The level of pay for congressional staff is a source of recurring interest among Members of Congress, congressional staff, and the public. There may be interest in congressional pay data from multiple perspectives, including assessment of the costs of congressional operations; guidance in setting pay levels for staff in committee offices; or comparison of congressional staff pay levels with those of other federal government pay systems. This report provides pay data for the following 13 staff position titles that are used in House committees: Chief Counsel; Communications Director; Counsel; Deputy Staff Director; Digital Director; General Counsel; Minority Professional Staff Member; Professional Staff Member; Senior Counsel; Senior Professional Staff Member; Staff Assistant; Staff Director; and Subcommittee Staff Director. The following table provides 2023 pay levels and the change in median pay levels for these positions in 2024 dollars, between 2022 and 2023. 2023 Median Pay and Percentage Change for Selected Staff Positions in House Committees, 2024 Dollars, and Percentage Change, 2022-2023 Position 2023 Pay, 2024 $ Change, 2022-2023 Position 2023 Pay, 2024 $ Change, 2022-2023 Chief Counsel $187,918 3.58% Professional Staff Member $127,114 -5.60% Communications Director $171,583 2.40% Senior Counsel $142,609 -9.84% Counsel $134,285 -6.64% Senior Professional Staff Member $167,831 -0.91% Deputy Staff Director $212,855 5.35% Staff Assistant $66,800 0.47% Digital Director — — Staff Director $213,946 1.18% General Counsel $195,533 -1.38% Subcommittee Staff Director $192,525 16.70% Minority Professional Staff Member — — Source: Statement of Disbursements of the House, as collated by LegiStorm, various years, and CRS calculations based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the first half of 2024. “—” indicates no data available. Report tables provide aggregate statistics on pay for each staff position for 2001, 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019-2023, including quartiles, median pay, and average pay, based on available data. Graphic displays are also included, providing representations of pay from the following two perspectives: a line graph showing change in median pay, 2001-2023, in nominal (current) and 2024 dollars; and distributions of 2023 pay in 2024 dollars, in $10,000 increments. Other data, which may not represent the entire 2001-2023 period, are available to congressional staff upon request. The Congressional Research Service provides a number of products on staffing issues. These can be found in CRS Report R44688, Congressional Staff: CRS Products.
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Document ID: R44322