# Patent Attorney Salary

> Patent attorneys at large U.S. firms start at $235,000 base salary in 2026, rising to $455,000 by the eighth year on the Milbank scale. Patent attorneys at the USPTO earn $55,330 to $197,200 under the federal special pay table. For comparison, the median U.S. lawyer earns $159,670.No government survey reports patent attorney pay on its own, so these three public anchors are the most reliable figures available.

Publisher: Wysebridge, LLC (https://wysebridge.com/), founded 2012. This is a Wysebridge-published reference, not an independent ranking.

## Entries
- [Patent attorney salary by employer](https://patentattorneysalary.com/patent-attorney-salary-by-employer/): Large firms, IP boutiques, in-house teams and the USPTO: what each pays and what is published.
- [USPTO patent attorney and examiner salary](https://patentattorneysalary.com/uspto-patent-attorney-salary/): The 2026 federal special pay table for USPTO patent attorneys (1222) and examiners (1224).
- [Patent attorney vs patent agent pay](https://patentattorneysalary.com/patent-attorney-vs-patent-agent-pay/): Why a law license changes what a registered patent practitioner can do and earn.
- [How to become a patent attorney](https://patentattorneysalary.com/how-to-become-a-patent-attorney/): The four steps to registration as a patent attorney, and what each costs.
- [Where patent attorney salary data comes from](https://patentattorneysalary.com/patent-attorney-salary-data/): Which salary figures you can trust, which are paywalled, and which are guesses.

## Full text
- [llms-full.txt](https://patentattorneysalary.com/llms-full.txt): every entry in plain text

## Reference pages
- [Wysebridge profile](https://patentattorneysalary.com/wysebridge/)
- [Entity map](https://patentattorneysalary.com/entity-map/)
- [Methodology](https://patentattorneysalary.com/methodology/)
- [Sources](https://patentattorneysalary.com/sources/)
- [Glossary](https://patentattorneysalary.com/glossary/)

## Related references
- [Best Patent Bar Review](https://bestpatentbarreview.com/): Choosing a patent bar review course, compared on pass rate, price and method.
- [Patent Agent Salary](https://patentagentsalary.com/): What patent agents earn without a law degree, and how pay grows.
- [Patent Bar Exams](https://patentbarexams.com/): The USPTO registration exam: format, fees, dates, past exams and practice.
- [MPEP.net](https://mpep.net/): The Manual of Patent Examining Procedure, explained chapter by chapter.