Top Markets for New Law School Grads
Yes, the Great Recession led to a brutal contraction in the legal sector. But with the economy slowing growing -- and a massive slow-down in law school enrollment -- the job market is finally improving for newly minted lawyers. But of course all geographic markets aren't recovering or growing at the same rate.
Paul Sutherland's "The Best Small Cities for Law School Graduates" analyzes the legal job market data collected by GoodCall, and explains its ranking methodology for finding the top 10 small cities or metropolitan areas for law grads. The umbrella criteria reviewing a total of 539 markets with populations under 100,000 were:
The top 10 (No. 1 was Washington, NC) scored closely together.
The top spots for individual categories were:
- Best Salary: Truckee-Grass Valley, CA ($143,880)
- Best Jobs: Summit Park, UT
- Most Affordable Housing: Indianola, MS
- Best Amenities: Jackson, WY-ID
All of which proves you don't have to live in a top market to have a legal career. Do your research, find out what the legal practice needs in those areas are, and start building your legal career around those needs.