How to read this: BLS does not track real estate lawyers as their own occupation. These figures cover "Lawyers" (SOC 23-1011), which counts real estate law work alongside related roles, so read them as the band rather than the exact number.
The average real estate lawyer in the United States earns $185,840 a year, and the median, which is the figure that describes a typical worker rather than one dragged around by the top end, is $159,670. That works out at about $89.35 an hour. Where you work moves that a long way: District of Columbia averages $242,800 and Mississippi $108,930. Everything below is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 release, not from job ads or self-reported surveys.
What a real estate lawyer actually does for that money
Lawyers is the counted occupation and it spans every practice area, so this figure is not specific to real estate. Transactional real estate practice typically sits below litigation and corporate work, and partners and firm owners are outside the employed wage data.
What real estate lawyers earn, from bottom to top
An average hides the spread, and the spread is what matters when you are deciding whether to enter the trade or what to pay someone. Here is the full range BLS publishes.
| Percentile | Annual | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Bottom 10% | $78,360 | Starting out, or an apprentice rate |
| 25th | $102,990 | Still building speed and a customer base |
| Median | $159,670 | The middle of the trade |
| 75th | $221,370 | Experienced, licensed, in demand |
| Top 10% | $351,600 | Specialists, supervisors and owners |
Real Estate Law salary by state
District of Columbia pays the most at $242,800 a year, and Mississippi the least at $108,930. Cost of living explains part of that gap and licensing rules explain a good deal of the rest.
| # | State | Average annual | Median annual | Hourly | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | $242,800 | $195,190 | $116.73 | 33,070 |
| 2 | California | $230,040 | $195,080 | $110.59 | 95,770 |
| 3 | New York | $220,180 | $207,860 | $105.86 | 91,870 |
| 4 | Colorado | $206,440 | $168,520 | $99.25 | 16,720 |
| 5 | Massachusetts | $205,980 | $176,680 | $99.03 | 23,560 |
| 6 | Nevada | $205,630 | $150,510 | $98.86 | 6,490 |
| 7 | Delaware | $199,970 | $173,510 | $96.14 | 2,920 |
| 8 | Georgia | $191,190 | $134,830 | $91.92 | 23,930 |
| 9 | Connecticut | $186,170 | $163,600 | $89.50 | 8,420 |
| 10 | New Jersey | $184,090 | $161,430 | $88.51 | 23,160 |
| 11 | Illinois | $181,240 | $160,800 | $87.14 | 33,590 |
| 12 | Texas | $180,370 | $154,200 | $86.72 | 56,580 |
| 13 | Vermont | $179,630 | $127,310 | $86.36 | 1,330 |
| 14 | Virginia | $179,240 | $167,210 | $86.17 | 18,580 |
| 15 | Indiana | $175,850 | $126,860 | $84.54 | 8,970 |
| 16 | Minnesota | $174,300 | $155,140 | $83.80 | 12,380 |
| 17 | New Hampshire | $172,990 | $120,810 | $83.17 | 2,250 |
| 18 | Wisconsin | $171,200 | $126,760 | $82.31 | 9,160 |
| 19 | Washington | $169,940 | $154,130 | $81.70 | 12,770 |
| 20 | Utah | $169,480 | $132,830 | $81.48 | 7,020 |
| 21 | Pennsylvania | $169,170 | $157,180 | $81.33 | 27,170 |
| 22 | Alaska | $167,890 | $149,940 | $80.72 | 1,120 |
| 23 | Tennessee | $163,870 | $136,180 | $78.79 | 9,010 |
| 24 | Missouri | $162,820 | $133,450 | $78.28 | 11,560 |
| 25 | Florida | $162,060 | $133,180 | $77.91 | 55,210 |
| 26 | North Carolina | $160,340 | $127,710 | $77.09 | 17,000 |
| 27 | Rhode Island | $159,690 | $138,960 | $76.78 | 1,840 |
| 28 | Maryland | $157,370 | $139,110 | $75.66 | 13,810 |
| 29 | Arizona | $157,190 | $134,260 | $75.57 | 11,640 |
| 30 | Oregon | $156,620 | $138,210 | $75.30 | 7,150 |
| 31 | Ohio | $151,140 | $131,020 | $72.67 | 19,950 |
| 32 | Michigan | $148,820 | $130,520 | $71.55 | 16,620 |
| 33 | Alabama | $146,630 | $131,970 | $70.50 | 6,730 |
| 34 | Iowa | $144,760 | $123,550 | $69.59 | 3,550 |
| 35 | South Carolina | $144,700 | $120,310 | $69.57 | 7,890 |
| 36 | New Mexico | $138,250 | $119,680 | $66.47 | 3,380 |
| 37 | Nebraska | $133,490 | $109,170 | $64.18 | 3,490 |
| 38 | South Dakota | $132,270 | $102,040 | $63.59 | 1,360 |
| 39 | Arkansas | $131,680 | $98,880 | $63.31 | 3,430 |
| 40 | Kansas | $130,530 | $106,650 | $62.75 | 4,190 |
| 41 | Maine | $129,600 | $113,120 | $62.31 | 2,280 |
| 42 | North Dakota | $128,680 | $106,880 | $61.87 | 1,050 |
| 43 | Louisiana | $127,520 | $104,100 | $61.31 | 10,200 |
| 44 | Hawaii | $127,280 | $124,990 | $61.19 | 2,270 |
| 45 | Idaho | $125,070 | $103,400 | $60.13 | 2,490 |
| 46 | Wyoming | $125,050 | $100,130 | $60.12 | 900 |
| 47 | West Virginia | $123,210 | $102,420 | $59.24 | 2,440 |
| 48 | Oklahoma | $122,750 | $103,060 | $59.01 | 6,980 |
| 49 | Kentucky | $120,730 | $101,550 | $58.04 | 5,770 |
| 50 | Montana | $115,830 | $103,720 | $55.69 | 2,380 |
| 51 | Mississippi | $108,930 | $91,690 | $52.37 | 3,100 |
Where the money is: highest paying metros
State averages flatten out the difference between a city and the rural county next to it. These are the metro areas paying real estate lawyers the most.
| # | Metro area | Average annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $288,980 | $138.94 |
| 2 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $248,950 | $119.69 |
| 3 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $241,500 | $116.10 |
| 4 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $237,060 | $113.97 |
| 5 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT | $231,710 | $111.40 |
| 6 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $226,780 | $109.03 |
| 7 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $224,840 | $108.10 |
| 8 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $215,680 | $103.69 |
| 9 | Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV | $207,920 | $99.96 |
| 10 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $206,950 | $99.50 |
What moves the number
- A law degree and state bar admission, plus title agent licensing in states that require it. Nothing else on this list has a comparable barrier to entry.
- Closing volume follows the housing market, so the practice is cyclical, and firms that do both transactional and litigation work ride that out better.
- Commercial real estate, title insurance underwriting and development work pay well above residential closings.
- The bottom ten percent of real estate lawyers earn under $78,360 and the top ten percent clear $351,600. That gap is the trade telling you where the money is.
- Working for somebody else and working for yourself are different questions. These figures cover employed real estate lawyers on a payroll, so they exclude the self-employed, and in this trade a large share of the best operators are exactly that.
What you can earn running the business instead
The number above is a wage. Running the business is a different calculation: you take the full ticket rather than an hourly rate, and what you keep depends on how many jobs you fit in a week, how quickly you get paid and how much of your day goes on scheduling, estimates and chasing invoices instead of on the work. That is the part software actually changes. Owners who put scheduling, estimating, invoicing and automated follow-up in one place tend to run more jobs with the same crew, which is where the gap between a real estate lawyer wage and an owner income opens up.
Real Estate Law salary FAQs
- How much do real estate lawyers make a year?
- The median real estate lawyer in the United States earns $159,670 a year and the average is $185,840, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 release. Half the trade earns more than the median and half less.
- How much do real estate lawyers make an hour?
- The mean hourly wage is $89.35. Annual earnings are usually higher than that rate multiplied by a standard year, because overtime, call-outs and premium work are not in the base rate.
- Which state pays real estate lawyers the most?
- District of Columbia pays the most at an average of $242,800 a year, followed by California at $230,040 and New York at $220,180. Cost of living accounts for some of that and licensing rules for much of the rest.
- Which cities pay real estate lawyers the most?
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA tops the list at an average of $288,980 a year, with Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA at $248,950. Metro figures move a lot more than state averages, so the city matters more than the state.
- Can real estate lawyers earn six figures?
- Yes. The top ten percent of real estate lawyers earn $351,600 or more. Getting there usually means a combination of licensing, specialization and either supervising a crew or running the business.
- Do these figures include self-employed real estate lawyers?
- No. The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program covers wage and salary workers, so sole proprietors and business owners are excluded. In a trade with as many owner-operators as this one, that matters when you read the number.
- Where does this real estate law salary data come from?
- The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, for "Lawyers" (SOC 23-1011). It is a survey of employers rather than of workers, which is why it is more reliable than self-reported salary sites.
All wage figures on this page are from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. BLS suppresses figures in areas with too few employers to publish safely; those appear as n/a rather than an estimate.
