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>-------------- Original message --------------
>From: andie nachgeborenen <andie_nachgeborenen at yahoo.com>
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> > You're averaging data from people at high powered
> > firms and from big schools who earn big money and the
> > rest of lawyers, who do not.
That's what occupational data does. You use a median because it actually deals with the problem you raise: when a small number of high earners could drag up the _average_(mean). Median is a better approximation of what the typical earner makes.
But, it's also the case that it needs to be placed in context to other occupations where the same phenom you describe exists as well (a relatively few high income earners can pull up the average).
Comparing attorneys to other occupations where the same phenom occurs reveals that, wow, attorneys make a lot of money by contrast, something you've frequently noted yourself and precisely why you went into the field you went into now: defending white collar criminals is better pay than clerking for Posner.