They say money can't buy happiness. But it might help.

Associates in their third, fourth and fifth years at Am Law 200 firms are happier with their compensation than they were a year ago, according to our annual Midlevel Associates Survey. That's not surprising, given that first-year salaries at many firms have reached $180,000.

And associates generally continued to report high levels of satisfaction with their jobs. They gave their firms an average composite score of 4.26 on a scale of one to five, compared to 4.23 in 2016. (Last year, the average composite score had increased by a more dramatic amount, from 4.14 to 4.23.)