Lawyers in Connecticut
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$114,521
after federal, FICA and Connecticut tax
Tax takes
$49,079
30.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$110,446
Connecticut costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Connecticut — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$163,600
Kept after tax
$114,521
Worth in national money
$110,446
State rank
8
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Connecticut is one of the better-paying states for lawyers. The middle earner takes $163,600, which ranks 8 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 2.46% above the national middle.
- Within Connecticut this is well-paid work. Of 482 occupations with published figures in the state, lawyers ranks 14 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $163,600 the take-home is $114,521. But Connecticut costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $110,446 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $186,170, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Connecticut ranks 8 of 51 states publishing a median for lawyers, at $163,600 — about 2.46% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Ranked against every occupation Connecticut publishes a median for, lawyers sits 14 of 482 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Connecticut income tax is $114,521 for lawyers, from $163,600. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $110,446. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $186,170 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Lawyers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $91,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $163,600 |
| Top tenth earn over | $342,970 |
| This salary | $163,600 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Connecticut | $114,521 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $123,087 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$16,219 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $151,067 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$23,058 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 104 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $163,600 as a midpoint for Connecticut, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $91,180 and the ninetieth is $342,970 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $114,521 take-home in Connecticut comes from $163,600. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 14 of 482.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $110,446 uses one figure for the whole of Connecticut. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 482 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 14.
- The Connecticut median of $163,600 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $91,180 to $342,970. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $114,521, from $163,600, assumes a single Connecticut filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 14 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 8 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $110,446, worked from $163,600, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Connecticut address, on work sitting at 14 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $186,170, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $91,180 and the top tenth $342,970 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Connecticut costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $110,446 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Connecticut adds its own income tax on top — which is why $114,521 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Connecticut is $186,170. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($91,180) and the ninetieth ($342,970) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Connecticut's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $110,446 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $114,521 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Connecticut income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.