Legal salaries: what legal jobs advertise
Legal postings that state pay run $92,500 to $185,500 for the middle half, median $137,500, from 2,564 paid postings from 1,269 employers. With function, level and industry matched, pay is +3.5% (about $7.5k a year) against other functions.
By Justin KullaLast updated
Legal pay range
From 2,564 paid postings from 1,269 employers. Annual, in US dollars.
- Lower quarter
- $92,500
- Median
- $137,500
- Upper quarter
- $185,500
The median for all professional postings is $137,000, so Legal is above it. With function, level and industry matched, Legal pay is +3.5% (about $7.5k a year) against other functions.
Legal pay by level
Levels with at least 30 paid postings from 8 employers.
| Group | Median | Middle half | Gap | Postings | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry level | $73,500 | $58,000 to $90,000 | n/a | 170 | 115 |
| Early career | $85,000 | $70,000 to $107,500 | n/a | 472 | 330 |
| Mid-level | $132,500 | $101,000 to $174,500 | n/a | 621 | 374 |
| Senior individual contributor | $164,000 | $122,500 to $216,500 | n/a | 482 | 329 |
| Manager | $150,000 | $120,000 to $187,500 | n/a | 385 | 273 |
| Director | $183,000 | $150,000 to $242,500 | n/a | 368 | 246 |
| VP and above | $195,000 | $165,000 to $278,000 | n/a | 66 | 59 |
Skills that go with higher Legal pay
Skills listed on 50 or more paid postings from 10 employers in this function, by median pay.
| Skill | Median pay listing it | Raw gap | Gap, job mix matched | Postings | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lean | $170,000 | +3% | −2% | 1,746 | 689 |
| Go-to-market | $200,000 | +23.1% | +5.4% | 3,202 | 974 |
| HIPAA | $195,000 | +18.2% | +9.2% | 650 | 291 |
| M&A | $205,000 | +24.2% | n/a | 540 | 285 |
Compare with other functions
The groups ranked just above and below by median.
Questions about this data
- How much do Legal jobs pay?
- $92,500 to $185,500 for the middle half, median $137,500, from 2,564 paid postings from 1,269 employers that state pay. That is above the $137,000 median for all professional postings. It is advertised pay, not what people are paid.
- Is Legal pay higher or lower once the job mix is matched?
- With function, level and industry matched, advertised pay is +3.5% (about $7.5k a year) against other functions.
- How does Legal pay change with level?
- Entry level: $73,500; Early career: $85,000; Mid-level: $132,500; Senior individual contributor: $164,000; Manager: $150,000; Director: $183,000; VP and above: $195,000.
Method, download and how to cite
Data as of November 9, 2026. Rebuilt daily.
Pay is the midpoint of the range an employer posted (or stated in the posting text), converted to a year, on live U.S. professional jobs. It is advertised pay, not what anyone is paid.
A “gap, job mix matched” compares postings inside cells of the same function, level and industry, so a group is not credited for simply holding more senior or better-paid roles. It needs 150 or more postings across at least 5 cells with 15 postings on each side, and is shown as n/a otherwise. A gap is a difference in advertised pay between postings. It does not show that a skill, an industry or an employer size causes higher pay.
Download the CSV (aggregates only; no posting, employer or person is in it). Cite as: NextChapter, “Advertised pay in Legal (function) on U.S. professional job postings”, data as of November 9, 2026, https://launchyournextchapter.com/resources/pay-data/function/legal
See also the AI skills salary premium, which uses the same method for AI skills only, and the salary by job title pages.
More pay data
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