Lawyer 2026 Statistics (Updated September)

How many lawyers are in the US

1. 1

   The ABA counted 1,374,720 resident active lawyers in the United States in 2025, up 1.38% from 1,355,963 in 2024.

   Source: American Bar Association, 2025 Profile of the Legal Profession (December 2025), 2025 ^[1]

2. 2

   The number of resident active lawyers grew by 73,363 over the ten years to 2025, an increase of 5.6%, according to the American Bar Association's 2025 Profile of the Legal Profession.

   Source: American Bar Association, 2025 Profile of the Legal Profession (December 2025), 2025 ^[1]

3. 3

   Lawyers held about 863,700 jobs in 2025, a BLS count in which 11% of jobs are self-employed.

   Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Lawyers, 2025 ^[2]

4. 4

   About 1.146 million employed people named lawyer as their main job in 2025, according to the Current Population Survey.

   Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, table 11 (2025 annual averages), 2025 ^[3]

5. 5

   In ProfessionLens figures computed from ABA and BLS counts, there are 1.8 licensed resident lawyers for every lawyer job on a payroll: 1,361,867 counted by the ABA in the 50 states and D.C. (territories excluded) against 754,500 wage and salary jobs counted by BLS. The gap is widest in Kentucky (2.37) and smallest in Delaware (1.14).

   Source: ProfessionLens · ABA counts for 2025, BLS OEWS May 2025 · 50 states and D.C. · method

6. 6

   From 1900 to 2000 the number of U.S. lawyers rose 793%, from 114,460 to just over 1 million, according to the American Bar Association's Profile of the Legal Profession.

   Source: American Bar Association, Profile of the Legal Profession: Demographics, 2024 ^[4]

Which states have the most lawyers

1. 7

   New York had 190,015 resident active lawyers in 2025 and California had 181,048, the two largest state counts, according to the American Bar Association's 2025 Profile of the Legal Profession.

   Source: American Bar Association, 2025 Profile of the Legal Profession (December 2025), 2025 ^[1]

2. 8

   Texas had 99,867 resident active lawyers in 2025, Florida 80,976 and the District of Columbia 65,824, according to the American Bar Association's 2025 Profile of the Legal Profession.

   Source: American Bar Association, 2025 Profile of the Legal Profession (December 2025), 2025 ^[1]

3. 9

   In ProfessionLens figures computed from ABA and Census counts, with 2025 counts, Arizona has the fewest resident active lawyers per resident of any state, 2.0 per 1,000, half the national rate of 4.0. New York has the most at 9.6, the same rate the ABA reported for 2024.

   Source: ProfessionLens · ABA lawyer counts for 2025, Census population for July 2024 · 50 states and D.C., 1,361,867 lawyers (territories excluded) · method

4. 10

   Oklahoma's count of resident active lawyers rose 15.29% in one year, from 12,245 in 2024 to 14,117 in 2025, the largest percentage gain of any state.

   Source: American Bar Association, 2025 National Lawyer Population Survey, 2025 ^[5]

5. 11

   Over ten years the lawyer population of the South grew 11%, the West 7% and the Northeast about 3%, while the Midwest fell 1.4%, according to the American Bar Association's 2025 Profile of the Legal Profession.

   Source: American Bar Association, 2025 Profile of the Legal Profession (December 2025), 2025 ^[1]

6. 12

   The State Bar of California listed 201,110 active licensees on September 23, 2026, with an average age of 50.

   Source: State Bar of California, Attorney Demographics (updated daily), 2026 ^[6]

Lawyer demographics: gender, race and age

1. 13

   Women were 41% of resident active lawyers in 2025 and men 58%, a one-point gain for women since 2024, according to the American Bar Association's 2025 Profile of the Legal Profession.

   Source: American Bar Association, 2025 Profile of the Legal Profession (December 2025), 2025 ^[1]

2. 14

   Women were 42.9% of employed lawyers in 2025, according to the Current Population Survey.

   Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, table 11 (2025 annual averages), 2025 ^[3]

3. 15

   In 2025, 9.2% of employed lawyers were Hispanic or Latino, 6.0% Asian and 5.9% Black, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current Population Survey.

   Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, table 11 (2025 annual averages), 2025 ^[3]

4. 16

   Lawyers of color were 23% of the profession in 2024, up from 12% in 2014, in the states that report race.

   Source: American Bar Association, Profile of the Legal Profession: Demographics, 2024 ^[4]

5. 17

   The median age of lawyers was 46 in 2023, about four years above the median for all U.S. workers, according to the American Bar Association's Profile of the Legal Profession.

   Source: American Bar Association, Profile of the Legal Profession: Demographics, 2024 ^[4]

6. 18

   More than 13% of lawyers were 65 or older in 2023, against about 7% of all U.S. workers, according to the American Bar Association's Profile of the Legal Profession.

   Source: American Bar Association, Profile of the Legal Profession: Demographics, 2024 ^[4]

Law firm partners and associates

1. 19

   Women made up a record 29.55% of law firm partners in 2025.

   Source: NALP, 2025 Report on Diversity in U.S. Law Firms, 2025 ^[7]

2. 20

   Women were more than 52% of law firm associates in 2025.

   Source: NALP, 2025 Report on Diversity in U.S. Law Firms, 2025 ^[7]

3. 21

   At firms with a two-tier partnership, women held 26.5% of equity partner seats in 2025, up 1.7 points in a year, the largest one-year gain NALP has recorded since 2011.

   Source: NALP, 2025 Report on Diversity in U.S. Law Firms, 2025 ^[7]

4. 22

   Partners of color were 12.67% of law firm partners in 2025, almost unchanged from 12.73% in 2024.

   Source: NALP, 2025 Report on Diversity in U.S. Law Firms, 2025 ^[7]

5. 23

   Black lawyers were 2.42% of law firm partners in 2025, the first decline in that share since 2014.

   Source: NALP, 2025 Report on Diversity in U.S. Law Firms, 2025 ^[7]

6. 24

   At firms with a two-tier partnership, equity partners were 55.7% of partners in 2025, down from 61.3% in 2011.

   Source: NALP, 2025 Report on Diversity in U.S. Law Firms, 2025 ^[7]

How much lawyers earn

1. 25

   The median annual wage for lawyers was $159,670 in May 2025.

   Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Lawyers, 2025 ^[2]

2. 26

   The top 10% of salaried lawyers earned more than $351,600 in May 2025 and the bottom 10% less than $78,360.

   Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Lawyers, 2025 ^[2]

3. 27

   The average lawyer wage rose 19.2% from 2021 to 2023, faster than the 13.0% rise in consumer prices over the same period, according to the American Bar Association's Profile of the Legal Profession.

   Source: American Bar Association, Profile of the Legal Profession: Wages, citing BLS, 2023 ^[8]

4. 28

   The median starting salary for the law Class of 2025 was a record $100,000, up 5.3% from $95,000 for the Class of 2024.

   Source: NALP, Jobs & JDs: Employment for the Class of 2025, Selected Findings (August 2026), 2026 ^[9]

5. 29

   The mean starting salary for the Class of 2025 was $128,412, up 2.0% from the Class of 2024.

   Source: NALP, Jobs & JDs: Employment for the Class of 2025, Selected Findings (August 2026), 2026 ^[9]

6. 30

   Average profits per equity partner across the Am Law 100 rose 14.0% to $3.59 million.

   Source: LawFuel press release on the 2026 Am Law 100 (May 2026), 2026 ^[10]

7. 31

   Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz paid an average of $12.152 million per equity partner, the first Am Law 100 firm above $12 million.

   Source: LawFuel press release on the 2026 Am Law 100 (May 2026), 2026 ^[10]

Law firm revenue and billing

1. 32

   The 100 largest U.S. law firms by revenue took in $178.95 billion combined, 13.0% more than the year before.

   Source: LawFuel press release on the 2026 Am Law 100 (May 2026), 2026 ^[10]

2. 33

   Kirkland & Ellis became the first law firm to pass $10 billion in revenue, with $10.556 billion, up 19.93%.

   Source: LawFuel press release on the 2026 Am Law 100 (May 2026), 2026 ^[10]

3. 34

   Profits per lawyer at Am Law 100 firms have risen 53.7% since 2019, according to the Thomson Reuters Institute's 2026 State of the US Legal Market report.

   Source: Thomson Reuters Institute, 2026 Report on the State of the US Legal Market (January 2026), 2026 ^[11]

4. 35

   Lawyers recorded 38% of an 8-hour workday as billable time on average in 2025, about 3.0 hours, according to Clio's Legal Trends Report 2025.

   Source: Clio, Legal Trends Report 2025 benchmarks, 2025 ^[12]

5. 36

   Law firms invoiced 88% of the billable time their lawyers recorded in 2025, according to Clio's Legal Trends Report 2025.

   Source: Clio, Legal Trends Report 2025 benchmarks, 2025 ^[12]

6. 37

   The median law firm waited 93 days between doing work and getting paid for it in 2025, according to Clio's Legal Trends Report 2025.

   Source: Clio, Legal Trends Report 2025 benchmarks, 2025 ^[12]

7. 38

   In ProfessionLens figures computed from BLS employment data, U.S. employers have 1.9 salaried lawyers for every paralegal. Rhode Island is the only state with more paralegals than lawyers, at 0.89 lawyers per paralegal (1,840 lawyers, 2,070 paralegals); D.C. has 5.2.

   Source: ProfessionLens · BLS OEWS May 2025 · 754,500 lawyer jobs, 392,880 paralegal jobs · method

Law school, the bar exam and first jobs

1. 39

   Law schools enrolled 42,817 first-year J.D. students in fall 2025, 4% more than in 2024, according to the American Bar Association's 2025 Standard 509 law school data.

   Source: American Bar Association, Section of Legal Education, 2025 Standard 509 data (December 2025), 2025 ^[13]

2. 40

   Women were 55.1% of the fall 2025 first-year J.D. class, according to the American Bar Association's 2025 Standard 509 law school data.

   Source: American Bar Association, Section of Legal Education, 2025 Standard 509 data (December 2025), 2025 ^[13]

3. 41

   Total J.D. enrollment reached 120,039 in fall 2025, up 4,629 students from 2024, according to the American Bar Association's 2025 Standard 509 law school data.

   Source: American Bar Association, Section of Legal Education, 2025 Standard 509 data (December 2025), 2025 ^[13]

4. 42

   67,442 people took a bar exam in 2025 and 63% passed.

   Source: National Conference of Bar Examiners, 2025 Statistics (The Bar Examiner, 2026), 2026 ^[14]

5. 43

   The July 2025 bar exam had a 69% pass rate, against 47% for the February 2025 exam.

   Source: National Conference of Bar Examiners, 2025 Statistics (The Bar Examiner, 2026), 2026 ^[14]

6. 44

   Graduates of law schools outside the U.S. were 15% of 2025 bar examinees and 35% of them passed.

   Source: National Conference of Bar Examiners, 2025 Statistics (The Bar Examiner, 2026), 2026 ^[14]

7. 45

   92.8% of Class of 2025 law graduates with a known employment status had a job ten months after graduation, the second-highest rate NALP has recorded.

   Source: NALP, Jobs & JDs: Employment for the Class of 2025, Selected Findings (August 2026), 2026 ^[9]

8. 46

   84.6% of Class of 2025 law graduates with a known employment status held jobs that require or anticipate bar admission, an all-time high.

   Source: NALP, Jobs & JDs: Employment for the Class of 2025, Selected Findings (August 2026), 2026 ^[9]

9. 47

   Firms with more than 500 lawyers hired more than one in five employed graduates of the Class of 2025, more than any other employer group.

   Source: NALP, Jobs & JDs: Employment for the Class of 2025, Selected Findings (August 2026), 2026 ^[9]

10. 48

    BLS projects that lawyer employment will grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, faster than the average for all occupations.

    Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Lawyers, 2025 ^[2]

11. 49

    BLS projects about 28,700 openings for lawyers each year over the decade to 2035.

    Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Lawyers, 2025 ^[2]

How lawyers use AI

1. 50

   69% of legal professionals surveyed for 8am's 2026 report (September and October 2025) used general-purpose AI tools such as ChatGPT for work, up from 31% in the 2025 report.

   Source: 8am 2026 Legal Industry Report, reported by LawSites (March 2026), 2026 ^[15]

2. 51

   28% of legal professionals surveyed for 8am's 2026 report said they use generative AI every day, and 19% said they never use it.

   Source: 8am 2026 Legal Industry Report, reported by LawSites (March 2026), 2026 ^[15]

3. 52

   AI use reported in the ABA legal technology survey rose from 11% in 2023 to 30% in 2024; at firms with 100 or more attorneys it reached 46%.

   Source: ABA 2024 Legal Technology Survey, reported by LawSites (March 2025), 2025 ^[16]

4. 53

   76% of legal professionals surveyed for 8am's 2026 report said AI could narrow the access-to-justice gap.

   Source: 8am, 2026 Legal Industry Report, 2026 ^[17]

Lawyer mental health and access to justice

1. 54

   47.4% of lawyers screened positive for high burnout in a 2026 study of about 37,000 licensed lawyers, and 15.6% for severe burnout.

   Source: American Bar Association and Krill Strategies, lawyer mental health study (September 2026), 2026 ^[18]

2. 55

   21.7% of lawyers met the threshold for moderate to extremely severe depression symptoms in the 2026 American Bar Association and Krill Strategies study of about 37,000 lawyers.

   Source: American Bar Association and Krill Strategies, lawyer mental health study (September 2026), 2026 ^[18]

3. 56

   41.8% of lawyers screened positive for risky drinking in 2026; hazardous drinking was about 10 points lower than in the 2016 study.

   Source: American Bar Association and Krill Strategies, lawyer mental health study (September 2026), 2026 ^[18]

4. 57

   Low-income Americans got no legal help or not enough help for 92% of their substantial civil legal problems.

   Source: Legal Services Corporation, The Justice Gap (2022), 2022 ^[19]

Patent attorneys and agents: what the USPTO roster shows

1. 58

   In the ProfessionLens count of the USPTO practitioner roster, 27% of the 53,795 people registered to practise before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office are patent agents rather than patent attorneys: 14,724 agents against 38,406 attorneys.

   Source: ProfessionLens · USPTO roster downloaded 2026-09-15 · 53,795 active registered practitioners · method

2. 59

   In the ProfessionLens count of the USPTO practitioner roster, Fish & Richardson lists more USPTO-registered patent practitioners than any other employer, 279, ahead of Wilson Sonsini (276), Finnegan (269), Knobbe Martens (231) and Kilpatrick Townsend (230).

   Source: ProfessionLens · USPTO roster downloaded 2026-09-15 · 53,795 practitioners, 39,125 with an employer name · method

3. 60

   In the ProfessionLens count of the USPTO practitioner roster, Wilson Sonsini employs 123 registered patent agents, more than any other employer, and at Cooley agents outnumber patent attorneys, 83 to 76.

   Source: ProfessionLens · USPTO roster downloaded 2026-09-15 · practitioners matched to each firm · method

Frequently asked questions

How many lawyers are in the US?

The American Bar Association counted 1,374,720 resident active lawyers in 2025, up 1.38% from 2024. That is a count of licences held by people living in each state. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts about 863,700 lawyer jobs, including self-employed lawyers, and 754,500 lawyer jobs on payrolls.

Which state has the most lawyers?

New York, with 190,015 resident active lawyers in 2025, followed by California with 181,048, Texas with 99,867 and Florida with 80,976. Per resident, New York also leads the states with 9.6 lawyers per 1,000 people against a national rate of 4.0.

What percentage of lawyers are women?

41% of resident active lawyers were women in 2025, according to the ABA, and 42.9% of employed lawyers, according to the Current Population Survey. At law firms, women were more than 52% of associates and 29.55% of partners in 2025, according to NALP.

How much do lawyers make?

The median annual wage for salaried lawyers was $159,670 in May 2025. The top 10% earned more than $351,600. New law graduates had a median starting salary of $100,000 for the Class of 2025.

What is the bar exam pass rate?

67,442 people took a bar exam in 2025 and 63% passed. The July exam had a 69% pass rate and the February exam 47%.

How many lawyers use AI?

69% of legal professionals, including paralegals, surveyed for 8am's 2026 report in September and October 2025 used general-purpose AI tools such as ChatGPT for work, up from 31% in the 2025 report. 28% said they use generative AI every day.

Sources

1. [1]American Bar Association, 2025 Profile of the Legal Profession (December 2025). 2025.↑1 ↑2 ↑7 ↑8 ↑11 ↑13
2. [2]U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Lawyers. 2025.↑3 ↑25 ↑26 ↑48 ↑49
3. [3]U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, table 11 (2025 annual averages). 2025.↑4 ↑14 ↑15
4. [4]American Bar Association, Profile of the Legal Profession: Demographics. 2024.↑6 ↑16 ↑17 ↑18
5. [5]American Bar Association, 2025 National Lawyer Population Survey. 2025.↑10
6. [6]State Bar of California, Attorney Demographics (updated daily). 2026.↑12
7. [7]NALP, 2025 Report on Diversity in U.S. Law Firms. 2025.↑19 ↑20 ↑21 ↑22 ↑23 ↑24
8. [8]American Bar Association, Profile of the Legal Profession: Wages, citing BLS. 2023.↑27
9. [9]NALP, Jobs & JDs: Employment for the Class of 2025, Selected Findings (August 2026). 2026.↑28 ↑29 ↑45 ↑46 ↑47
10. [10]LawFuel press release on the 2026 Am Law 100 (May 2026). 2026.↑30 ↑31 ↑32 ↑33
11. [11]Thomson Reuters Institute, 2026 Report on the State of the US Legal Market (January 2026). 2026.↑34
12. [12]Clio, Legal Trends Report 2025 benchmarks. 2025.↑35 ↑36 ↑37
13. [13]American Bar Association, Section of Legal Education, 2025 Standard 509 data (December 2025). 2025.↑39 ↑40 ↑41
14. [14]National Conference of Bar Examiners, 2025 Statistics (The Bar Examiner, 2026). 2026.↑42 ↑43 ↑44
15. [15]8am 2026 Legal Industry Report, reported by LawSites (March 2026). 2026.↑50 ↑51
16. [16]ABA 2024 Legal Technology Survey, reported by LawSites (March 2025). 2025.↑52
17. [17]8am, 2026 Legal Industry Report. 2026.↑53
18. [18]American Bar Association and Krill Strategies, lawyer mental health study (September 2026). 2026.↑54 ↑55 ↑56
19. [19]Legal Services Corporation, The Justice Gap (2022). 2022.↑57

Method

We searched Google for lawyer statistics, how many lawyers are in the US, attorney statistics and lawyer demographics, read the ten statistics pages that ranked, and counted how many of them repeat each number. We then traced each number to the organisation that produced it and copied the sentence from that organisation's own page, report or table. The ABA counts licensed resident active lawyers reported by state bars; the BLS counts jobs and employed people, so the two totals differ. Our own numbers come from the USPTO Office of Enrollment and Discipline active roster (downloaded 15 September 2026), the ABA 2025 National Lawyer Population Survey state table, Census Bureau Vintage 2024 population estimates and BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for May 2025. We left the District of Columbia out of the per-resident ranking because the ABA counts D.C. lawyers across the whole metro area, and we matched USPTO employers by name prefix because the roster's employer field is free text. We found no state that publishes a bulk file of licensed attorneys, so there is no ProfessionLens attorney count by name or employer outside the patent bar.

ProfessionLens numbers new on this page:

• In the ProfessionLens count of the USPTO practitioner roster, 27% of the 53,795 people registered to practise before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office are patent agents rather than patent attorneys: 14,724 agents against 38,406 attorneys. Count of rows in the USPTO Office of Enrollment and Discipline active roster by practitioner type. 659 rows with limited recognition and 6 design agents make up the rest.
• In the ProfessionLens count of the USPTO practitioner roster, Fish & Richardson lists more USPTO-registered patent practitioners than any other employer, 279, ahead of Wilson Sonsini (276), Finnegan (269), Knobbe Martens (231) and Kilpatrick Townsend (230). The roster's employer field is free text and often truncated or misspelt, so each firm is matched by name prefix after replacing & with and and dropping punctuation (for example every row starting FINNEGAN). Offices worldwide are counted together. The gap between the first two firms is small enough that spelling variants we missed could change the order.
• In the ProfessionLens count of the USPTO practitioner roster, Wilson Sonsini employs 123 registered patent agents, more than any other employer, and at Cooley agents outnumber patent attorneys, 83 to 76. Same firm matching as the employer ranking, split by the roster's practitioner type (attorney, agent, limited recognition).
• In ProfessionLens figures computed from ABA and Census counts, with 2025 counts, Arizona has the fewest resident active lawyers per resident of any state, 2.0 per 1,000, half the national rate of 4.0. New York has the most at 9.6, the same rate the ABA reported for 2024. ABA 2025 National Lawyer Population Survey state counts divided by Census Bureau Vintage 2024 population estimates. The District of Columbia (93.7 per 1,000) is left out of the ranking because the ABA counts D.C. bar members with a home or business address anywhere in the D.C. metro area. Territories are excluded.
• In ProfessionLens figures computed from ABA and BLS counts, there are 1.8 licensed resident lawyers for every lawyer job on a payroll: 1,361,867 counted by the ABA in the 50 states and D.C. (territories excluded) against 754,500 wage and salary jobs counted by BLS. The gap is widest in Kentucky (2.37) and smallest in Delaware (1.14). ABA resident active lawyers per state divided by BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics employment for SOC 23-1011 Lawyers in the same state. OEWS counts payroll jobs only, so the gap includes self-employed lawyers, law firm partners and licensed lawyers who work outside law.
• In ProfessionLens figures computed from BLS employment data, U.S. employers have 1.9 salaried lawyers for every paralegal. Rhode Island is the only state with more paralegals than lawyers, at 0.89 lawyers per paralegal (1,840 lawyers, 2,070 paralegals); D.C. has 5.2. BLS OEWS employment for SOC 23-1011 Lawyers divided by SOC 23-2011 Paralegals and Legal Assistants, nationally and for each state.

All 60 statistics as a CSV: lawyer-statistics.csv.

Cite this page

ProfessionLens, “Lawyer 2026 Statistics (Updated September)”, updated September 2026, https://professionlens.com/research/lawyer-statistics

To cite one number, link its anchor: each statistic has one, for example https://professionlens.com/research/lawyer-statistics#stat-1.