Law and government: How much does a lawyer make?

The average is just under $100,000, but most lawyers earn less, and a few earn millions

It depends - it depends on what kind of law you practice, how many years you've practiced, whether you own your own practice or work for someone else, etc. Bottom line - being a lawyer is a great career, and if you're willing to put in the work to learn and become skilled in your practice, the sky is the limit!

How much money you make in a year can vary a lot based upon what kind of law you are practicing and what part of the country you live in. If you go into litigation and work for a big law firm and work your way up to being a partner then you can make a lot of money but there are trade offs. In that kind of environment you have very little free time (you spend all your time working and bringing in clients and making it to the top). You have to be willing to give up pretty much everything in order to be that kind of an attorney. Myself, I make a good living being an in-house attorney for a corporation and I have a pretty good work/life balance. I can normally work a 40-50 hour week and still I make enough money to have a house, a car and my kids have never lacked for anything.

So my answer to your question is this: decide what your priorities are in life. If you want to make a lot of money be ready to sacrifice a lot, if you want to make a good living then you can go into almost any area of law and do a good job with it and be happy.