this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2024
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[–] [email protected] 48 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

Public defenders make the list. Last figures I saw average salary is around $65k.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago (4 children)

Is that more of a 'big expensive city' thing or is $65k generally considered low in the US? I'm not from there so I am trying to put that into perspective

[–] ChihuahuaOfDoom 16 points 4 months ago (1 children)

For a lawyer it doesn't matter where you are in the US that is very low. I used to make more than that doing tech support in a high cost of living area.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

That's not a lot more than the average salary of a paralegal

[–] Fondots 10 points 4 months ago

In general, that's probably a pretty OK income, not amazing, but probably a bit better than average depending on where you are in the country, but far from being wealthy, you're probably not struggling, but you're not above needing to worry about money sometimes either.

And since public defenders are lawyers, that's kind of a shitty income given that they had to go through law school and such.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

65k is livable in most places but not particularly comfortable anywhere.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

I asume it's 65k a year? Gross or net? Not from US, just want to compare. My brother-in-law's fiance is public sector lawyer and she does barely above minimum wage here (eastern EU). She gets somewhere between 15-20k USD a year (net, after tax).

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

In the US nobody really mentions their salary as an after tax amount, it’s almost always give as the pre-tax, pre-deduction amount.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Good to know, thank you.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

It's not terrible. I mentioned it mainly because getting through law school in the US costs about $200k. Becoming a lawyer is one of the most expensive fields to get into.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

My public defender wasn't worth a single cent. Justice is a sham, as is evident by Trump still walking around with his head after his heavy treason.