The Average Salary of a United States Representative

All but six members of the House of Representatives and the Senate earn identical salaries.

As of 2010, the salaries of United States representatives and Senators were established by the Executive Order 13525 of December 23, 2009: Adjustment of Certain Rates of Pay. This presidential order also established the salaries of other elected officials, such as the vice president, and of members of the judiciary, including Supreme Court justices.

House of Representatives

Members of the United States House of Representative earned an annual salary of $174,000 in 2009 and 2010. In 2008, they earned $169,300.

Senators

The salaries of senators are identical those of members of the House of Representatives. The last year in which senators and members of the House of Representatives did not have the same salary was 1991, when members of the House earned $125,100 per year and senators made $101,900.

Exceptions

Three members of both the Senate and the House of Representative earn more than the rest of their colleagues. A salary of $193,400 per year is paid to those senators and representatives who serve as the Senate majority and minority leaders, the majority and minority leaders of the House of Representatives, and as the president pro tempore of the Senate. The speaker of the House of Representatives is the highest-paid member of Congress, with an annual salary of $223,500.

References

• Government Printing Office: Executive Order 13525 of December 23, 2009 - Adjustment of Certain Rates of Pay
• TheCapitol.net: Pay and Perquisites of Members of Congress

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish