Career
Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates
Preside over court cases and decide what the law requires.
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Sentence defendants in criminal cases, on conviction by jury, according to applicable government statutes.
- Monitor proceedings to ensure that all applicable rules and procedures are followed.
- Instruct juries on applicable laws, direct juries to deduce the facts from the evidence presented, and hear their verdicts.
- Write decisions on cases.
- Read documents on pleadings and motions to ascertain facts and issues.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on persuasion & leadership, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Sentence defendants in criminal cases, on conviction by jury, according to applicable government statutes.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, Judgment and Decision Making.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
7–8 years of education after high school (doctoral or professional degree), for a median of $153,990 a year and 800 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- LawCIP 22.0101
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers$117,860 · +0.0%
- Judicial Law Clerks$64,920 · +2.8%
- Lawyers$159,670 · +4.7%
- Arbitrators, Mediators, and Conciliators$75,530 · +4.7%
- Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists$66,270 · +3.0%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.