Lawyers Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $167K, rent takes 17% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,646/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new lawyers typically earn — is $79K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $4,760/month. At HUD’s $1,646/month FMR, rent would take 35% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $167K locally vs. $160K nationally, a 5% difference.

Virginia pays $167K median vs. the U.S. average of $160K — that’s +5%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 94.79), the purchasing-power equivalent is $176K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $167,210 a year, that works out to about $80 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $79,330, and experienced lawyers can clear $320,220. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $9,662/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,646/month, which eats 17% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Virginia has a Regional Price Parity of 94.79 (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 lawyers salary is worth about $176,400 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.