"1st year associates in New York City after bonus make more than a federal district judge."
I doubt many actually do that well even in New York City. I know it's not like that most other places. I'm in a smaller metropolitan area with probably less than 175,000 people. Most jobs for attorneys starting out either pay nothing or pay a very small salary that is really noting more than a "draw." You basically eat what you kill, after the firm gets their big cut. The best paying jobs with guaranteed income are jobs with insurance defense firms. First year associates for insurance defense firms where I live rarely make more than $45k or so, even if they went to an Ivy League school.
In most parts of the country lawyers earn more money than they do in my area, but not just a whole lot more on average. I don't know about starting pay, but according to the Department of Labor the mean income for lawyers in the State of New York is $122,410. It was a little under $80k in my state.
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_ny.htm#b23-0000 Nationwide, the mean income for lawyers is $110,520.
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes231011.htm This includes incomes for the highest paid and the lowest paid attorneys. The few lawyers with really high incomes skew the averages upward.