How Much Should I Charge as a Lawyer?

Understanding how your hourly rate compares to what other lawyers charge provides valuable insight into how competitive your rates are and helps you make strategic decisions regarding your billing rate. 

Every year, Clio’s researchers analyze aggregated and anonymized data from tens of thousands of legal professionals working across all states and practice areas to determine the average cost for an hour of legal services in the United States. Each iteration of the Legal Trends Report includes annual data on average hourly rates and key performance indicators (KPIs) to help analyze lawyer and law firm productivity, efficiency, and revenue generation. 

Average lawyer hourly rates by state

The following chart provides the average lawyer hourly rate by state at a glance.

State
Average Lawyer Hourly Rate 2025
Average Lawyer Hourly Rate 2024
Alabama $250 $246
Alaska $329 $300
Arkansas $269 $271
Arizona $325 $287
California $420 $391
Colorado $319 $302
Connecticut $404 $384
District of Columbia $490 $462
Delaware $472 $423
Florida $351 $335
Georgia $363 $340
Hawaii $337 $312
Iowa $250 $254
Idaho $304 $267
Illinois $349 $349
Indiana $290 $278
Kansas $311 $292
Kentucky $244 $236
Louisiana $265 $266
Massachusetts $331 $318
Maryland $361 $344
Maine $254 $236
Michigan $296 $294
Minnesota $325 $305
Missouri $300 $280
Mississippi $248 $242
Montana $258 $234
North Carolina $315 $295
North Dakota $324 $285
Nebraska $261 $256
New Hampshire $289 $294
New Jersey $363 $348
New Mexico $280 $261
Nevada $325 $330
New York $420 $398
Ohio $276 $268
Oklahoma $278 $257
Oregon $324 $296
Pennsylvania $311 $302
Rhode Island $368 $317
South Carolina $297 $287
South Dakota $251 $245
Tennessee $298 $281
Texas $367 $345
Utah $335 $291
Virginia $378 $351
Vermont $279 $267
Washington $344 $322
Wisconsin $278 $278
West Virginia $196 $195
Wyoming $309 $290

 

Guide to lawyer rate information for each state

Each lawyer rate information state page provides detailed information regarding average hourly rates and KPIs. Here’s how to interpret the information covered in each section.

Hourly rates by practice area

These are average hourly rates by practice area in each state. These rates include hourly rates for lawyers and cover common practice areas.

Hourly rates versus adjusted hourly rates

These rates are divided into average hourly rates in each state for law firms, attorneys, and non-lawyers (non-lawyer rates may include non-lawyer staff such as paralegals, legal assistants, firm managers, or other administrative staff).

Adjusted hourly rates have been adjusted to reflect the cost of living for each state.

Key performance indicators (KPIs): utilization, realization, and collection rates

The right KPIs provide valuable insights into a law firm’s performance. This information helps lawyers understand how they and their staff contribute to revenue generation and can be instrumental in identifying areas for continuous improvement.
Every lawyer should be familiar with the following KPIs:
  1. Utilization rate: How much of a typical eight-hour work day is spent on billable hours for clients.
  2. Realization rate: The number of billable hours—after discounting and write-offs—that actually make it onto a client’s bill
  3. Collection rate: How many of these billed hours are actually paid by clients.

Hourly rates over the last five reports

For comparison, and to see trends over time, we provide the average and adjusted hourly rates for law firms, attorneys, and non-lawyers over the past five Legal Trends Reports.

  • 2025 LTR Methodology

    Methodology for hourly rate calculations

    Clio’s hourly rate calculations compare aggregated and anonymized billing data from tens of thousands of legal professionals working across all states and practice areas. For more information on the methodology used in this analysis, please download the report and refer to the Methodology section in the Appendix.

Get more insights for your law firm

Staying on top of the right data and trends can help you make the best decisions for your practice. That’s why the Legal Trends Report provides information on the most important issues faced within the legal profession. Amid inflation, rising interest rates, and volatile employment markets, we provide key insights on how global trends have impacted business and productivity among law firms.

Read the Legal Trends Report