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Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates vs Lawyers: what changes?

Consider Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates if you want to arbitrate, advise, adjudicate, or administer justice in a court of law. Consider Lawyers if you would rather represent clients in criminal and civil litigation and other legal proceedings, draw up legal documents, or manage or advise clients on legal transactions. Both list doctoral or professional degree; compare training and prior experience separately. Prior experience in a related occupation is typically needed for Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates (5 years or more).

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates and Lawyers. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences
What this means in practice

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Start with earnings, the route into the job, training, available openings, and a day-to-day reality.

Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates

National median pay (2025)
$153,990
Route into the job
Doctoral or professional degree; Prior related experience: 5 years or more; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience
Prior related experience: 5 years or more.
Training and licensing
One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate
Sentence defendants in criminal cases, on conviction by jury, according to applicable government statutes.
Annual openings (2025–2035)
800
Know before you choose

BLS lists 5 years or more of related experience. This is normally reached through feeder roles, not directly from school.

See the full Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates brief

Lawyers

National median pay (2025)
$159,670
Route into the job
Doctoral or professional degree
Prior related experience
No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing
BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate
Interpret laws, rulings and regulations for individuals and businesses.
Annual openings (2025–2035)
28,700
Know before you choose

Review the full career brief for day-to-day working conditions.

See the full Lawyers brief
See scores, detailed data, and how the comparison works

How the national numbers differ

1

Lawyers has the edge on annual openings

Lawyers is at 28,700 annual openings, compared with 800 annual openings for Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates.

2

Lawyers has the edge on projected growth

Lawyers is at 4.7% projected growth, compared with 2.8% projected growth for Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates.

3

Lawyers has the edge on median pay

Lawyers is at $159,670, compared with $153,990 for Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates.

46.9/ 100

Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates

vs
71.8/ 100

Lawyers

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates vs Lawyers

DimensionJudges, Magistrate Judges, and MagistratesLawyers
Median pay (2025)$153,990$159,670
Pay percentile95.5 percentile95.7 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)2.8%4.7%
Annual openings (2025–2035)80028,700
2025 employment25,300863,700
How you qualifyDoctoral or professional degree; Prior related experience: 5 years or more; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensingDoctoral or professional degree
O*NET preparation groupJob Zone 5Job Zone 5
Related work experiencePrior related experience: 5 years or more.No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job trainingOne month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates briefRead Lawyers brief

Try another comparison

Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates vs Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers

Compare pay, growth, education, and the tradeoffs that affect the decision.

Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates
$153,990 · 2.8% growth
Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers
$117,860 · 0% growth
Compare careers →

Lawyers vs Judicial Law Clerks

Compare pay, growth, education, and the tradeoffs that affect the decision.

Lawyers
$159,670 · 4.7% growth
Judicial Law Clerks
$64,920 · 2.8% growth
Compare careers →
ChooseField compares fields using public labor-market and professional sources.