americas

    Based on 114 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Charlotte

  17. 17

    Louisville KY

    103 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    5%
    Median posted pay
    $125k
    All openings in the city
    2,065

    Hiring most here: BrightSpring Health Services, Norton Healthcare, GE Appliances

    Based on 103 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Louisville

  18. 18

    Denver CO

    100 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    3%
    Median posted pay
    $149k
    All openings in the city
    2,867

    Hiring most here: True Anomaly, Blue Origin, Amazon

    Based on 100 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Denver

  19. 19

    Phoenix AZ

    100 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    4%
    Median posted pay
    $120k
    All openings in the city
    2,749

    Hiring most here: Honeywell Aerospace, State of Arizona, American Society for Microbiology

    Based on 100 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Phoenix

  20. 20

    Columbus OH

    97 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    5%
    Median posted pay
    $89k
    All openings in the city
    1,892

    Hiring most here: State of Ohio, Nationwide, Ohio State University-Newark Campus

    Based on 97 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Columbus

  21. 21

    Arlington VA

    84 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    4%
    Median posted pay
    $143k
    All openings in the city
    1,989

    Hiring most here: Amazon, AWS, Bloomberg Industry Group

    Based on 84 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Arlington

  22. 22

    Raleigh NC

    82 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    6%
    Median posted pay
    $125k
    All openings in the city
    1,427

    Hiring most here: First Citizens Bank, Dewberry, MaintainX

    Based on 82 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Raleigh

  23. 23

    Tampa FL

    76 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    4%
    Median posted pay
    $178k
    All openings in the city
    1,738

    Hiring most here: DTCC, University of South Florida, Tampa Electric

    Based on 76 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Tampa

  24. 24

    Irvine CA

    75 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    5%
    Median posted pay
    $143k
    All openings in the city
    1,503

    Hiring most here: Anduril Industries, Field AI, Rivian Automotive

    Based on 75 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Irvine

  25. 25

    New York NY

    74 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    0%
    Median posted pay
    $113k
    All openings in the city
    20,589

    Hiring most here: Amazon, Publicis Groupe, Morgan Stanley

    Based on 74 openings.

    Jobs and employers in New York

Full ranking

All 36 cities that qualified, with the figure each is ranked on.

RankCityScoreSample
1New York NY854 openings854
2Chicago IL367 openings367
3Los Angeles CA339 openings339
4San Francisco CA339 openings339
5Washington DC299 openings299
6Atlanta GA294 openings294
7Dallas TX252 openings252
8Boston MA242 openings242
9Houston TX224 openings224
10San Diego CA162 openings162
11Austin TX146 openings146
12Miami FL136 openings136
13Sacramento CA123 openings123
14Philadelphia PA122 openings122
15Seattle WA116 openings116
16Charlotte NC114 openings114
17Louisville KY103 openings103
18Denver CO100 openings100
19Phoenix AZ100 openings100
20Columbus OH97 openings97
21Arlington VA84 openings84
22Raleigh NC82 openings82
23Tampa FL76 openings76
24Irvine CA75 openings75
25New York NY74 openings74
26Cambridge MA73 openings73
27Tallahassee FL70 openings70
28Cleveland OH61 openings61
29Pittsburgh PA61 openings61
30Nashville TN60 openings60
31Jacksonville FL59 openings59
32Las Vegas NV58 openings58
33Indianapolis IN57 openings57
34Orlando FL53 openings53
35Cincinnati OH52 openings52
36San Jose CA52 openings52

The jobs behind this ranking

Open legal jobs, who is hiring for them and what they pay.

Job titles link to their salary page where pay is posted, otherwise to the open jobs.

How this ranking works

A city is ranked on the number of its open professional roles in this job family, as classed from the posting title and text. Median pay uses only listings that post a salary, shown where at least 8 do.

Only roles verified on the employer's own career site in the last week are counted.

A city where one employer posts more than 50% of its openings is not ranked, so a single company cannot decide a city's score.

Sample bar: cities with fewer than 50 openings are not ranked.

Sources: NextChapter job data: open professional roles on employer career sites, verified in the last week. Data as of November 2026.

Our job data covers professional roles on the career sites of employers we track, so figures describe that market, not every job. Spot an error? Tell us.

Questions

Which city ranks first: best cities for legal jobs?
New York has the most openings in this job family in the United States: 854 openings.
How many cities are ranked?
36 cities have at least 50 openings, so the list has 36 entries.
How is the ranking calculated?
A city is ranked on the number of its open professional roles in this job family, as classed from the posting title and text. Median pay uses only listings that post a salary, shown where at least 8 do. Only roles verified on the employer's own career site in the last week are counted. A city where one employer posts more than 50% of its openings is not ranked, so a single company cannot decide a city's score.
How often is it updated?
Every month. This is the November 2026 edition. Older editions stay on this site at their own dated addresses.

More rankings

Cite this ranking

NextChapter, “Best cities for legal jobs,” November 2026 edition. https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-cities-for-legal-jobs

Link to it: <a href="https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-cities-for-legal-jobs">Best cities for legal jobs (NextChapter, November 2026)</a>

Download the data: CSV · JSON. Free to use with a link back.

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