who gets paid more a doctor or lawyer

by Dr. Vladimir Bednar DVM 8 min read

To the surprise of some, the reality is that the discrepancy is not even close. Specifically, the average doctor makes $208,000 per year, while the average lawyer makes $118,160.Apr 26, 2018

Full Answer

Do lawyers make more money than doctors and engineers?

However, while the BLS lists a general salary for lawyers, the pay for doctors and engineers varies greatly by specialty. As a general rule, doctors earn the highest salaries in the country. Anesthesiologists are the top earners with an annual mean wage of $232,800, while surgeons are in second place with $230,540.

What is the difference between a doctor and a lawyer?

Therefore, a doctor just starting out would be at the lower end of the doctors' list, while an experienced lawyer with a good reputation would be at the higher end of the lawyers' list, possibly with a salary greater than the doctors'.

What is the average salary of a medical lawyer?

Medical Lawyers – Salaries as high as $155,331 and as low as $20,154, the majority of Medical Lawyer salaries currently range between $31,950 (25th percentile) to $83,563 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) making $119,938 annually.

Do dentists earn more than doctors?

The doctors’ pay grade tops out at around £48K as an STR, with on-call potentially taking this into the £60Ks. It’s not until consultancy is reached that a doctor’s income is going to hit the circa £76K mark. So, by my reckoning, the dentists are ahead at this point.

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Salaries for Doctors

As a general rule, doctors earn the highest salaries in the country. Anesthesiologists are the top earners with an annual mean wage of $232,800, while surgeons are in second place with $230,540. Obstetricians and gynecologists make $216,760, while oral and maxillofacial surgeons are the highest paid dental surgeons at $216,440.

Salaries for Engineers

At $147,470, petroleum engineers are the highest paid engineers, ranking 16th out of the top twenty highest salaries. However, they are the only engineers in the top twenty. Nuclear engineers are a distant second with $107,140, while aerospace engineers are the third highest engineering specialists, earning $104,810 annually.

Salaries for Lawyers

Lawyers barely made the list of the top twenty salaries in the country. At $130,880, they were in 19th place. They are paid less than most doctors, but more than all of the engineers – except petroleum engineers.

Educational Requirements

The educational requirement for doctors is a medical degree and three to eight years of residencies and internships, depending on the specialty area. Lawyers must complete three years of law school to earn a Juris Doctor (J.D.). Engineers need a bachelor’s degree in their specialty area.

Job Outlook

The BLS projects a 24-percent increase in demand for physicians and surgeons through 2020, which is faster than the 14-percent average growth rate predicted for other U.S. occupations. However, the demand for lawyers is only projected to increase by 10 percent through 2020. The job outlook for engineers varies by specialty.

Why do IP lawyers make so much money?

One of the reasons IP lawyers make so much is due to the fact that it can be difficult to sort out IP facts and prove the case evidentially.

How much does a lawyer make in 2021?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the average lawyer’s salary is $144,230.

How much do corporate lawyers make?

At the low end of the salary scales, some corporate lawyers make less than some schoolteachers–$66,000. The more successful corporate lawyers can earn well into six figures, though.

How much do tax attorneys make?

Tax attorneys make $80,000 on the low side and $105,000 on the high scale, with most practitioners making nearly $100K. This type of attorney represents a company that deals with federal, state, or even local taxing bodies.

What are the skills needed to be a successful trial attorney?

They need to stay current with new, potentially precedent-setting cases. Their verbal, writing, and memory skills should also be top-notch. Personality also plays a huge role in trial attorneys’ compensation. The best trial attorneys are confident, persuasive courtroom performers who are nimble on their feet.

What does an IP lawyer do?

IP lawyers usually deal with patents that protect inventors’ rights and keep copycat competitors at bay during the time period the patent is valid. The stringent patent application process can be challenging even for experienced IP attorneys, so competition for the best, most experienced IP lawyers is high.

Do trial lawyers make a living?

Some are barely surviving while others are swimming in cash. However, there’s no doubt that a lawyer with a penchant for the courtroom can earn a decent living.

Who earns the most in their career?

Who earns the most in their career, a doctor or a dentist, could be argued either way. What is clear is that both careers will continue to evolve at a sometimes-terrifying rate, with plenty of stress along the way.

Do dentists have a private practice?

The doctor may have earned Clinical Excellence Awards and/or have a private practice, so will arguably have more scope to increase their earnings. Dentists may have built up a practice which will form part of their retirement planning and means they’re able to sell good will.

1. Corporate Law

The primary role of a corporate lawyer in a large law firm is to ensure the legality of company transactions. In most cases, attorneys' salaries with big law firms will start somewhere between $30,000 and $100,000 a year, depending on the size, location and financial condition of the employer.

2. Criminal Law

Criminal defense lawyers represent individuals under investigation for a crime or who have been arrested for a crime. There is room for a huge difference in salaries depending on the type of criminal cases the attorney handles. The salary trajectory based on the type of criminal lawyer and years of experience is:

3. Bankruptcy Law

Attorneys who handle bankruptcy matters assist individuals and companies in filing for bankruptcy relief. They may also work with creditors to file claims in bankruptcy cases.

4. Family Law

Family law is another area of law that is in high demand. It covers all matters related to divorce, including custody, property division, and domestic support. Family law also includes martial agreements and paternity questions.

5. Immigration Law

When it comes to types of private practice lawyers that make the most compensation, immigration lawyers round up the bottom of the list, according to labor statistics. Immigration lawyers are people who work in the field of helping citizens obtain legal documentation of their current status in the United States.

6. Civil Rights Lawyer

A person that focuses on cases that revolve around things like equality, social freedom, human rights, and discrimination are civil rights lawyers. Often, they handle cases where citizens are put under scrutiny for things they cannot control—the color of their skin, sexual orientation, etc.

7. Personal Injury Lawyer

How much money personal injury lawyers made in the United States during 2019 was $122,960 per year, according to the American Bar Association.

Average Salaries

Veterinarians earned a considerably lower average salary than lawyers in 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average veterinarian’s salary was $93,250 a year, while the average salary for lawyers was $130,880. In certain cases, however, vets might make more.

Workplace and Industry

The BLS reports that most lawyers worked in legal services in 2010, although almost a third worked for a local, state or federal government agency and a few worked in the management of companies or enterprises.

Unusual Settings

Lawyers with the highest earnings worked in some unusual industries, according to the BLS. In some cases, fewer than 100 lawyers worked in the field. For example, the cable and other subscription programming industry employed only 90 lawyers in 2012 and offered an average annual salary of $193,960.

Location Affects Salary

Geographic location affected salaries for both lawyers and veterinarians in 2012, according to the BLS. That's mainly because different areas of the country have different costs of living. Connecticut offered the highest average wages for veterinarians, at an average of $121,480 a year.

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