Number of Lawyers in the US, State by State

National total

How many lawyers are in the US?

The US had 1.37 million lawyers in 2025, according to the American Bar Association's 2025 National Lawyer Population Survey. The total rose from 1.35 million in 2024 and from 1.3 million in 2015, a 10-year increase of 5.6%.

The ABA published the figures in its Profile of the Legal Profession, and the ABA Journal reported them on December 9, 2025. The survey counts active lawyers jurisdiction by jurisdiction, so its unit is the lawyer, not the job.

A lawyer, also called an attorney, advises and represents clients in legal proceedings and transactions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics names the usual entry route as a law degree plus a state license, and the license usually follows a passed bar examination.

The survey reports totals, not names. To confirm that one person holds an active license, search the state bar attorney directories, which show status record by record.

Three measures

Why do ABA and BLS lawyer counts differ?

The ABA counts active lawyers, while BLS counts jobs and employed workers. The ABA reported 1.37 million active lawyers in 2025. BLS counted 863,700 lawyer jobs in 2025 and estimated 754,500 lawyers in wage and salary employment in its 2025 survey.

A license count and a job count answer 2 different questions. The first measures how many people hold active status with a licensing jurisdiction. The second measures how many positions a lawyer fills, and OEWS narrows that to employees on a payroll.

One reason the handbook figure is higher: it includes self-employed lawyers, who hold 11% of lawyer jobs, while OEWS covers wage and salary workers only. Quote each number with its source and its year, because the 3 figures are not interchangeable.

ABA National Lawyer Population Survey

1.37 million active lawyers in 2025

BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook

863,700 lawyer jobs in 2025, self-employed lawyers included

BLS OEWS survey

754,500 lawyers in wage and salary jobs in May 2025, self-employed excluded

Concentration

Where is the ratio of lawyers to jobs highest?

The District of Columbia has the highest concentration of lawyers, with 47.112 lawyer jobs per 1,000 jobs in the 2025 BLS estimates. New York follows at 9.483 and Massachusetts at 6.477. Iowa has the lowest ratio, 2.278 per 1,000 jobs.

BLS measures concentration against total employment, so the ratio compares lawyer jobs with every job in the same state, not with residents. Delaware (6.024) and Colorado (5.816) complete the top 5.

At the other end, North Dakota (2.440), Arkansas (2.632) and Mississippi (2.667) sit just above Iowa. This guide reports the ratio only in the per-1,000-jobs form that BLS publishes.

Employers

Where do lawyers in the US work?

Legal services firms provide 52% of lawyer jobs, BLS reports. Self-employed lawyers hold 11%, local government 8%, state government 7% and the federal government 5%. These 5 employer groups account for 83% of the 863,700 jobs counted in 2025.

The BLS handbook describes 3 government roles: prosecutors pursue the government's charges, public defense attorneys represent criminal defendants who cannot afford a private attorney, and government counsels help write regulations and interpret laws. Contact records for that public side of the profession belong to a separate prosecutor email list.

Corporate counsel, also called in-house counsel, work for a single organization. Public-interest lawyers work for organizations that deliver legal services to disadvantaged people and others unable to pay for representation.

How many lawyers work in the US therefore depends on the measure: 863,700 jobs in the handbook, or 754,500 wage and salary positions in OEWS.