Maintaining a tight grasp on earning expectations is essential for solo practitioners and small law firms. Within the legal space, there’s a lot of coverage on large law firm earnings and salary reports; But, what should reel in more attention is what earnings and compensation can be expected with solo practitioners and small law firms. Why? According to Clio’s 2018 Solo & Small Firm Compensation Survey Report, law firms with fewer than twenty lawyers account for ninety-five percent of law firms.

To get a better picture of what income trends lawyers in the small law firm sector can expect with earnings on average, we combed through expert reports. Below, we’ll review the following:

Average earnings overall
Average hourly rates overall
Average earnings according to law practice type

Attorney Average Earnings and Hourly Rates by State (All Firm Sizes)

With costs of living and legal demands varying from state to state, gathering perspective on average earnings can be crucial to financial decisions solo practitioners and small law firms make. Below, we’ve compiled average hourly rates and average lawyer salaries by state for reference.

State	Average Lawyer Hourly Rate (2018)	Average Law Firm Hourly Rate (2018)	Average Lawyer Salary Earned (2018)
Alabama	$197	$185	$117,100
Alaska	Not Available	Not Available	$121,680
Arizona	$251	$225	$145,750
Arkansas	$226	$213	$98,780
California	$311	$284	$171,550
Colorado	$247	$225	$147,560
Delaware	$271	$242	Not Available
Florida	$283	$257	$128,920
Georgia	$264	$245	$128,930
Hawaii	Not Available	Not Available	$111,290
Idaho	$203	$192	$99,360
Illinois	$280	$262	$152,980
Indiana	$220	$206	$113,360
Iowa	$154	$150	$112,630
Kansas	$187	$177	$109,020
Kentucky	$207	$197	$100,100
Louisiana	$222	$207	$105,490
Maine	$148	$137	$107,120
Maryland	$282	$257	$128,340
Massachusetts	$258	$249	$165,610
Michigan	$244	$229	$110,180
Minnesota	$243	$227	$119,330
Mississippi	$202	$182	$97,990
Missouri	$236	$215	$113,780
Montana	$190	$180	$88,600
Nebraska	$201	$195	$108,170
Nevada	$313	$282	$138,920
New Hampshire	$225	$216	$125,890
New Jersey	$296	$281	$139,020
New Mexico	$233	$214	$105,910
New York	$325	$308	$167,110
North Carolina	$228	$206	$129,990
North Dakota	$229	$207	$107,290
Ohio	$219	$206	$121,520
Oklahoma	$226	$207	$118,790
Oregon	$234	$215	$119,500
Pennsylvania	$262	$251	$138,610
Rhode Island	$223	$201	$125,330
South Carolina	$236	$208	$105,320
South Dakota	$200	$196	$109,070
Tennessee	$206	$195	$124,470
Texas	$272	$241	$150,250
Utah	$227	$208	$112,380
Vermont	$210	$203	$107,490
Virginia	$258	$241	$139,180
Washington	$254	$230	$136,480
West Virginia	$142	$137	$98,630
Wisconsin	$201	$192	$130,450
Wyoming	$216	$208	$105,600

(Source: Forbes and Bureau of Labor Statistics and Clio 2018 Legal Trends Report

Solo Practitioner Average Earnings

The graph below represents average salaries earned by solo practitioners both nationally and across different practice areas. This can provide essential insight into what salaries lawyers can expect on average.

Earnings (2018)	Percentage of Solo Practitioners Who Earned This
$0-$50,000	26%
$50,000 - $74,900	18%
$75,000 - $99,900	10%
$100,000 - $149,000	12%
$150,000 - $249,000	15%
$250,000 - $499,000	13%
$500,000 and higher	6%

(Source: Clio 2018 Solo & Small Firm Compensation Survey Report)

The graphs below represent average salaries earned by small law firms ,both nationally and across different practice areas, and are separated by number of attorneys employed. This can provide essential insight into what salaries lawyers can expect on average, with marked differences showing between law firms of different sizes.

Average Earnings Small Law Firms with 2-5 Attorneys

Average Earnings (2018)	Percentage of Attorneys Who Earned This
$0 - $50,000	18%
$50,000 - $74,900	30%
$75,000 - $99,900	16%
$100,000 - $149,000	14%
$150,000 - $249,000	9%
$250,000 - $499,000	7%
$500,000 and higher	6%

(Source: Clio 2018 Solo & Small Firm Compensation Survey Report)

Average Earnings Small Law Firms with 6-10 Attorneys

Average Earnings (2018)	Percentage of Attorneys Who Earned This
$0 - $50,000	27%
$50,000 - $74,900	25%
$75,000 - $99,900	18%
$100,000 - $149,000	15%
$150,000 - $249,000	9%
$250,000 - $499,000	4%
$500,000 and higher	2%

(Source: Clio 2018 Solo & Small Firm Compensation Survey Report)

Average Earnings Small Law Firms with 11-25 Attorneys

Average Earnings (2018)	Percentage of Attorneys Who Earned This
$0 - $50,000	15%
$50,000 - $74,900	17%
$75,000 - $99,900	23%
$100,000 - $149,000	29%
$150,000 - $249,000	8%
$250,000 - $499,000	6%
$500,000 and higher	2%

(Source: Clio 2018 Solo & Small Firm Compensation Survey Report)

Average Earnings Small Law Firms with 26-50 Attorneys

Average Earnings (2018)	Percentage of Attorneys Who Earned This
$0 - $50,000	12%
$50,000 - $74,900	24%
$75,000 - $99,900	16%
$100,000 - $149,000	27%
$150,000 - $249,000	9%
$250,000 - $499,000	6%
$500,000 and higher	6%

(Source: Clio 2018 Solo & Small Firm Compensation Survey Report)

Earnings by Law Practice Type (All Firm Sizes)

These days, most law firms tend to gravitate towards picking a legal specialty instead of offering a broad spectrum of general legal services. As a solo practitioner or small law firm, it’s important to have insight into what types of earnings are seen on average depending on practice type; This can also help with projections.

Practice Type	Average Attorney Earnings (2018)
Bankruptcy	$140,000
Business	$218,000
Criminal Defense	$171,000
Employment & Labor	$197,000
Estate Planning	$174,000
Family/Divorce	$142,000
Immigration	$134,000
Intellectual Property	$224,000
Medical Malpractice	$267,000
Personal Injury	$254,000
Probate	$137,000
Real Estate	$191,000
Workers Compensation	$226,000