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Counsel salary: median $219,000 a year

Counsel listings that state pay run from $187,000 to $275,000 for the middle half, based on 36 current job listings. 121 counsel roles are open now.

Counsel pay range

From 36 open listings that state pay. Annual, in US dollars.

Lower quarter
$187,000
Median
$219,000
Upper quarter
$275,000

Do AI skills change counsel pay?

For Legal roles in general, as of November 9, 2026. This is the function’s figure, not one for counsel alone: one title rarely has enough listings on both sides.

Among Legal listings, those that ask for an AI skill advertise a median $207,000, against $136,000 for those that never mention AI (+52%). That raw gap is not matched on level or industry.

Listings that ask for an AI skill
$207,000
median, from 281 paid listings
Listings that never mention AI
$136,000
median, from 758 paid listings

Advertised pay only: the midpoint of the range an employer posted, on live U.S. postings read from the full text. “Asks for an AI skill” means the posting names a specific AI skill; “no AI” means it never mentions AI. A difference in what is advertised is not a promise of what you would be paid, and it does not show that learning a skill causes a raise.

See the AI-skill pay table for every function · Check your own pay against these listings

More pay data: Legal pay by level, skills that pay more and pay by employer size.

Open counsel jobs

Verified against the employer’s own career site within the last week.

Showing the newest 15 of about 121 verified open jobs here. Search all jobs

All 121 counsel jobs

Legal jobs in the rankings

Rankings about legal jobs

Legal jobs · Top Legal employers · All rankings

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Counsel salary questions

How much does a counsel make?
Among 36 open counsel listings that state pay, the median is $219,000 a year, and half of listings fall between $187,000 and $275,000.
Where does this counsel pay data come from?
From current job listings on employers’ own career sites that state a pay range. Hourly pay is converted at 2,080 hours a year, and a listing’s midpoint is used. Listed pay is what employers advertise, not what people are paid.
Which state pays counsels the most?
Of the states with enough listings, California has the highest median listed pay at $266,000.

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