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Judicial Law Clerk Salary in U.S.

The salary statistics of judicial law clerks are shown in Table 1. In the next few tables we compare the average salaries of judicial law clerks within different industry sectors and in the 50 states of the United States. The judicial law clerks annual salary statistics are from the national compensation survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2022 and published in April 2023 [1].

Table 1. Judicial Law Clerk Salary in U.S. (2022 survey)

Percentile BracketAverage Annual Salary
10th Percentile Wage
$38,850
25th Percentile Wage
$44,800
50th Percentile Wage
$57,490
75th Percentile Wage
$76,600
90th Percentile Wage
$106,670

Table 1 shows the average annual salary for judicial law clerks. The average annual salary for the 90th percentile (the top 10 percent of the highest paid) judicial law clerks is $106,670. The median annual salary (50th percentile) is $57,490. The average annual salary for the bottom 10 percent is $38,850. Note that in the United States, the annual salary of the 90th percentile (the top 10 percent of the highest paid) is almost 174% higher than that of the bottom 10 percent.

Median salary trend (2012 to 2022)

The table and chart below show the trend of the median salary of judicial law clerks from 2012 to 2022.

YearMedian SalaryYearly Growth10-Year Growth
2022
$57,490
11.72% 18.04%
2021
$50,750
-13.32% -
2020
$57,510
6.09% -
2019
$54,010
0.87% -
2018
$53,540
4.13% -
2017
$51,330
-0.84% -
2016
$51,760
1.97% -
2015
$50,740
4.14% -
2014
$48,640
2.06% -
2013
$47,640
1.09% -
2012
$47,120
- -

Table 2. Judicial Law Clerk Salary by Industry Sector (2022 survey)

The average salaries of judicial law clerks in 2 major industry sectors are shown in Table 2.

Industry Sector Median Annual Salary
Federal, State, and Local Government
$57,490
Educational Services
$18,770

Table 3. Median Annual Wage of Judicial Law Clerks by States (2022 survey)

From the above tables we note that not only judicial law clerks salaries vary considerably based on one's education and experience, and the industry sectors, they also change considerably from state to state. In the following table we compare the median salary of judicial law clerks in all 50 states of the United States. We note that the median annual salaries range from $33,410 to $139,660. The highest paying state for judicial law clerks is New York with a median annual salary of $139,660. The lowest paying state is Alabama with a median annual salary of $33,410. For more salary information of judicial law clerks profession in a specific state, use the links in the table.

State Name Median Annual Salary
New York
$139,660
Illinois
$93,750
Connecticut
$88,320
North Dakota
$85,900
Iowa
$73,670
Washington
$71,280
Tennessee
$70,550
Nevada
$70,300
Arkansas
$66,050
California
$63,090
Maryland
$60,370
Colorado
$59,200
Idaho
$59,040
Minnesota
$58,970
Maine
$57,820
Michigan
$56,570
Virginia
$56,430
Nebraska
$56,090
Louisiana
$55,710
Delaware
$55,710
Wisconsin
$52,820
New Jersey
$52,550
Alaska
$51,940
Texas
$50,890
Pennsylvania
$49,880
Missouri
$48,540
Ohio
$47,580
Hawaii
$45,250
Florida
$45,180
West Virginia
$44,370
Georgia
$42,960
Indiana
$41,540
South Carolina
$41,150
Mississippi
$40,750
Arizona
$40,690
Montana
$40,620
Utah
$39,640
Kentucky
$35,360
Oregon
$35,300
Kansas
$33,940
Oklahoma
$33,560
Alabama
$33,410