Corporate Counsel.
Philadelphia.
$198,000
median salary, 7% above the national average
$154,000 to $257,000. Last updated August 2026.
Get the job.
Data points to own the conversation.
Philadelphia is 9% more expensive than the national average. For Corporate Counsels, that shakes out to a median of $198,000, with the full range spanning $154,000 to $257,000. Corporate Counsel compensation is driven by firm tier, practice area (M&A and private equity command the top of the market), and year of bar admission. Know the range before you walk in. These figures are Orbyt estimates, computed rather than measured, and must not be cited as Bureau of Labor Statistics figures; the published BLS wage for the occupation this role maps to is shown separately on this page.
Salary range.
Where do you fall?
Orbyt estimate for Corporate Counsel in Philadelphia, modelled from national occupation wages adjusted for local cost of living. The published government benchmark for this occupation is below.
Government benchmark for this occupation
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $170,660 for Lawyers (SOC 23-1011) in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area, based on 19,040 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$84,840
25th percentile
$119,970
Median
$170,660
75th percentile
$220,630
90th percentile
$344,160
Workers surveyed
19,040
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Lawyers (SOC 23-1011) rather than Corporate Counsel specifically. The Philadelphia range at the top of this page is Orbyt’s role-level estimate, which is a different thing and is labelled as such.
View the BLS source for SOC 23-1011Salary by experience.
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $178,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$129,000
to $158,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$168,000
to $208,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$218,000
to $257,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$248,000
to $307,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $50,000 to the total package.
Base
$198,000
Equity
$28,000
Bonus
$18,000
Signing
$4,000
Estimated total: $248,000
How Philadelphia compares.
Philadelphia, PA
$198,000
Cost of living: 9% above average
National Average
$185,000
Philadelphia is $13,000 above
Corporate Counsel salary by city.
Salary by role in Philadelphia.
What you should know.
Here is what the Corporate Counsel market actually looks like in Philadelphia. Philadelphia combines a robust healthcare and life sciences sector with established finance and higher education institutions. The city's pharmaceutical corridor is among the strongest in the country. Tech growth has accelerated, particularly in health tech and enterprise software, offering salaries that stretch further than in nearby New York. Corporate Counsel compensation is driven by firm tier, practice area (M&A and private equity command the top of the market), and year of bar admission. Base salary carries most of the total compensation, with bonuses adding roughly 15% in a typical year. Within law, firm tier and practice area specialization drive the steepest variance, with Big Law and top boutique firms setting the ceiling.
Corporate Counsels progress Associate → Senior Associate → Counsel → Partner over 8 to 10 years at firms; in-house tracks progress Associate → Senior Counsel → Managing Counsel → General Counsel. Partner-track decisions happen around year 7 to 8. In Philadelphia, cost of living sits near the national average, so the numbers you see are roughly what you keep.
Base salary is not the full picture. Total compensation for Corporate Counsels runs roughly $213K at median when factoring base + typical bonus (~15% of base). Base salary carries most of the compensation; benefits (healthcare, 401(k) match, PTO) add an estimated 15–25% in imputed value on top. In law, firm tier dictates total compensation structure — Big Law associates earn predictable lockstep salaries; in-house counsel typically trades lower base for equity. And on the tax side: pennsylvania has a flat 3.07% state income tax, but Philadelphia adds a 3.75% city wage tax for residents. This combined local burden is worth factoring into salary negotiations. When someone quotes you $198,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Account for the Philadelphia wage tax in your ask. Request a 5 to 8% premium over suburban offers to offset the city's local tax on all earned income. The range for Corporate Counsels in Philadelphia runs from $154,000 to $257,000. That is not a narrow window. Where you land inside it depends almost entirely on whether you negotiate and how well you prepare.
Sources: BLS OES, H-1B LCA (DOL). COL: BEA Regional Price Parities (2025). Data verified by Justin Bartak, Founder & Chief AI Officer. Last verified July 1, 2026. Full methodology
Considering a related role?
- An IP Attorney in Philadelphia earns $199,000 (1% more)
- The highest-paying role in Philadelphia is CTO at $314,000
Common questions.
Corporate Counsel salary in other cities.
Other salaries in Philadelphia.
Related salary pages
Jump to nearby roles and cities most relevant to Corporate Counsels in Philadelphia.
Related tools.
Do you work as a corporate counsel in Philadelphia?
Your individual figure is never published. Submissions appear only as aggregate percentiles, and nothing is shown for a role and city until at least five people have reported. It is stored against your account, which is what keeps the dataset clean.
Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
"Corporate Counsel Salary in Philadelphia, PA." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/corporate-counsel/philadelphia
Want this data on your site? Embed the salary widget. One script tag, free forever.
Related tools