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Market Data

Best Cities to Open a Law Firm in 2026 (Market Data)

Where should you open a law firm? Free U.S. Census data ranks the least- and most-saturated law firms markets across 387 metros. Find the cities with the most room to grow.

Updated 2026

There are 152,970 law firms across the 387 U.S. metros we track - an average of 52.9 per 100,000 residents (the typical metro has 39.4). The least-saturated markets have the most room for a well-marketed law firm. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns (2022) and Population Estimates (2023).

Most underserved · law firms per 100k

Most saturated · law firms per 100k

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All 387 law firms markets by state

Number shown is law firms per 100,000 residents. Lower = less saturated.

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AK

Anchorage57.3 Fairbanks29.5

AL

Anniston44.7 Auburn26.3 Birmingham60.2 Daphne46.9 Decatur26.5 Dothan56.7 Florence43.8 Gadsden34.9 Huntsville37 Mobile51.5 Montgomery49.3 Tuscaloosa37

AR

Fayetteville44.2 Fort Smith39.8 Hot Springs59.1 Jonesboro52.8 Little Rock67.8

AZ

Flagstaff33.9 Lake Havasu City17.9 Phoenix45.9 Prescott Valley33.3 Sierra Vista14.4 Tucson43.7 Yuma20.6

CO

Boulder90 Colorado Springs44.1 Denver71.8 Fort Collins45 Grand Junction45.1 Greeley15.3 Pueblo23.6

CT

Bridgeport65.2 Hartford54.7 New Haven65.1 Norwich43.3 Waterbury41.9

DC

DE

GA

Albany60.5 Athens60.3 Atlanta64.5 Augusta37.7 Brunswick71.5 Columbus34.9 Dalton33.9 Gainesville41 Hinesville16.9 Macon58 Rome51.9 Savannah55.1 Valdosta51.6 Warner Robins27.9

HI

Kahului34.7 Urban Honolulu43.6

IA

Ames26.4 Cedar Rapids31.6 Davenport33.7 Des Moines49.1 Dubuque28.3 Iowa City31.7 Sioux City47.1 Waterloo27.4

ID

Boise City47.9 Coeur d'Alene53 Idaho Falls52.9 Lewiston38.1 Pocatello50.9 Twin Falls48.1

IL

Bloomington43.4 Champaign30.6 Chicago64.6 Decatur36.8 Kankakee20.8 Peoria43.1 Rockford38.6 Springfield42.8

IN

Bloomington26.1 Columbus23.8 Elkhart22.3 Evansville36.2 Fort Wayne26.2 Indianapolis41.3 Kokomo35.8 Lafayette25.6 Michigan City22.4 Muncie21.4 South Bend27.4 Terre Haute35

KS

Lawrence36.5 Manhattan25.6 Topeka45.6 Wichita30.8

KY

Bowling Green30.7 Elizabethtown34.5 Lexington54.4 Louisville/Jefferson County46.6 Owensboro36.4 Paducah44

LA

Alexandria69.5 Baton Rouge61.9 Hammond36.9 Houma43.3 Lafayette104 Lake Charles54.6 Monroe68.1 New Orleans108.3 Shreveport53.2 Slidell76.9

MA

Amherst Town31.4 Barnstable Town69.5 Boston62 Pittsfield50.5 Springfield46.7 Worcester38.2

MD

Baltimore50.3 Hagerstown26.8 Lexington Park18.1 Salisbury39.3

ME

Bangor32.8 Lewiston39.6 Portland55.8

MI

Ann Arbor44 Battle Creek18 Bay City25.4 Detroit49.4 Flint33.4 Grand Rapids29.7 Jackson18.2 Kalamazoo32.4 Lansing39.1 Midland26.2 Monroe16.1 Muskegon21.5 Niles19 Saginaw39.4 Traverse City50.5

MN

Duluth26.6 Mankato28.8 Minneapolis42.6 Rochester25.3 St. Cloud28.6

MO

Cape Girardeau37.7 Columbia49 Jefferson City41.8 Joplin34.7 Kansas City54.8 Springfield44.8 St. Joseph42.2 St. Louis50.4

MS

Gulfport39.6 Hattiesburg50.1 Jackson69.5

MT

Billings58.5 Bozeman82.3 Great Falls69.5 Helena53.1 Missoula118.2

NC

Asheville46.7 Burlington19 Charlotte38.1 Durham42.7 Fayetteville28 Goldsboro26.1 Greensboro35.1 Greenville42.8 Hickory27.6 Jacksonville24.8 Pinehurst27.1 Raleigh48.8 Rocky Mount26.8 Wilmington55.6 Winston33.2

ND

Bismarck60.4 Fargo31.6 Grand Forks35.9 Minot37

NE

Grand Island39.2 Lincoln39.8 Omaha42.2

NH

NJ

Atlantic City47.9 Trenton52.7 Vineland31.5

NM

Albuquerque67.8 Farmington26.5 Las Cruces33.3 Santa Fe76.3

NV

Carson City51.7 Las Vegas56.5 Reno51.5

NY

Albany50.4 Binghamton23.8 Buffalo49 Elmira32 Glens Falls30.3 Ithaca37.7 Kingston42.8 Kiryas Joel41.7 New York66.5 Rochester36.1 Syracuse45.8 Utica37.3 Watertown23.5

OH

Akron36.5 Canton32.5 Cincinnati33.2 Cleveland48.1 Columbus38.8 Dayton29.1 Lima30.7 Mansfield34.4 Sandusky33.4 Springfield23 Toledo38.3 Youngstown36.6

OK

Enid56.4 Lawton23.6 Oklahoma City79.3 Tulsa53

OR

Albany26.6 Bend48.3 Corvallis24.6 Eugene49.6 Grants Pass26.2 Medford35.3 Portland57.7 Salem50.4

PA

Allentown30.7 Altoona37.4 Chambersburg24.1 Erie25.4 Gettysburg17.8 Harrisburg44.4 Johnstown35.2 Lancaster20.9 Lebanon14.6 Philadelphia53.1 Pittsburgh43.1 Reading24.3 Scranton51.1 State College26.6 Williamsport36.4 York22.2

RI

SC

Charleston72.3 Columbia62.1 Florence37.1 Greenville44.8 Hilton Head Island68.8 Myrtle Beach49.6 Spartanburg25.6 Sumter30.7

SD

Rapid City50.6 Sioux Falls39.7

TN

Chattanooga34.3 Clarksville17.9 Cleveland23.1 Jackson34.6 Johnson City24.9 Kingsport35.8 Knoxville32.9 Memphis30.8 Morristown22.6 Nashville38

UT

Logan43.1 Ogden31.5 Provo30.2 Salt Lake City58 St. George48.4

VA

Blacksburg30.9 Charlottesville42.2 Harrisonburg33.4 Lynchburg36.3 Richmond44.2 Roanoke51.9 Staunton17.3 Virginia Beach35.6 Winchester34.6

VT

WA

Bellingham49.6 Bremerton44.7 Kennewick23.5 Longview25.7 Mount Vernon38.8 Olympia42.1 Seattle54 Spokane48.5 Walla Walla39 Wenatchee38.5 Yakima34.7

WI

Appleton22.7 Eau Claire29.7 Fond du Lac15.4 Green Bay22.9 Janesville15.2 Kenosha20.3 La Crosse27 Madison36.1 Milwaukee42 Oshkosh26.2 Racine25.9 Sheboygan22.9 Wausau33.9

WV

Beckley39.5 Charleston82.7 Huntington38 Morgantown51.5 Parkersburg39.7 Weirton44.9 Wheeling58.3

WY

Casper47.5 Cheyenne132.7

Law Firms market - FAQ

How many law firms are there in the US?

Across the 387 U.S. metros we track, there are 152,970 law firms, or about 52.9 per 100,000 residents on average. Counts are Census County Business Patterns establishments, not individual practitioners.

Which U.S. city is the least saturated for law firms?

Merced, CA has the fewest law firms per capita among the metros we rank: 13.0 per 100,000 residents.

Which U.S. city is the most saturated for law firms?

Miami, FL has the most law firms per capita among the metros we rank: 137.6 per 100,000 residents.

How does the law firms market ranking work?

We rank 387 metros from lowest to highest law firms per 100,000 residents using U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns establishment counts and Census Population Estimates. Lower rank means less saturated.