NALP Bulletin+
January 2026
When comparing compensation across cities, the salary figure alone doesn't tell the whole story. The relative buying power of the U.S. dollar in a location and how far a new law graduate's paycheck will stretch is an important consideration as well. For example, a law student choosing between Washington, D.C. and San Francisco might wonder: Which city provides greater purchasing power? A location with stronger buying power can offer greater lifestyle flexibility, more discretionary income, and the opportunity for new lawyers to reach personal milestones, such as paying off student debt, purchasing a home, or starting a family, more quickly. NALP's Buying Power Index (BPI) offers comparative data for 117 cities, helping users evaluate how far a salary goes in each location. The full index is available here.
Within this resource, NALP has analyzed compensation data from the Class of 2024 Employment Report and Salary Survey in conjunction with cost-of-living data from the Council for Community & Economic Research (C2ER) to rank cities based on a Buying Power Index, which illustrates purchasing power differentials. The BPI was calculated using New York City's Class of 2024 median private practice salary and its cost of living as a benchmark. New York City's BPI is thus 1.00. BPIs for other cities demonstrate how much buying power the median law firm salary for the Class of 2024 in that location provides compared with the New York City median. Table 1 shows the BPI for the 41 cities in which at least 50 law firm salaries were reported for the Class of 2024, and for which cost-of-living information was available. Those cities with a BPI greater than 1.0 offer more purchasing power compared to New York City and those with a BPI below 1.0 provide less purchasing power.
When buying power is considered for the Class of 2024, 35 of these cities are considered more affordable than New York City. Houston, TX remained the city with the most buying power — a position it has held in each biennial edition of NALP's BPI since the Class of 2016. Five cities — Baton Rouge, LA; Orlando, FL; Raleigh, NC; Portland, OR; and Irvine, CA — provide less purchasing power than New York City. In contrast, some cities, such as Omaha, NE and Las Vegas, NV had median salaries that were less than half of the $225,000 New York City median law firm salary, but nevertheless, provided more buying power.
The complete Buying Power Index includes all 117 cities for which at least ten law firm salaries were reported for the Class of 2024, and for which cost-of-living information was also available. I encourage you to explore this resource to learn much more about buying power comparisons and the variety of ways in which you can use them. For example, explore how to compare similar salaries in any two cities with different BPIs, or discover how you can use the BPI to calculate the relative buying power for any salary in a city (not just the median) with that of New York City. This is a valuable resource to share with students and recent graduates who are considering job opportunities in more than one location.
Learn more about how entry-level law firm salaries vary by location in Jobs & JDs: Employment and Salaries of New Graduates, Class of 2024, available in the NALP bookstore.
Table 1. Class of 2024 Buying Power Index for Cities with at Least 10 Reported Law Firm Salaries
| City | Class of 2024 Median Law Firm Salary ($) | Salary ($) Required to Yield New York City Buying Power | Buying Power Index | # of Law Firm Salaries Reported |
| Houston, TX | $215,000 | $91,912 | 2.339 | 468 |
| Minneapolis, MN | 180,000 | 91,327 | 1.971 | 118 |
| Chicago, IL | 215,000 | 112,305 | 1.914 | 791 |
| Dallas, TX | 187,500 | 99,230 | 1.890 | 426 |
| Philadelphia, PA | 190,000 | 100,791 | 1.885 | 202 |
| Wilmington, DE | 190,000 | 101,767 | 1.867 | 68 |
| St. Louis, MO | 160,000 | 86,936 | 1.840 | 53 |
| Atlanta, GA | 167,500 | 93,669 | 1.788 | 290 |
| Nashville, TN | 170,000 | 96,303 | 1.765 | 101 |
| Austin, TX | 165,000 | 95,035 | 1.736 | 141 |
| Denver, CO | 180,000 | 105,963 | 1.699 | 158 |
| Cleveland, OH | 145,000 | 89,180 | 1.626 | 105 |
| Washington, DC | 225,000 | 138,454 | 1.625 | 922 |
| Indianapolis, IN | 135,000 | 86,644 | 1.558 | 51 |
| Boston, MA | 215,000 | 142,357 | 1.510 | 471 |
| Salt Lake City, UT | 160,000 | 106,353 | 1.504 | 75 |
| Los Angeles, CA | 215,000 | 145,772 | 1.475 | 674 |
| Birmingham, AL | $130,000 | 89,571 | 1.451 | 78 |
| Richmond, VA | 130,000 | 91,912 | 1.414 | 55 |
| Columbus, OH | 130,000 | 93,083 | 1.397 | 82 |
| San Francisco, CA | 225,000 | 162,749 | 1.382 | 402 |
| Kansas City, MO | 120,000 | 88,888 | 1.350 | 101 |
| Milwaukee, WI | 130,000 | 98,059 | 1.326 | 60 |
| Palo Alto, CA | 225,000 | 176,312 | 1.276 | 160 |
| Miami, FL | 147,000 | 117,866 | 1.247 | 200 |
| Phoenix, AZ | 125,000 | 103,719 | 1.205 | 63 |
| Omaha, NE | 105,000 | 89,668 | 1.171 | 61 |
| Las Vegas, NV | 110,000 | 96,108 | 1.145 | 51 |
| Seattle, WA | 152,500 | 141,576 | 1.077 | 118 |
| Tampa, FL | 100,000 | 95,230 | 1.050 | 94 |
| Oklahoma City, OK | 84,000 | 80,301 | 1.046 | 63 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 100,000 | 95,815 | 1.044 | 114 |
| New Orleans, LA | 112,520 | 109,670 | 1.026 | 64 |
| San Diego, CA | 145,000 | 141,771 | 1.023 | 133 |
| San Antonio, TX | 90,000 | 88,985 | 1.011 | 51 |
| New York City, NY | 225,000 | 225,000 | 1.000 | 2,883 |
| Baton Rouge, LA | 90,000 | 90,546 | 0.994 | 51 |
| Orlando/Winter Park, FL | 92,000 | 94,059 | 0.978 | 62 |
| Raleigh, NC | 90,000 | 94,840 | 0.949 | 85 |
| Portland, OR | 105,000 | 113,768 | 0.923 | 57 |
| Irvine, CA | 130,000 | 152,504 | 0.852 | 111 |
Note: Cities with at least 50 private practice salaries reported for the Class of 2024 are included in the table.
Sources: Cost-of-living information comes from the Council for Community & Economic Research (C2ER) and its calendar year 2024 Cost of Living Index. Median law firm salary data is from NALP's Jobs & JDs, Class of 2024.
