Small State Attorney Markets: Wyoming, the Dakotas, Montana

State counts in the database vary enormously. California has 14,226 attorneys, while Wyoming has 93 and North Dakota has 94. That gap changes how you should plan, because a small state is not a smaller version of a big one.

You can cover a small state completely

South Dakota has 118 attorneys, Vermont 134, and Montana 148. Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana together come to 453 attorneys. A single rep or a single week of focused outreach can realistically reach every one of them, which is not possible in California or Florida. Add Vermont, Alaska, New Hampshire, and New Mexico and eight states total 1,420 attorneys.

Small markets reward personal outreach

When the whole state is a few hundred names, a form letter is a wasted opportunity. Reference the state, the local bar, or the region in your message. Attorneys in small legal communities tend to know each other, so one good relationship can lead to introductions.

Counts do not track population

The state numbers surprise people. Illinois has 11,218 attorneys, more than New York with 8,331. Washington DC has 4,634, ahead of Texas at 4,387. Georgia at 6,758 outranks Pennsylvania at 3,256 by a wide margin. These are counts of attorney records in the database, and they will not match what you expect from population or from lawyer headcount statistics, so check the real numbers before you assign territories.

How to use this in planning

Group small states into a single territory so one person owns them, and give the large states their own focus. Then check each market on its state page, such as Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana, or compare all 51 on the state browse page.

For a broader look at splitting a national list into working territories, read our state by state segmentation guide.