I am a government attorney and I have been in the work force for about a year and a half. My husband will make more when he finishes up his masters and he gets extra for coaching.
FYI, the legal market in SD is not that great here compared to LA and San Fran. If you are a top performing male (or woman who doesnt want to have kids)who wants to work at a large firm you can do well. For me I didnt want to work my butt off to make partner and then at that age if i could have kids at that point they would literally be raised in day care due to the amount of hours you have to put in.
Many of my friends from law school only make 60-80. Hopefully it will get better as we get older and more experience. I am doing pretty well for the govt sector and I like my job.