Staff Pay Levels for Selected Positions in Senators’ Offices, FY2001-FY2014

Summary

The level of pay for congressional staff is a source of recurring questions 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 Member offices; or comparison of congressional staff pay levels with those of other federal government pay systems.

This report provides pay data for 16 staff position titles that are typically used in Senators’ offices. The positions include the following: Administrative Director, Casework Supervisor, Caseworker, Chief of Staff, Communications Director, Counsel, Executive Assistant, Field Representative, Legislative Assistant, Legislative Correspondent, Legislative Director, Press Secretary, Scheduler, “Specials Director” (a combined category that includes the job titles Director of Projects, Director of Special Projects, Director of Federal Projects, Director of Grants, Projects Director, or Grants Director), Staff Assistant, and State Director.

Tables provide tabular pay data for each of the selected staff positions in a Senator’s office. Graphic displays are also included, providing representations of pay from three perspectives, including the following:

a line graph showing change in pay;

a comparison at 5-, 10-, and 14-year intervals from FY2014, depending on data availability, of the cumulative percentage change in pay for that position to changes in pay of Members of Congress and federal civilian workers paid under the General Schedule in Washington, DC, and surrounding areas; and

distributions of FY2014 pay in $10,000 increments.

In the past five years (FY2010 and FY2014), the change in median pay, in constant 2015 dollars, ranged from a 0.78% increase for state directors to a -20.21% decrease for legislative assistants. All staff positions other than state directors saw declines in pay. This may be compared to changes to the pay of Members of Congress, -7.89%, and General Schedule, DC, -6.97%, over approximately the same period (calendar years 2010-2014).

Pay data for staff working in House Member offices are available in CRS Report R44323, Staff Pay Levels for Selected Positions in House Member Offices, 2001-2014. Data describing the pay of congressional staff working in House and Senate committee offices are available in CRS Report R44322, Staff Pay Levels for Selected Positions in House Committees, 2001-2014, and CRS Report R44325, Staff Pay Levels for Selected Positions in Senate Committees, FY2001-FY2014, respectively.