Estimated living costs: every U.S. law school, ranked

Across the 196 ABA-accredited U.S. law schools that report estimated living costs, the median is $27,411. Values span from $56,958 at South Texas College of Law Houston to $5,500 at University of Akron School of Law, drawn from the most recent ABA Standard 509 disclosure cycle.

Schools reporting 196
Median $27,411
25th–75th $24,300 – $32,884
Range $5,500 – $56,958

Distribution across 196 schools · median marked

Definition

What it is: The school-reported nine-month living-expense estimate used in the cost-of-attendance budget.
Reported by: The American Bar Association, in each school’s annual Standard 509 Required Disclosure.
Unit: U.S. dollars per year

How to read it

Living estimates are school-set and vary by metro; they drive the cost-of-attendance budget that caps borrowing, so they feed directly into debt.

The ranking

Every school, ranked

#	Law school	State	Estimated living costs
1	South Texas College of Law Houston	Texas	$56,958
2	Touro University School of Law	New York	$52,602
3	Stanford Law School	California	$51,102
4	New England Law/Boston	Massachusetts	$48,437
5	UC Berkeley School of Law	California	$45,866
6	University of Miami School of Law	Florida	$43,924
7	Loyola Marymount University-Los Angeles School of Law	California	$43,030
8	St. Thomas University (Miami) School of Law	Florida	$42,548
9	Appalachian School of Law	Virginia	$41,800
10	Chapman University School of Law	California	$41,778
11	Nova Southeastern University School of Law	Florida	$40,413
12	UCLA School of Law	California	$40,046
13	University of San Diego School of Law	California	$39,197
14	Florida A&M University School of Law	Florida	$39,030
15	Emory University School of Law	Georgia	$38,990
16	Harvard Law School	Massachusetts	$38,690
17	George Mason University School of Law	Virginia	$38,342
18	Howard University School of Law	District of Columbia	$38,251
19	University of Utah School of Law	Utah	$38,078
20	Southwestern Law School	California	$38,033
21	Fordham University School of Law	New York	$37,354
22	University of California-Irvine School of Law	California	$37,293
23	Brooklyn Law School	New York	$36,528
24	New York University School of Law	New York	$36,094
25	Hofstra University School of Law	New York	$36,009
26	Santa Clara University School of Law	California	$35,618
27	Atlanta's John Marshall Law School	Georgia	$35,426
28	University of Chicago Law School	Illinois	$35,418
29	University of Montana School of Law	Montana	$35,371
30	Campbell University School of Law	North Carolina	$35,281
31	University of the Pacific School of Law	California	$35,081
32	Vanderbilt Law School	Tennessee	$34,934
33	Suffolk University School of Law	Massachusetts	$34,706
34	University of Massachusetts/Dartmouth School of Law	Massachusetts	$34,626
35	University of California-San Francisco School of Law	California	$34,466
36	California Western School of Law	California	$34,342
37	Seattle University School of Law	Washington	$34,161
38	Cardozo, Yeshiva University School of Law	New York	$34,114
39	University of San Francisco School of Law	California	$34,100
40	University of District of Columbia School of Law	District of Columbia	$34,035
41	Georgetown University Law Center	District of Columbia	$33,905
42	American University School of Law	District of Columbia	$33,832
43	Pepperdine University School of Law	California	$33,700
44	Pace University School of Law	New York	$33,422
45	Rutgers University School of Law	New Jersey	$33,190
46	Florida International University School of Law	Florida	$33,176
47	Arizona State University School of Law	Arizona	$33,090
48	University of California-Davis School of Law	California	$33,048
49	Cornell Law School	New York	$32,952
50	Widener University Commonwealth Law School	Pennsylvania	$32,862
51	University of Maryland School of Law	Maryland	$32,842
52	Ave Maria School of Law	Florida	$32,765
53	St. John's University School of Law	New York	$32,728
54	Loyola University-Chicago School of Law	Illinois	$32,658
55	Faulkner University School of Law	Alabama	$32,600
56	The Catholic University of America School of Law	District of Columbia	$32,374
57	University of Southern California School of Law	California	$32,298
58	Regent University School of Law	Virginia	$32,268
59	Southern University School of Law	Louisiana	$32,262
60	Western State, Westcliff University School of Law	California	$32,140
61	Belmont University School of Law	Tennessee	$32,026
62	Case Western Reserve University School of Law	Ohio	$32,008
63	Barry University School of Law	Florida	$32,008
64	University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School	Pennsylvania	$31,640
65	Columbia Law School	New York	$31,554
66	University of Nevada-Las Vegas School of Law	Nevada	$31,263
67	Samford University School of Law	Alabama	$31,226
68	Elon University School of Law	North Carolina	$31,000
69	City University of New York School of Law	New York	$30,805
70	Wake Forest University School of Law	North Carolina	$30,639
71	Cooley Law School	Michigan	$29,972
72	Texas A&M University School of Law	Texas	$29,696
73	Tulane University School of Law	Louisiana	$29,670
74	University of Tulsa School of Law	Oklahoma	$29,488
75	Quinnipiac University School of Law	Connecticut	$29,274
76	Loyola University-New Orleans School of Law	Louisiana	$29,205
77	DePaul University School of Law	Illinois	$29,110
78	University of Washington School of Law	Washington	$29,082
79	University of Virginia School of Law	Virginia	$28,770
80	University of Memphis School of Law	Tennessee	$28,729
81	Washington University (St. Louis) School of Law	Missouri	$28,603
82	Seton Hall University School of Law	New Jersey	$28,548
83	University of Kentucky School of Law	Kentucky	$28,425
84	Lewis & Clark Law School	Oregon	$28,370
85	Lincoln Memorial University School of Law	Tennessee	$28,325
86	Oklahoma City University School of Law	Oklahoma	$28,305
87	North Carolina Central University School of Law	North Carolina	$28,292
88	Northwestern Pritzker School of Law	Illinois	$28,220
89	Yale Law School	Connecticut	$28,202
90	Penn State Dickinson Law	Pennsylvania	$28,094
91	Drexel University School of Law	Pennsylvania	$28,022
92	Chicago-Kent, Illinois Institute of Technology School of Law	Illinois	$27,964
93	Temple University School of Law	Pennsylvania	$27,812
94	Texas Southern University School of Law	Texas	$27,784
95	Charleston School of Law	South Carolina	$27,752
96	University of Oklahoma School of Law	Oklahoma	$27,748
97	University of Colorado School of Law	Colorado	$27,626
98	Stetson University School of Law	Florida	$27,414
99	University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) School of Law	Minnesota	$27,408
100	University of Hawaii School of Law	Hawaii	$27,322
101	University of Denver School of Law	Colorado	$27,260
102	University of Mississippi School of Law	Mississippi	$27,192
103	Michigan State University School of Law	Michigan	$27,152
104	University of New Hampshire School of Law	New Hampshire	$27,094
105	Louisiana State University School of Law	Louisiana	$27,034
106	University of Louisville School of Law	Kentucky	$26,966
107	University of Michigan Law School	Michigan	$26,886
108	Georgia State University School of Law	Georgia	$26,693
109	University of Florida School of Law	Florida	$26,646
110	Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico School of Law	Puerto Rico	$26,644
111	Liberty University School of Law	Virginia	$26,532
112	University of Richmond School of Law	Virginia	$26,510
113	West Virginia University School of Law	West Virginia	$26,466
114	University of Tennessee School of Law	Tennessee	$26,216
115	University of Maine School of Law	Maine	$26,214
116	Duke University School of Law	North Carolina	$26,116
117	Saint Louis University School of Law	Missouri	$26,112
118	Mississippi College School of Law	Mississippi	$26,100
119	University of Houston School of Law	Texas	$26,086
120	University of Notre Dame School of Law	Indiana	$25,990
121	University of Georgia School of Law	Georgia	$25,978
122	University of Cincinnati School of Law	Ohio	$25,956
123	University of Connecticut School of Law	Connecticut	$25,860
124	Indiana University-Bloomington School of Law	Indiana	$25,822
125	Boston College School of Law	Massachusetts	$25,726
126	Widener University Delaware Law School	Pennsylvania	$25,720
127	University of North Carolina School of Law	North Carolina	$25,678
128	Roger Williams University School of Law	Rhode Island	$25,616
129	University of Arizona School of Law	Arizona	$25,600
130	Villanova University School of Law	Pennsylvania	$25,492
131	University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law	Arkansas	$25,459
132	University of Texas School of Law	Texas	$25,398
133	University of South Carolina School of Law	South Carolina	$25,392
134	Inter American University of Puerto Rico School of Law	Puerto Rico	$25,286
135	The George Washington University School of Law	District of Columbia	$25,240
136	William & Mary School of Law	Virginia	$25,184
137	Wayne State University School of Law	Michigan	$25,132
138	University of Wisconsin School of Law	Wisconsin	$25,056
139	University of Baltimore School of Law	Maryland	$25,024
140	Baylor University School of Law	Texas	$25,023
141	University of Illinois-Chicago School of Law	Illinois	$24,976
142	Jacksonville University School of Law	Florida	$24,911
143	University at Buffalo School of Law	New York	$24,814
144	University of North Texas at Dallas School of Law	Texas	$24,638
145	Wilmington University School of Law	Delaware	$24,622
146	Syracuse University School of Law	New York	$24,472
147	Duquesne University School of Law	Pennsylvania	$24,318
148	University of Toledo School of Law	Ohio	$24,247
149	University of Detroit Mercy School of Law	Michigan	$23,983
150	Vermont Law School	Vermont	$23,952
151	University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law	Missouri	$23,924
152	University of Iowa School of Law	Iowa	$23,920
153	St. Mary's University School of Law	Texas	$23,878
154	New York Law School	New York	$23,759
155	The Ohio State University School of Law	Ohio	$23,692
156	Indiana University-Indianapolis School of Law	Indiana	$23,512
157	University of Puerto Rico School of Law	Puerto Rico	$23,501
158	Creighton University School of Law	Nebraska	$23,400
159	Mercer University School of Law	Georgia	$23,289
160	Florida State University School of Law	Florida	$23,180
161	University of New Mexico School of Law	New Mexico	$23,114
162	Northeastern University School of Law	Massachusetts	$22,900
163	Willamette University School of Law	Oregon	$22,828
164	Northern Illinois University School of Law	Illinois	$22,742
165	University of Alabama School of Law	Alabama	$22,620
166	Brigham Young University School of Law	Utah	$22,436
167	University of Arkansas School of Law	Arkansas	$22,194
168	Marquette University School of Law	Wisconsin	$22,146
169	University of Nebraska School of Law	Nebraska	$22,092
170	Ohio Northern University School of Law	Ohio	$22,022
171	University of Oregon School of Law	Oregon	$22,020
172	University of Missouri School of Law	Missouri	$22,002
173	Washington and Lee University School of Law	Virginia	$21,890
174	Cleveland State University School of Law	Ohio	$21,870
175	Albany Law School	New York	$21,844
176	Boston University School of Law	Massachusetts	$21,532
177	Capital University Law School	Ohio	$21,112
178	Northern Kentucky University School of Law	Kentucky	$20,932
179	Drake University School of Law	Iowa	$20,923
180	Western New England University School of Law	Massachusetts	$20,731
181	University of Illinois School of Law	Illinois	$20,620
182	University of North Dakota School of Law	North Dakota	$20,616
183	University of Pittsburgh School of Law	Pennsylvania	$20,346
184	University of Kansas School of Law	Kansas	$20,238
185	University of Idaho School of Law	Idaho	$20,136
186	Texas Tech University School of Law	Texas	$20,107
187	University of Minnesota School of Law	Minnesota	$19,600
188	University of Dayton School of Law	Ohio	$19,395
189	Southern Illinois University School of Law	Illinois	$18,608
190	University of South Dakota School of Law	South Dakota	$18,034
191	Southern Methodist University School of Law	Texas	$17,834
192	University of Wyoming School of Law	Wyoming	$17,600
193	Gonzaga University School of Law	Washington	$17,105
194	Washburn University School of Law	Kansas	$17,018
195	Mitchell Hamline School of Law	Minnesota	$16,848
196	University of Akron School of Law	Ohio	$5,500

At the extremes

Top: South Texas College of Law Houston ($56,958) · Touro University School of Law ($52,602) · Stanford Law School ($51,102) · New England Law/Boston ($48,437) · UC Berkeley School of Law ($45,866)

Bottom: University of Wyoming School of Law ($17,600) · Gonzaga University School of Law ($17,105) · Washburn University School of Law ($17,018) · Mitchell Hamline School of Law ($16,848) · University of Akron School of Law ($5,500)

FAQ

What is estimated living costs?

The school-reported nine-month living-expense estimate used in the cost-of-attendance budget.

What is the median estimated living costs across U.S. law schools?

$27,411, across the 196 ABA-accredited schools that report it in the most recent ABA Standard 509 cycle.

Which law school has the highest estimated living costs?

South Texas College of Law Houston, at $56,958.

What counts as a strong estimated living costs?

There is no single 'good' figure; the middle half of schools fall between $24,300 and $32,884.

How should I read estimated living costs?