I agree that laser results on the upper leg tend to be mediocre. The hair above the knee is typically more sparse and has less pigment, which will drastically lower the efficacy and efficiency of laser treatments. It is still possible that you may see a 40% reduction, but you would need to do a round of six or more treatments that could take a year. It already seems as though you may not be an ideal candidate in any case.
Electrolysis should be able to deliver similar results in a shorter amount of time. If you have not shaved, waxed or done laser on the area for at least three months, a competent electrologist should be able to deliver a similar reduction after one clearance. This is highly dependant on finding a seriously skilled electrologist.
If you do some research and crunch the numbers, you might even find that electrolysis turns out to be cheaper or at least comparable to the cost of laser for a roughly 40% reduction.
Of course, if you choose to continue with electrolysis for complete removal, the cost will be higher… but the cost of complete removal with laser is infinite because it is not physically possible.
I would consider electrolysis and do further research into the costs.