Law

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Total Degrees
Awarded in 2017

35,492

declining 6.02%

Median In-State
Public Tuition

$8,698

growing 1.4%

Median Out-of-State
Private Tuition

$42,627

growing 3.72%

Average Wage

$70,253

declining 0.911%

People in Workforce

90,094

declining 2.48%

Average Employee Age

41.6

declining 2.77%

About

The locations with the highest concentration of Law degree recipients are New York, NY, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles, CA. The locations with a relatively high number of Law degree recipients are Vineyards, FL, Grundy, VA, and South Royalton, VT. The most common degree awarded to students studying Law is a professional doctorate.

Photo by The Wolf Law Library

Legal

Institutions

Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Law and the types of students that study this field. Georgetown University awards the most degrees in Law in the US, but Southern University Law Center and Florida Coastal School of Law have the highest percentage of degrees awarded in Law.

Tuition costs for Law majors are, on average, $8,698 for in-state public colleges, and $42,627 for out of state private colleges.

The most common sector, by number of institutions, that offers Law programs are Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above institutions (120 total). The most common sector, by number of degrees awarded, is Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above (21,629 completions).

Institutions

Institution with the Most Degrees Awarded in Law

The most common sector, by number of degrees awarded in Law, is Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above (21,629 completions).

The following chart shows the share of universities that offer Law programs, by the total number of completions, colored and grouped by their sector.

Tuition Costs for Common Institutions

$8,698

Median In-State Public

$42,627

Median Out of State Private

Georgetown University has the most Law degree recipients, with 671 degrees awarded in 2017.

The following bar chart shows the state tuition for the top 5 institutions with the most degrees awarded in Law.

Specialized Colleges

Highest Concentration Institution

Out of all institutions that offer Law programs and have at least 5 graduates in those programs, Southern University Law Center and Florida Coastal School of Law have the highest percentage of degrees awarded in Law, with 100% and 100%, respectively.

Degrees Awarded by County

Counties with the Most Degrees Awarded in Law

This map shows the counties in the United States colored by the highest number of degrees awarded in Law by year.

Growth in Awarded Degrees

Counties with the Fastest Growing Number of Degrees Awarded

This map shows the counties in the United States colored by the highest growth in degrees awarded for Law.

Employment

Information on the businesses and industries that employ Legal graduates and on wages and locations for those in the field.

The average salary for Legal majors is $70,253 and the most common occupations are Paralegals & legal assistants, Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers, and Other managers.

The industry that employs the most Legal majors is Legal services, though the highest paying industry, by average wage, is Securities, commodities, funds, trusts & other financial investments.

Wages

Yearly Income for Common Jobs

The closest comparable data for the 4 Digit Course Law is from the 2 Digit Course Legal.

$70,253

Average Wage in Workforce

± $6,141

0.911%

1 Year Growth

± 12.5%

The average salary for Legal majors is $70,253 and the most common occupations are Paralegals & legal assistants, Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers, and Other managers.

This chart shows the average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Legal majors.

Highest Paying Locations

The closest comparable data for the 4 Digit Course Law is from the 2 Digit Course Legal.

Highest Paying Pumas

This map shows the public use micro areas (PUMAs) in the United States colored by the average salary of Legal majors.

Note that the census collects information tied to where people live, not where they work. It is possible that Legal majors live and work in the same place, but it is also possible that they live and work in two different places.

Occupations

Most Common

The closest comparable data for the 4 Digit Course Law is from the 2 Digit Course Legal.

The most common occupations Legal majors, by number of employees, are Paralegals & legal assistants, Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers, and Other managers.

Most Specialized

The closest comparable data for the 4 Digit Course Law is from the 2 Digit Course Legal.

Compared to other majors, there are an unusually high number of Legal majors working as Paralegals & legal assistants, Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers, and Firstline supervisors of police & detectives.

Highest Paid

The closest comparable data for the 4 Digit Course Law is from the 2 Digit Course Legal.

The highest paid occupations by median income for Legal majors are Sales representatives, wholesale & manufacturing, Real estate brokers & sales agents, and Lawyers, & judges, magistrates, & other judicial workers.

Occupations by Share

The closest comparable data for the 4 Digit Course Law is from the 2 Digit Course Legal.

90,094

2018 Workforce

± 7,367

2.48%

1 Year Growth

± 11.8%

The number of Legal graduates in the workforce has been declining at a rate of 2.48%, from 92,387 in 2017 to 90,094 in 2018.

The largest single share of Legal graduates go on to work as Paralegals & legal assistants (17.8%). This chart shows the various jobs filled by those with a major in Legal by share of the total number of graduates.

Industries

Most Common

The closest comparable data for the 4 Digit Course Law is from the 2 Digit Course Legal.

The most common industries that employ Legal majors, by number of employees, are Legal services, Justice, public order, & safety activities , and Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges.

Highest Paid

The closest comparable data for the 4 Digit Course Law is from the 2 Digit Course Legal.

The highest paying industries of Legal majors, by average wage, are Securities, commodities, funds, trusts & other financial investments, Electric power generation, transmission & distribution, and Scientific research & development services.

Industries by Share

The closest comparable data for the 4 Digit Course Law is from the 2 Digit Course Legal.

90,094

2018 Workforce

± 7,367

2.48%

1 Year Growth

± 11.8%

The number of Legal graduates in the workforce has been growing at a rate of 2.48%, from 92,387 in 2017 to 90,094 in 2018.

The industry which employs the most Legal graduates by share is Legal services, followed by Justice, public order, & safety activities . This visualization shows the industries that hire those who major in Legal.

Specialty Locations

The closest comparable data for the 4 Digit Course Law is from the 2 Digit Course Legal.

PUMAS with a relatively high number of Legal majors

This map shows the public use micro areas (PUMAs) in the United States where there are a relatively high population of Legal majors.

Diversity

Demographic information on those who earn a degree in Legal in the US. The average age of a person in the workforce with a degree in Legal is 41.6, and the most common degree type these workers hold is a Professional Doctorate. Male employees are more likely to hold Legal degrees, and White students earn the majority (21,903) of the degrees.

Workforce Age

The closest comparable data for the 4 Digit Course Law is from the 2 Digit Course Legal.

41.6

Average Age in 2018

± 1.01 Years

2.77%

1 Year Change

± 3.42%

This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Legal. The most common ages of employees with this major are 39 and 27 years old, which represent 3.65% and 3.63% of the population, respectively.

Degrees Awarded

The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Law are Professional Doctorate, Research Doctorate, and Other Doctorate.

Workforce Degrees

The closest comparable data for the 4 Digit Course Law is from the 2 Digit Course Legal.

The most common degree types held by the working population in Legal are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Professional degree.

Gender Imbalance for Common Institutions

Male (50.3%)

Most Common Gender with a Degree in this Field

This chart shows the granted degrees by gender at the 5 institutions that graduate the most students in Law.

Race & Ethnicity by Degrees Awarded

Most Common Race or Ethnicity

White
21,903 degrees awarded
Hispanic or Latino
4,000 degrees awarded
Black or African American
2,811 degrees awarded

This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Law for each race & ethnicity. White students earned the largest share of the degrees with this major.

Race & Ethnicity by Gender

Most Common Race/Ethnicity and Gender Combination

N/A
N/A degree-grads_ethnicity_genders awarded
N/A
N/A degree-grads_ethnicity_genders awarded
N/A
N/A degree-grads_ethnicity_genders awarded

This chart illustrates the differences by gender for each race & ethnicity of Bachelors Degree recipients in Law. N/A students, who earn most of the degree-grads_ethnicity_genders in this field, are the most common combination of race/ethnicity and gender.

Global Diversity

The closest comparable data for the 4 Digit Course Law is from the 2 Digit Course Legal.

Most Common Countries of Origin

Philippines
1,412 degree recipients
Mexico
1,091 degree recipients
Jamaica
960 degree recipients

High Relative Number of Students

Trinidad & Tobago
6.89 times more than expected
Jamaica
4.4 times more than expected
Philippines
2.4 times more than expected

There are a relatively high number of people that were born in Trinidad & Tobago that hold Legal degrees (6.89 times more than expected), and the most common country of origin by total numbers for non-US students earning a degree in this field is Philippines (1,412 degree recipients).

Skills

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Law field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Law majors need many skills, but most especially Speaking. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Law majors need more than the average amount of Persuasion, Critical Thinking, and Learning Strategies.

These two visualizations, one a radial chart and one a bar chart, show the same information, a rating of how necessary the following skills are for Law majors. Toggle between "value" and "RCA" to see the absolute rating of that skill (value) and the revealed comparative advantage (RCA), or how much greater or lesser that skill's rating is than the average. The longer the bar or the closer the line comes to the circumference of the circle, the more important that skill is. The importance of Persuasion is very distinctive for majors, but the Speaking, Reading Comprehension, and Active Listening are the three most important skills for people in the field.

Radar Distribution

Bar Chart

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