Re:Law school applicants surge 13%, biggest increase since d...
by Retric on Wednesday August 04, 2021 @11:44AM
(#28062348)
That’s “Annual mean wage” not median wage.
Re:Law school applicants surge 13%, biggest increase since d...
by RussianCow on Wednesday August 04, 2021 @12:28PM
(#28062962)
Oops, you're right, I completely misread. Thanks! In any case, I'm finding a lot of conflicting data, so at best I think the actual number depends on where you look.
I'm not sure what source you're using, but no, it isn't even double the median US salary ($56k): https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm
It's good money, don't get me wrong, but it's not immediately worth it if you spend $200k paying for law school.
Edit: I misread the data above, but I'm finding similar numbers from other sources, so I guess it depends on where you look. Regardless, you're correct in your overall point, I just wanted to point out that a $100k salary does not necessarily make it worth going to law school.
With that said, you're right: if your goal is to go into law to make money, it shouldn't be very difficult earn well into the six figures a few years in. I imagine most competent lawyers earning less than that are working in public defense or a similarly underpaid aspect of law, knowing the tradeoff. For reference, the median salary for software engineers is only $110k, but that is clearly on the low end of what a competent engineer can make after even just 5 years in the industry.