What Lawyers earn in Paulding County, GA
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $138,210: the median annual pay for Lawyers in Paulding County, GA. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $66.45 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $206,950, which is 49.7% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 18,760 people working in this occupation across the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Paulding County, GA has roughly 178,909 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Lawyers in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $58,750 a year ($28.25 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $328,900 or more ($158.13 an hour). That is a gap of $270,150 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $89,190 at the 25th percentile and $216,240 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 5.6 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $66.45 an hour or $138,210 a year at the median for Paulding County, GA. Before any deductions, that is $11,518 a month, $5,316 every two weeks and $2,658 each week. After taxes the same job pays $47.52 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Lawyers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Lawyers this way: "Represent clients in criminal and civil litigation and other legal proceedings, draw up legal documents, or manage or advise clients on legal transactions. May specialize in a single area or may practice broadly in many areas of law."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Advise clients concerning business transactions, claim liability, advisability of prosecuting or defending lawsuits, or legal rights and obligations"; "Interpret laws, rulings and regulations for individuals and businesses"; "Analyze the probable outcomes of cases, using knowledge of legal precedents"; "Evaluate findings and develop strategies and arguments in preparation for presentation of cases".
Job outlook for Lawyers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 863,700 jobs in 2025 to 904,300 in 2035, a change of +4.7%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 28,700 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 3.3% of current employment each year. About 11.3% of the people in this occupation are self-employed, and wage figures cover wage and salary workers only.
Typical entry-level education: doctoral or professional degree. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $159,670 for this occupation; the Paulding County, GA median of $138,210 is 13.4% below it.
How pay in Paulding County, GA compares
Compared with the Georgia average
A worker in this occupation in Paulding County, GA earns $3,271 more than the Georgia average of $134,939, a premium of 2.4%. Over a year that premium is worth $3,271 before tax and roughly $2,340 after tax. Within Georgia, Paulding County, GA already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Lawyers is $160,953 across the contiguous United States. At $138,210, Paulding County, GA pays $22,743 less, which is 14.1% below that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Paulding County, GA
Among the 585 occupations with published wages in Paulding County, GA, Lawyers ranks number 29 by median pay, ahead of about 95% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers at $618,090 a year, which is $479,880 more than the median for Lawyers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Lawyers earning the Paulding County, GA median of $138,210, they add up to $39,361. The result is $98,849 of take-home pay a year ($8,237 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $28 goes to taxes and $72 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 28.5%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $122,460. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 24% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $22,237, an effective 16.1% of gross pay, well below the 24% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $8,569 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $2,004. FICA totals $10,573, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Georgia
Georgia income tax on this salary is $6,550 a year, or 4.7% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 29% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $546 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Paulding County, GA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Paulding County, GA show an average adjusted gross income of $72,776 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 10.6% across all filers. Filers in the $100,000 to under $200,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 10.5%, compared with the 16.1% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Paulding County, GA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Paulding County, GA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $98,849 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Paulding County, GA, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,619 a month ($19,428 a year), and at $1,762 for two bedrooms. For Lawyers, a one-bedroom absorbs 19.6% of take-home pay and 14.1% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 2.5% of gross pay for Lawyers in Paulding County, GA. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Georgia residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,488 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $720, for $2,207 in total. Gasoline in Georgia averages $2.95 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,366.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $26,437 a year in Paulding County, GA. Subtract that from $98,849 of take-home pay and $72,412 remains, which is $6,034 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 52.4% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Paulding County, GA
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Paulding County, GA: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Paulding County, GA, set beside the Georgia and national medians.
Property taxes in Paulding County, GA
Homeowners in Paulding County, GA pay a median of $2,619 a year in real estate taxes, 12% above the Georgia median of $2,341 and 16% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $326,300, the median tax bill is 0.80% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Lawyers median of $138,210, a tax bill of that size would equal 1.9% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Paulding County, GA
Renters in Paulding County, GA pay a median gross rent of $1,772 a month in the Census survey, 27% above the Georgia median of $1,393. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,619 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $326,300, 8% above the Georgia median of $303,300. Median household income is $98,031, 27% above the Georgia median of $77,353, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 19.8% of that income.
Commuting in Paulding County, GA
Workers in Paulding County, GA who travel to a workplace spend an average of 39.6 minutes each way, 40% above the Georgia average of 28.3. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 6.6 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 14.9% of workers in Paulding County, GA work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Lawyers afford to live in Paulding County, GA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $138,210 that ceiling is $3,455 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,619 is $1,836 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $31.13 an hour; the median for Lawyers is $66.45, which is 113% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $47.52 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 7.9 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,762 a month means $881 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $8,856 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $81,268.
How fast you can save
At $6,034 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 2 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 4 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Lawyers pay in Paulding County, GA
How much do Lawyers make per hour in Paulding County, GA?
The median is $66.45 per hour, based on $138,210 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $28.25 at the 10th percentile to $158.13 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Lawyers take home after taxes in Paulding County, GA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $138,210 becomes $98,849 a year. That is $8,237 a month, $3,802 every two weeks or $1,901 a week.
How much tax do Lawyers pay in Paulding County, GA?
Total taxes are $39,361 a year, an effective rate of 28.5%: $22,237 federal income tax, $10,573 FICA and $6,550 Georgia income tax.
Do Lawyers earn more in Paulding County, GA than elsewhere in Georgia?
Yes. The local median of $138,210 is +2.4% versus the Georgia average of $134,939, a difference of $3,271 a year.
Can Lawyers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Paulding County, GA?
A one-bedroom costs $1,619 a month against take-home pay of $8,237, which is 19.7% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $3,455 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Lawyers in Paulding County, GA?
About $6,034 a month ($72,412 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $26,437 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Paulding County, GA at the 30% guideline?
$31.13 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $19,428 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Lawyers is $66.45.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Georgia rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.