Pay
Pay and cost of living
What first-years earn at each firm, what that salary is worth where you’d live, and how two offers compare once bonus, tax and rent are in.
First-year base across 98 firms
See every firm’s figure- $450,000+1 firm
- $255,000+7 firms
- $240,000+1 firm
- $235,000+6 firms
- $225,000+66 firms
- $215,000+8 firms
- $210,000+3 firms
- $205,000+1 firm
- $200,000+3 firms
- $180,000+1 firm
- $166,000+1 firm
From each firm’s own announcement or the market scale it follows, as labelled on its profile. Firms that don’t publish a figure are left out.
Offer 1
Offer 2
Year-end bonus payout
Stress-test the comparison: what changes if the bonus pays below market, at market, or above market? Slider applies to every offer simultaneously.
100%
Decision read
Offer 1 has the highest headline package.
Offer 1 leads on both cost-adjusted value and post-tax hourly value. That is the cleanest financial winner before you layer in practice fit, people, and geography.
Side-by-side
| Metric | Offer 1 | Offer 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Market | New York | New York |
| Expected hours/week | 55 hrs | 55 hrs |
| Total cash (base + signing + bonus + clerkship) | $266,000 | $266,000 |
| Cost-adjusted buying power | $142,246 | $142,246 |
| Post-tax take-home (approx.) | $167,109 | $167,109 |
| Post-tax effective hourly | $58/hr | $58/hr |
| State + city tax rate | 10.7% | 10.7% |
Cost-of-living indices and tax estimates are cited on the methodology page. Estimates, not tax advice.