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October 27, 2011
City-by-City Rankings: Buying Power of Starting Associate Salaries
NALP, Buying Power Index Class of 2010:Median Private Practice Salaries Cities Ranked by Buying Power of the Salary (Class of 2010)
| City | Reported Median Salary | Salary Required to Yield New York City Buying Power* | Buying Power Index |
| Dallas, TX | $150,000 | $67,870 | 2.210 |
| Houston, TX | 135,000 | 68,100 | 1.982 |
| Atlanta, GA | 135,000 | 70,610 | 1.912 |
| Chicago, IL | 145,000 | 86,360 | 1.679 |
| Boston, MA | 160,000 | 97,890 | 1.634 |
| Los Angeles, CA | 160,000 | 100,700 | 1.589 |
| Birmingham, AL | 105,000 | 67,135 | 1.564 |
| Washington, DC | 160,000 | 103,440 | 1.547 |
| St. Louis, MO | 100,000 | 66,840 | 1.496 |
| Newport Beach, CA | 160,000 | 108,100 | 1.480 |
| Newark, NJ | 135,000 | 95,820 | 1.409 |
| Menlo Park, CA | 160,000 | 115,340 | 1.387 |
| Mountain View, CA | 160,000 | 115,340 | 1.387 |
| Palo Alto, CA | 160,000 | 115,340 | 1.387 |
| Kansas City, MO | 100,000 | 72,240 | 1.384 |
| Denver, CO | 105,000 | 76,230 | 1.377 |
| Phoenix, AZ | 102,000 | 74,380 | 1.371 |
| Nashville, TN | 90,000 | 65,730 | 1.369 |
| Detroit, MI | 100,000 | 73,420 | 1.362 |
| Cleveland, OH | 100,000 | 74,680 | 1.339 |
| Philadelphia, PA | 125,000 | 93,460 | 1.337 |
| Austin, TX | 93,500 | 70,610 | 1.324 |
| San Francisco, CA | 160,000 | 121,110 | 1.321 |
| Minneapolis, MN | 108,000 | 82,000 | 1.317 |
| Jackson, MS | 93,750 | 71,645 | 1.308 |
| Irvine, CA | 140,000 | 108,100 | 1.295 |
| Salt Lake City, UT | 95,000 | 74,380 | 1.277 |
| New Orleans, LA | 90,000 | 71,645 | 1.256 |
| Charlotte, NC | 82,500 | 68,910 | 1.197 |
| Milwaukee, WI | 90,000 | 75,190 | 1.197 |
| Rochester, NY | 88,000 | 73,860 | 1.191 |
| Omaha, NE | 77,000 | 65,210 | 1.181 |
| Fort Worth, TX | 79,000 | 67,280 | 1.174 |
| Seattle, WA | 105,000 | 89,610 | 1.172 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 78,000 | 67,650 | 1.153 |
| Miami, FL | 85,000 | 78,370 | 1.085 |
| Memphis, TN | 70,000 | 65,210 | 1.073 |
| Las Vegas, NV | 80,000 | 75,270 | 1.063 |
| San Antonio, TX | 75,000 | 70,680 | 1.061 |
| Columbus, OH | 72,000 | 67,950 | 1.060 |
| Charleston, WV | 72,000 | 68,470 | 1.052 |
| New York, NY | 160,000 | 160,000 | 1.000 |
| Baltimore, MD | 87,000 | 88,210 | 0.986 |
| Alexandria, VA | 100,000 | 103,440 | 0.967 |
| Cincinnati, OH | 65,000 | 69,350 | 0.937 |
| Raleigh, NC | 67,750 | 72,530 | 0.934 |
| Hartford, CT | 83,000 | 89,980 | 0.922 |
| San Diego, CA | 90,000 | 97,670 | 0.921 |
| Dayton, OH | 62,000 | 67,580 | 0.917 |
| Des Moines, IA | 60,000 | 67,210 | 0.893 |
| Louisville, KY | 57,500 | 64,770 | 0.888 |
| Tulsa, OK | 57,500 | 65,360 | 0.880 |
| Tampa, FL | 60,000 | 68,318 | 0.878 |
| Columbia, SC | 65,000 | 74,160 | 0.876 |
| Sacramento, CA | 75,000 | 85,840 | 0.874 |
| Albuquerque, NM | 60,000 | 70,240 | 0.854 |
| Oakland, CA | 87,500 | 102,700 | 0.852 |
| Buffalo, NY | 60,000 | 70,760 | 0.848 |
| Richmond, VA | 65,000 | 77,190 | 0.842 |
| Portland, OR | 67,000 | 82,220 | 0.815 |
| Jacksonville, FL | 55,000 | 68,690 | 0.801 |
| Orlando, FL | 57,500 | 72,240 | 0.796 |
| Baton Rouge, LA | 54,500 | 70,980 | 0.768 |
| Little Rock, AR | 54,000 | 71,275 | 0.753 |
| Oklahoma City, OK | 50,000 | 67,800 | 0.737 |
| Fort Lauderdale, FL | 62,000 | 85,470 | 0.725 |
| Long Beach, CA | 72,000 | 100,700 | 0.715 |
| Southfield, MI | 51,250 | 73,490 | 0.697 |
| San Jose, CA | 80,000 | 115,340 | 0.694 |
| Charleston, SC | 50,000 | 72,610 | 0.689 |
| Albany, NY | 50,000 | 79,850 | 0.626 |
Update:
- ABA Journal, Why New York Isn’t No. 1: Associates in Dallas Get the Most Bang for Their Buck
- Above the Law, NALP ‘Buying Power’ Index Says Everything Is Bigger in Texas
- National Law Journal, When It Comes to Buying Power, Dallas Beats New York
October 27, 2011 in Legal Education | Permalink
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Comments
I'm always curious to know how these comparisons are calculated (though not curious enough to spend time researching it). Does this factor in things like when a person from Charlestown, WV making $72k a year wants to take a vacation compared to a person from NY making $160k per year taking that same vacation?
And what about when the person from Charlestown wants to retire to Phoenix or Florida compared to the person from NY?
Posted by: the real anon | Oct 27, 2011 3:18:05 PM
This is an interesting chart. The problem is that the salary data seems completely off.
Are they talking about all salaries? Just mid-size and large firm salaries?
Not to mention, where I work (a smaller market in the Southwest), they list the starting salary at $80,000. However, I started at just over $100k, and *every* mid-size or national firm out here starts at $105k-125k. I have no idea where they got this $80k number.
Posted by: Anon | Oct 28, 2011 12:05:41 PM
