Judicial Law Clerks · SOC 23-1012

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Judicial Law Clerkss

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for judicial law clerks. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 54 metro areas

Judicial Law Clerks: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$143,350	380	0.1
2	Springfield, MA	$143,350	40	0.2
3	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$136,950	80	0.2
4	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$101,890	120	0.2
5	Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR	$97,840	50	0.1
6	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$90,650	240	0.1
7	Knoxville, TN	$87,820	Not published	Not published
8	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$84,010	70	0.3
9	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$80,420	340	0.2
10	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$80,240	320	0.2
11	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$79,770	30	0.2
12	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$79,580	40	0.0
13	Boise City, ID	$75,780	40	0.1
14	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	$75,540	30	0.1
15	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$74,010	280	0.3
16	Richmond, VA	$70,520	70	0.1
17	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$70,110	240	0.2
18	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$70,110	160	0.1
19	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$69,990	100	0.1
20	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$69,200	290	0.1
21	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$67,230	110	0.1
22	Lincoln, NE	$67,180	50	0.3
23	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$66,640	160	0.0
24	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$66,170	80	0.2
25	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$65,260	60	0.1

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Judicial Law Clerks overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.