State rankings
Average Attorney Fees by State
District of Columbia has the highest Avg Hourly Attorney Rate in 2024 ($462), followed by Delaware ($423) and New York ($398). West Virginia has the lowest ($195).
51 of 51 states
Cost-of-living adjustmentConverts wages and incomes to what they would buy at average US prices, so $100k in a cheap state and $100k in an expensive one are not treated as equal.More in the glossary →
Avg Hourly Attorney Rate, 2024
Darker means higher. Click a place to highlight it.
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All 51 ranked
Highest first.
Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →
Each dot is one state; the lines mark the median and the middle half.
Median
$292
Middle half $267 – $326
Average
$300
51 states
Highest
$462
District of Columbia
Lowest
$195
West Virginia
Over time · 2021–2024
The top 5 in 2024, against the median.
- Median of all states
- District of Columbia
- Delaware
- New York
- California
- Connecticut
Data
Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.
51 states · # = rank by Avg Hourly Attorney Rate
| # | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  District of Columbia | $462 |
| 2 |  Delaware | $423 |
| 3 |  New York | $398 |
| 4 |  California | $391 |
| 5 |  Connecticut | $384 |
| 6 |  Virginia | $351 |
| 7 |  Illinois | $349 |
| 8 |  New Jersey | $348 |
| 9 |  Texas | $345 |
| 10 |  Maryland | $344 |
| 11 |  Georgia | $340 |
| 12 |  Florida | $335 |
| 13 |  Nevada | $330 |
| 14 |  Washington | $322 |
| 15 |  Massachusetts | $318 |
| 16 |  Rhode Island | $317 |
| 17 |  Hawaii | $312 |
| 18 |  Minnesota | $305 |
| 19 |  Pennsylvania | $302 |
| 19 |  Colorado | $302 |
| 21 |  Alaska | $300 |
| 22 |  Oregon | $296 |
| 23 |  North Carolina | $295 |
| 24 |  Michigan | $294 |
| 24 |  New Hampshire | $294 |
| 26 |  Kansas | $292 |
| 27 |  Utah | $291 |
| 28 |  Wyoming | $290 |
| 29 |  Arizona | $287 |
| 29 |  South Carolina | $287 |
| 31 |  North Dakota | $285 |
| 32 |  Tennessee | $281 |
| 33 |  Missouri | $280 |
| 34 |  Indiana | $278 |
| 34 |  Wisconsin | $278 |
| 36 |  Arkansas | $271 |
| 37 |  Ohio | $268 |
| 38 |  Idaho | $267 |
| 38 |  Vermont | $267 |
| 40 |  Louisiana | $266 |
| 41 |  New Mexico | $261 |
| 42 |  Oklahoma | $257 |
| 43 |  Nebraska | $256 |
| 44 |  Iowa | $254 |
| 45 |  Alabama | $246 |
| 46 |  South Dakota | $245 |
| 47 |  Mississippi | $242 |
| 48 |  Kentucky | $236 |
| 48 |  Maine | $236 |
| 50 |  Montana | $234 |
| 51 |  West Virginia | $195 |
What correlates with Avg Hourly Attorney Rate (2024)?
Pearson r against 2,094 other state metrics sharing at least 31 states. Correlation is not causation.
Higher together
Places that have a higher Avg Hourly Attorney Rate tend to score higher on these
Opposite directions
Places that have a higher Avg Hourly Attorney Rate tend to score lower on these
- Plot
- Plot
- Presidential Margin (Republican minus Democratic, Points)Presidential Election Results by State, 2016–2024Plotr = −0.70 · strong · n = 51
- Plot
- Plot
- Republican Vote Share (President, %)Presidential Election Results by State, 2016–2024Plotr = −0.69 · strong · n = 51
Quick answers
- Which state has the highest Avg Hourly Attorney Rate?
- District of Columbia has the highest Avg Hourly Attorney Rate in 2024, at $462, followed by Delaware ($423) and New York ($398).
- Which state has the lowest Avg Hourly Attorney Rate?
- West Virginia has the lowest Avg Hourly Attorney Rate in 2024, at $195.
- What is the median Avg Hourly Attorney Rate across US states?
- The median is $292 across the 51 US states with data in 2024.
- Where does this average attorney fees by state data come from?
- Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: How Much Do Lawyers Cost: Fees Broken Down By State - Contracts Counsel; What the “State of the US Legal Market” report showed about law firm billing rate performance in 2023 and where it may go in 2024 - Reuters; Average lawyer hourly rates by state - Clio; Lawyer Hourly Rate & Fees by State - LawPay.