How Many Lawyers Are There In The US in 2024?

How Many Lawyers Are There in the US? An In-Depth Look at the Legal Profession

The legal profession has a long and storied history in the United States, dating back to the early days of the American colonies. Today, lawyers remain critically important to the functioning of the US legal system and economy. But just how many lawyers are out there poring over legal briefs, meeting with clients, and appearing in courtrooms across America?

To understand the scope and composition of the US legal profession, it is helpful to examine key statistics from reputable sources. This article provides an in-depth look at the latest data on how many lawyers there are in the total US lawyer population, where they are concentrated geographically, employment trends for new law graduates, gender breakdowns, lawyer salaries, billable hours, competitive legal fields, and the impact of technology on the profession.

The Total Number of Licensed, Practicing Lawyers in the US

According to the American Bar Association, there are over 1.3 million lawyers currently licensed and practicing in the United States as of 2021. With the US population exceeding 336 million people, this means that lawyers make up around 0.39% of the total population.

To put this figure in perspective, if you gathered all of the licensed lawyers in America into one city, it would be more populous than San Jose, CA, the 10th largest city in the US. Needless to say, over 1 million is a lot of lawyers!

Geographic Concentration of Lawyers in the US

Lawyers are not evenly distributed across the country. In fact, nearly 25% of all US lawyers are concentrated in just two states: New York and California.

As of 2021, New York state has the highest number at 185,075 lawyers, followed closely by California with 167,709. Both states have global economic epicenters in New York City and Los Angeles, generating high volumes of corporate, real estate, entertainment, and other lucrative legal cases.

After New York and California, the state with the next highest number is the retirement haven of Florida with 77,223 lawyers, less than half of the top two. Other populous states like Texas (98,383 lawyers) and Illinois (62,355 lawyers) still lag far behind the big two in total attorney numbers.

This maldistribution of lawyers in the US has advantages and disadvantages when it comes to the legal job market. On the one hand, New York and California offer plentiful job opportunities at prestigious firms with higher pay. On the other hand, the concentration means stiffer competition amongst attorneys in those legal markets.

Employment Trends for New Law Graduates

Speaking of jobs, where do newly minted lawyers leaving law school typically end up working these days?

According to ABA data, around 50% of law school graduates find jobs at private law firms after finishing school. Joining an established law firm provides new attorneys the chance to gain hands-on experience while earning income to pay off student debt.

Comparatively few new lawyers hang up their own shingle right away, with only 1% starting their own practice immediately after graduation. Solo practitioners have the highest risk and reward, lacking the resources and support of an existing firm.

A moderate proportion of 12% take jobs in government, securing more stable if less lucrative positions with federal, state, or municipal agencies. The remainder scatter about in business roles, public interest groups, academia, and other occupations related to the field of law.

Gender Breakdown of US Lawyers

While the "pale male" stereotype still prevails in the public imagination, the legal profession as a whole has been marching steadily towards gender parity over the past few decades.

As of 2021, the ABA reports that 48.5% of all licensed lawyers are men, while 51.5% are women. The scales only just tipped towards a female majority recently, representing a significant shift.

However, women lawyers today still face disadvantages compared to their male peers. For example, male lawyers outnumber females by 12% in private law firm partnerships, generally considered the most prestigious and lucrative positions. The compensation gender gap remains firmly entrenched as well, with female lawyers making only 93 cents for every dollar paid to males.

So while female representation has increased greatly in the lawyer workforce, true equality with their stand-up-in-court-suited brethren remains elusive.

Lawyer Salaries and Billable Hours

Financially speaking, pursuing a career as a lawyer can certainly pay dividends over time. According to 2020 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual salary for all lawyers stands at a healthy $126,930. That puts lawyers firmly in the upper strata of US earners.

Of course, lawyer pay varies significantly based on several factors. These include years of experience, law firm size, practice area specialization, geographical location, and whether they work at a private firm, in-house legal department, government agency, public interest non-profit, or academia.

On an hourly billing basis, partners at top Manhattan corporate law firms can charge well over $1,000+ per hour for their time. Compare that to the average lawyer rate across the entire US of around $300 per hour, according to industry analysis.

However, when it comes to actually recording hours towards a client invoice, lawyers fall surprisingly short. Tracker data indicates that lawyers only tally an average of 2.5 billable hours per day. Of course they work more hours than that in reality. But activities like administration, continuing education, client development, and pro bono service eat into potential billing time.

This statistic should give anyone considering law school pause about the real earning prospects over the long run in this demanding field. Billable targets often make or break careers at law firms. Partners expect new attorneys to log between 1,800 – 2,000 billable hours per year. Hitting those levels consistently means long hours that reduce quality of life.

Most Competitive Legal Practice Areas

With over 1 million lawyers competing for business across America, certain legal specialties have emerged as particularly lucrative, desirable, and saturated. This translates to extreme competition.

Based on ABA and industry data, personal injury law stands out as one of the most competitive practice areas. Representing clients who suffered harm due to accidents or negligence can potentially yield high contingency fee rewards. Navigating complex claims with insurance companies provides plenty of demand for legal services as well.

However, the high stakes and financial incentives also attract hordes of lawyers. Having extensive litigation experience and legal skills is critical just to scratch out a living compared to all the other personal injury attorneys chasing accident victims. Intense rivalry means only the shrewdest lawyers succeed.

Technology, Legal Practice, and the Future

While technology has disrupted other white collar professions like finance, medicine, and academia, the legal world may seem antiquated by comparison. Vision of lawyers still evoke dusty bookshelves stacked with leather-bound volumes.

However, technology has made steady inroads affecting how modern lawyers conduct their work on a daily basis. The latest ABA technology survey indicates that 45% of lawyers believe technology use increases overall fairness in the judicial system. Additionally, a sizable 59% of lawyers report utilizing online legal software for activities like document storage/management, billing, legal research, and eDiscovery.

The COVID-19 pandemic also forced rapid technology adoption out of necessity, with 79% of clients rating remote connectivity as an important factor when selecting legal representation in a recent Clio survey. Even after pandemic restrictions faded, offering virtual meeting options remains vital to client service.

As new innovations like artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and smart contracts continue spreading through the industry, technology promises to be the biggest driver reshaping legal practice in the 21st century. Savvy lawyers recognize the necessity of adapting to remain competitive.

The Bottom Line

So how many lawyers are currently working across the United States? According to the ABA, over 1.3 million licensed attorney are plying their trade in America today. While only a tiny sliver of the overall US workforce, lawyers as a collective occupational group wield outsized economic and societal influence daily.

Now you know where most lawyers congregate geographically, employment patterns for new juris doctors, compensation benchmarks, competitive dynamics by practice area, technology impacts, and key demographic data like gender representation. These insights help illuminate the inner workings of this vital profession.

The next time you read a legal industry headline or drama about a high profile courtroom lawyer, you can contextualize the story better and impress cocktail party guests with lawyer statistics. Because after all, gathering interesting knowledge is what lawyers do best, despite public perceptions to the contrary. The multifaceted figures inside this piece certainly tell a compelling data story behind the 1.3 million lawyers working across America.