Average Attorney Salary in New Zealand for 2024

In this article, we will look at the average Attorney salary for 2024 in New Zealand and how that compares to other countries and professions. We'll also look at interesting salary data points like median salary, 25th and 75th percentile salaries, salary amounts based on experience, bonus ranges and more!

The data in this article has been compiled using official government salary data, salary surveys, and other sources such as job postings which contain salary information.

All salary information is in the local currency, which is the New Zealand dollar. To keep things simple, we are using the NZD currency code instead of the currency symbol $.

How Much Does an Attorney Make in New Zealand?

An Attorney working in New Zealand will typically earn around 182,400 NZD per year, and this can range from the lowest average salary of about 83,800 NZD to the highest average salary of 286,100 NZD.

Average Annual Salary
182,400 NZD
Average Monthly Salary
15,200 NZD

Lowest Annual Salary
83,800 NZD
Lowest Monthly Salary
6,983 NZD

Highest Annual Salary
286,100 NZD
Highest Monthly Salary
23,841 NZD

These are average salaries for an Attorney in New Zealand and include benefits such as housing and transport. It's also possible for an Attorney to earn more or less than the average salaries shown above.

Attorney salaries will vary a lot based on your experience, location, skills, and gender. Keep reading below to research more data on each of these areas.

Distribution of Attorney Salaries in New Zealand

So we've looked at the average salaries an Attorney will earn in New Zealand. The next interesting data point is the distribution of salaries.

Salary ranges

We already know that an Attorney can earn between 83,800 NZD and 286,100 NZD on average in New Zealand. This is known as the range in statistics.

The difference between the maximum and minimum values is a good indicator of variability in salaries, and can be used by employers to figure out how much they can expect to pay, and for employees to know how much they can earn.

Median salary

The median salary for an Attorney in New Zealand is 193,200 NZD. This is the middle value in the distribution of salaries.

What this means is that approximately 50% of the population earn less than 193,200 NZD, and 50% of the population earn more than 193,200 NZD.

If you are earning more than the median salary, that's a good indicator that you are being paid well.

If you're not earning more than the median salary, your objective should be to increase your earnings to be at least as high as the median salary (which you can do by asking for a pay rise, looking for a better paying job, etc).

Percentiles

Percentiles are similar to the median salary, but instead of looking at the middle value, they look at the values in the top and bottom half of the distribution.

For the average Attorney salary in New Zealand, 25% of the population are earning less than 123,800 NZD while 75% of the population earn more than 123,800 NZD.

75% of the population earn less than 259,700 NZD, and 25% of the population earn more than 259,700 NZD.

Like the median salary, the 25th and 75th percentile salaries can be used to determine which quartile you fall into so that you know whether you are being paid well enough compared to others in your profession and location.

The difference between a median and an average salary

The median and average salary are both indicators you can use to see if you are being paid fairly based on the overall population.

  • If your salary is higher than the average and the median salary, you are earning well compared to others.
  • If your salary is lower than the average and the median salary, it could indicate you are not being paid well enough.
  • If you are somewhere in between then it's tricky to determine if you are being paid well enough and you might need to research more closely.

Attorney Salary by Experience Level in New Zealand

The most important factor in determining your salary after the specific profession is the number of years experience you have. It stands to reason that more years of experience will result in a higher wage.

We have researched the average attorney salary based on years of experience to give you an idea of how the average changes once you've worked for a certain amount of time.

  • 0 - 2 Years Experience. An Attorney in New Zealand that has less than two years of experience can expect to earn somewhere in the region of 95,300 NZD.
  • 2 - 5 Years Experience. With two to five years of experience the average Attorney salary would increase to 127,700 NZD.
  • 5 - 10 Years Experience. From five to ten years of experience as an Attorney, the average salary would be 187,500 NZD.
  • 10 - 15 Years Experience. Once you have more than ten years of experience the average salary reaches around 226,100 NZD.
  • 15 - 20 Years Experience. An Attorney with 15 to 20 years of experience can earn an average of 245,400 NZD.
  • 20+ Years Experience. For an Attorney with more than 20 years, the expected average salary increases to 267,200 NZD.

Average Salary by Experience Chart

0-2 Years
95,300 NZD
2-5 Years +34%
127,700 NZD
5-10 Years +48%
187,500 NZD
10-15 Years +22%
226,100 NZD
15-20 Years +9%
245,400 NZD
20+ Years +8%
267,200 NZD

Attorney Salary by Education Level in New Zealand

As well as experience in a job, your education plays a big role in how much you can earn. A lot of higher paying positions require a high level of education, but how much can a degree increase your salary?

In our research we have compared the salaries of employees in the same job and career level with different levels of education to see how much more you can earn at each education level.

The salary you can earn based on your education is very specific to both your location and the career path you choose.

In our research, we looked at the average salary for an Attorney in New Zealand based on the education level of the employees in order to find out whether a better education level would increase your salary.

  • Bachelor's Degree. An Attorney in New Zealand with a bachelor's degree education can earn an average salary of 109,000 NZD.

  • Master's Degree. An Attorney in New Zealand with a master's degree education can earn an average salary of 168,700 NZD.

  • PhD. An Attorney in New Zealand with a phd education can earn an average salary of 283,500 NZD.

Average Salary by Education Chart

Bachelor's Degree
109,000 NZD
Master's Degree +57%
168,700 NZD
PhD +68%
283,500 NZD

How Much is a Master's Degree or MBA Program?

The approximate cost of a master's degree or post-graduate program like an MBA in New Zealand is around 40,500 to 122,000 NZD and takes two years to complete.

As you can see above, there are financial benefits from reaching master's degree level, but don't expect to see much of a salary increase until you have completed the degree.

It's common for people to pursue an MBA or other post-graduate program in order to switch to a a job that pays more. On average, you can expect to earn around 10% more when switching to a new company.

Whether you decide to pursue a master's degree depends on many factors. If you are able to afford it, the numbers suggest that the return on investment is worth it and you could recover the costs in a few years from the salary increase you would receive.

Attorney Salary Compared by Gender

In the modern age, we know that there should never be a pay gap between men and women. Unfortunately, in many professions, there is still a significant difference between the salaries earned by men when compared to the salary of women in the same job.

In New Zealand, a male attorney will earn an average of 187,500 NZD, while a female attorney will earn around 175,200 NZD.

This means that a male attorney earns approximately 7% more than a female attorney for performing the same job.

Average Salary by Gender Chart in New Zealand

Male
187,500 NZD
Female -7%
175,200 NZD

Attorney Average Pay Raise in New Zealand

In many countries, an annual pay raise is often given to employees to reward their service with a salary increase.

From our research, we can see that the average pay raise for an Attorney in New Zealand is around 12% every 16 months.

The national average pay raise across all professions and industries in New Zealand is around 8% every 16 months.

In this case, we can see that the number of months between the average pay raise is higher than the typical 12 months.

To make the data more meaningful, we can calculate what the approximate annual pay raise would be using a simple formula:

Annual Increase = ( Increase Rate ÷ Months ) × 12

So for this example, it would be:

Annual Increase = ( 12 ÷ 16 ) × 12  = 9%

What this means is that an Attorney in New Zealand can expect to receive an average pay raise of around 9% every 12 months.

Annual Pay Raise by Industry in New Zealand for 2024

In the chart below, you can see the average annual pay raise percentages for each of the major industries in New Zealand.

You will see that companies in bigger and more lucrative industries tend to have the higher annual pay raises.

Banking
2%
Energy
4%
Information Technology
6%
Healthcare
8%
Travel
1%
Construction
3%
Education
5%

Attorney Bonus and Incentive Rates in New Zealand

Another part of your overall compensation in a job is how much bonus you receive. Some job roles will be more likely to pay a bonus than others and also more likely to have higher bonus rates.

Generally speaking, jobs that are more involved with direct revenue generation will receive higher bonuses based on the performance towards revenue goals.

An Attorney is a high bonus based job, with 87% of employees reporting at least one bonus in the last 12 months.

13% reported that they had not received any bonuses in the previous 12 months.

For the employees that did receive a bonus in the previous 12 months, the reported bonuses ranged from 5% to 9%.

Received Bonus
87%
No Bonus
13%

What are the Types of Bonus?

There are a number of difference types of bonus you can receive in a job. Including:

  • Individual performance bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to an individual employee for general performance in the job. It's the most common type of bonus.
  • Company performance bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to a company employees to share profit with the staff.
  • Goal based bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to an individual employee (or a team) for achieving specific goals, objectives, or milestones.
  • Holiday bonus - This type of bonus is usually paid around the holidays, often the end of the year, and is a token of appreciation for the hard work throughout the year.

Government vs Private Sector Salaries

Another commonly asked question is whether you get paid a higher salary working in the public (government) sector or the private sector.

Public sector employees in New Zealand earn approximately 5% more than private sector employees in the same role.

Public Sector
97,900 NZD
Private Sector -5%
93,100 NZD

Salaries for Jobs Similar to an Attorney

In the table below, we have salary information for jobs that are similar to an Attorney in New Zealand.

Job Title Category Salary
Administrative Law Judge Legal 271,300 NZD
Arbitrator Legal 118,900 NZD
Associate Attorney Legal 121,800 NZD
Bailiff Legal 58,600 NZD
Barrister Legal 50,500 NZD
Candidate Attorney Legal 105,800 NZD
Conciliator Legal 89,400 NZD
Contracts Associate Legal 60,000 NZD
Contracts Manager Legal 107,300 NZD
Contracts Negotiator Legal 87,600 NZD
Contracts Specialist Legal 58,600 NZD
Conveyancing Secretary Legal 53,300 NZD
Corporate Counsel Legal 142,100 NZD
Counsel Legal 128,400 NZD
Court Clerk Legal 45,600 NZD
Court Judicial Assistant Legal 71,600 NZD
Court Liaison Specialist Legal 88,300 NZD
Court Reporter Legal 74,000 NZD
Court Representative Legal 57,800 NZD
Crown Prosecution Service Lawyer Legal 265,800 NZD
General Counsel Legal 238,200 NZD
Immigration Executive Legal 132,000 NZD
In House Counsel Legal 130,500 NZD
Intellectual Property Specialist Legal 88,300 NZD
Judge Advocate Legal 210,400 NZD
Law Clerk Legal 41,500 NZD
Lawyer Legal 193,400 NZD
Legal Administrative Assistant Legal 51,300 NZD
Legal Advisor Legal 116,400 NZD
Legal Assistant Legal 52,600 NZD
Legal Associate Legal 85,400 NZD
Legal Consultant Legal 109,700 NZD
Legal Consultant Legal 114,600 NZD
Legal Counsel Legal 140,200 NZD
Legal Editor Legal 85,800 NZD
Legal Executive Legal 177,200 NZD
Legal Executive Secretary Legal 51,400 NZD
Legal IP Officer Legal 47,100 NZD
Legal Officer Legal 54,200 NZD
Legal Secretary Legal 49,300 NZD
Legal Services Director Legal 210,400 NZD
Legal Services Manager Legal 223,800 NZD
Legal Support Worker Legal 35,600 NZD
Legislative Liaison Legal 84,600 NZD
Litigation Attorney Legal 233,800 NZD
Litigation Paralegal Legal 114,300 NZD
Magistrate Judge Legal 280,400 NZD
Paralegal Legal 71,700 NZD
Patent Attorney Legal 148,300 NZD
Staff Attorney Legal 148,300 NZD

Salary Comparison by City

If you want to compare salaries with different cities in New Zealand, you can use the links below to explore the data for each specific city we have researched.

City Average Salary
Auckland 201,000 NZD
Christchurch 195,200 NZD
Hamilton 183,900 NZD
Rotorua 171,300 NZD
Wellington 190,400 NZD

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