What is the demographic of lawyers in the US?

Asked by: Jesse Trantow  |  Last update: September 18, 2023
Score: 4.3/5 (32 votes)

64% of lawyers are men and 36% are women in 2019. Even more sobering are the statistics regarding racial diversity. 85% of lawyers are white, compared to 77% of the U.S. population. Only 5% of lawyers are African American, 5% are Hispanic, and 3% are Asian.

What is the gender breakdown of lawyers in the US?

Diversity in the legal profession: demographics

In 2022, 38.3% of lawyers were female while 61.5% were male. The gains are notable, however, given that from 1950 to 1970, only 3% of all lawyers were women.

Where are most lawyers from?

States with the highest levels of employment in lawyers in the U.S. 2021. In 2021, the state with the highest number of lawyers in the United States was California, with a figure of approximately 90,000. In the same year, roughly 82,000 lawyers were employed in the state of New York.

What percentage of US lawyers are Hispanic?

In the legal profession specifically, Hispanics are largely underrepresented and only make up about 5.8% of the 1.3 million lawyers in the United States. When it pertains to gender, around 38% of lawyers are women.

What is the percentage of lawyers by race in the US?

In 2020, 86% of all lawyers were non-Hispanic whites, a decline from 89% a decade ago. By comparison, 60% of all U.S. residents were non-Hispanic whites in 2019. Nearly all people of color are underrepresented in the legal profession compared with their presence in the U.S. population.

Census Data Release Tees Up Congressional Redistricting Battles, Shows U.S. Growing More Diverse

17 related questions found

Is law a male dominated field?

Men continue to outnumber women in the legal industry 61.5% to 38.3%. Consequently, much like in my early days, few female mentors are available to usher in the next generation of female lawyers.

Where is it hardest to become a lawyer?

1. California

Law students across the US may be familiar with the famed “impossible” California bar exam. But why is the California bar exam so hard? For starters, the cut score (the score needed to pass the test) of the California bar is 1390 out of 2000, which is 40 points above the national average.

Where is the highest lawyer salary?

Switzerland is at the top of our list of countries that reward their lawyers the best. With an average annual salary of $260,739. The lowest salary for a Swiss lawyer is $120,279 and the highest salary is $414,058 per year.

What city do lawyers make the most money?

Best-Paying Cities for Lawyers

The metropolitan areas that pay the highest salary in the lawyer profession are San Jose, San Francisco, Washington, New York, and Los Angeles.

How old are most lawyers when they start?

The average age of law students is 25 or younger. Only 20% of law students are 30 or older.

Why are there only 93 US attorneys?

Federal Judicial Districts.

(Because a single United States Attorney serves both Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, there are only 93 U.S. Attorneys.)

What is the average age of lawyers in the US?

No reliable statistics exist on the total number of lawyers with disabilities throughout the legal profession. Lawyers are older than most American workers, on average, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The median age for lawyers in 2021 was 46.5 years old, which means half were younger and half older.

What is the most underrepresented group in law?

American Indians/Alaskan Natives, African Americans/Blacks, Mexican Americans, and Puerto Ricans are typically considered URM's. Please note that there is a difference between Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and other types of Hispanics in the admissions process.

Which religion has the most lawyers?

The largest group of lawyers is Christian followed by those who have no religion or belief, and the largest of the other faith groups is Muslim.

Who is the largest employer for lawyers?

In 2022, the industry with the highest level of employment for lawyers in the United States was legal services with almost 435,000 lawyers working within this field. The next most numerous industry for lawyers was local government, where the total number was approximately 60,000.

Why do lawyers make so much money?

Lawyers get paid so much for several reasons, including having extremely specialized knowledge, being in demand, and assuming risks and liabilities.

How to make over 500k a year?

13 jobs that pay over $500k a year
  1. Actor. National average salary : $27,370 per year. ...
  2. Author. National average salary: $43,471 per year. ...
  3. Insurance agent. National average salary: $54,534 per year. ...
  4. Accountant. ...
  5. Professional athlete. ...
  6. Hedge fund manager. ...
  7. Investment banker. ...
  8. Real estate developer.

Do lawyers make a lot of money in the US?

As a profession, it's among the highest-paying careers outside of physicians, earning a median annual wage of $127,990, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Although becoming a lawyer continues to be a popular career path, exactly how much lawyers make a year varies widely, depending on many factors.

What is the least stressful lawyer field?

What type of lawyer is the least stressful? Real estate law, estate planning law, and intellectual property law are commonly cited as the least stressful types of law to practice. Unlike other practice areas, people's lives aren't on the line.

What is the hardest bar exam in the US?

While Delaware has a higher cut score than California, California's bar exam is arguably the hardest in the country because more students take and fail the test.

What is the easiest lawyer to become?

Many professional lawyers believe that real estate law is the least stressful and most accessible field compared to other law fields.

Who are male lawyers most likely to marry?

Male lawyers and judges are most likely to marry female lawyers and judges. Female actuaries are most likely to marry male office and administrative support supervisors. Male actuaries are most likely to marry female database administrators.

What is the most male-dominated degree?

Degrees with the highest percentage of male students revealed
  • Engineering: 79.5% Source: AMCAT. ...
  • Computing: 77.2% Source: University of Portsmouth. ...
  • Architecture: 61.5% Source: Construction News. ...
  • Physical Sciences: 56.25% Source: The Open Notebook. ...
  • Business and Management: 52.9% ...
  • Biological Sciences: 50.3% per cent.

What is the most male dominant job?

Which job is the most male-dominated? Brickmason/stonemason jobs are the most male-dominated jobs, with 99.7% of workers being male.