Order in the Court
Dallas ranks among 10 best cities in the nation for lawyers
If you're a lawyer living in Dallas, you've found an excellent city to call home, according to a new report.
Austin-based SpareFoot recently released a list of the 10 best U.S. cities for lawyers, and Dallas comes in at No. 7. The only other Texas city featured on the list is Houston, which coasts to the second spot.
To assess which cities are the best, the site teamed up with Indeed to find the 10 metro areas with the most job listings for lawyers as well as the average salaries for those positions in each city. SpareFoot also aggregated the median rent and home prices based on 2013 figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. The site ranked each metro area by combining the rankings, giving twice as much weight to job availability.
Although the average annual salary for lawyers in Dallas is nearly last on the list at $81,000, the city's overall affordability keeps it afloat. Dallas' median home price ($131,800) is the lowest of the 10 ranked cities. In terms of salary as a percentage of home price, Dallas ranks No. 2 at 61.5 percent, and for rent as a percentage of income, the city comes in at No. 3 with 19.1 percent.
The list notes Dallas' largest law firms by personnel as Haynes and Boone, Thompson & Knight, and Locke Lord. In Houston, Vinson & Elkins, Norton Rose Fulbright, and Andrews Kurth are the largest firms.
While affordability is quite similar, Houston fares a little better than Dallas due to a higher average annual salary ($90,000) and a higher percentage share of jobs.
Atlanta scores the No. 1 spot on the list, with an average annual salary of $99,000 and a median home price of $179,000. Other top cities are Chicago; Boston; Washington, D.C.; New York; San Francisco; Seattle; and Los Angeles.