Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $90K, rent takes 23.6% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,365/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates typically earn — is $71K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $4,270/month. At HUD’s $1,365/month FMR, rent would take 32% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Local pay runs 42% below the national median — $90K here vs. $154K nationally. Cost of living is 6% below the national average, which narrows that gap in real purchasing power.

Lake Havasu City-Kingman pays $90K median vs. the U.S. average of $154K — that’s -42%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 94.1), the purchasing-power equivalent is $96K — below the national median.

The median is $89,990 a year, that works out to about $43 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $71,160, and experienced judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates can clear $144,490. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $5,787/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,365/month, which eats 23.6% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Lake Havasu City-Kingman has a Regional Price Parity of 94.1 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates salary is worth about $95,632 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.