Criminal Defense Attorney Fees by State

Misdemeanors, felonies, appeals, and post-conviction matters. Fee ranges below are based on Bureau of Labor Statistics 2024 wage data for lawyers (SOC 23-1011), adjusted by practice area market data.

$2,500-$10,000
Typical retainer band
$64/hr
National median
$1,500+
Flat fee floor

Criminal Defense retainer vs matter schedule

Flat fees common for misdemeanors; hourly for complex felonies. Published retainers for criminal defense counsel typically open at $2,500 and top out near $10,000 (trust deposit billed as work posts). Matter flats below are ABA-survey norms; state pages scale them by each jurisdiction's BLS lawyer wage index.

Matter
Misdemeanor
$1,500-$5,000
National flat quote band
Matter
Felony
$5,000-$25,000
National flat quote band

Misdemeanor flat fee range; felonies often hourly or higher flat fee

All criminal defense state hubs

Full jurisdiction index, retainer and matter bands above stay national; each hub scales by that state's BLS lawyer wage index.

DC $92/hr NY $80/hr CA $77/hr NJ $72/hr MA $70/hr MD $68/hr WA $68/hr CT $67/hr VA $67/hr DE $65/hr IL $65/hr CO $63/hr HI $63/hr AK $61/hr OR $61/hr PA $61/hr TX $61/hr MN $60/hr NH $60/hr RI $60/hr NV $59/hr AZ $58/hr GA $57/hr UT $57/hr MI $56/hr NC $55/hr OH $55/hr FL $54/hr ME $54/hr MO $54/hr VT $54/hr WI $54/hr NE $53/hr ID $52/hr IN $52/hr KS $52/hr LA $52/hr ND $52/hr TN $52/hr IA $51/hr MT $51/hr NM $51/hr OK $51/hr SC $51/hr AL $50/hr KY $50/hr SD $50/hr WY $50/hr AR $47/hr WV $47/hr MS $45/hr

Related practice areas

Criminal Defense fee figures use BLS OES 2024 (SOC 23-1011) plus ABA fee-survey matter norms. Estimates only, not quotes or legal advice. Source: BLS OES Lawyers (SOC 23-1011) Matter norms: ABA Law Practice Division publications; see methodology.