The American Bar Association and the National Association for Law Placement both track law school graduate employment and salary information. Each law school must provide its employment data to prospective students in the ABA Required Disclosures. Students can always find this information by clicking the words “ABA Required Disclosures,” which usually appear on a law school’s website or typing those words into the search bar on the law school’s website. 

Prospective law students should carefully examine the employment outcome numbers for schools of interest and compare them to these national numbers as well as to those of other schools of interest. How well is a school doing placing graduates in the types of jobs that you want upon graduation? How much must you earn in salary to afford to repay your projected law school debt?

Salary data for law school graduates is complex.  For 2018 graduates, approximately 50% of all salaries were between $45,000 and $75,000 per year.   While a smaller percentage of graduates obtain very selective positions starting at $180,000 - 190,000 per year, these numbers do not reflect the financial reality for the majority of law school graduates who earn significantly less income. See NALP’s Salary Distribution Curves for a visual of recent law grads' reported salaries.