Congress: pay, terms and requirements
All 535 members of Congress earn $174,000 a year, unchanged since 2009. Here's what they're paid, how long they serve and who can run.
Salaries in 2026
| Senators and representatives | $174,000 |
|---|---|
| Speaker of the House | $223,500 |
| Majority and minority leaders; Senate president pro tempore | $193,400 |
Each office also gets a budget for staff, offices and mail: in 2026, an average of $1,928,107 per representative and between $4,296,524 and $6,621,784 per senator, depending on the state's population. That money isn't personal pay.
Terms and requirements
| House | Senate | |
|---|---|---|
| Members | 435 (plus 6 non-voting delegates) | 100 (2 per state) |
| Term | 2 years; every seat every two years | 6 years; a third every two years |
| Minimum age | 25 | 30 |
| Citizenship | 7 years a citizen | 9 years a citizen |
| Residence | Live in the state when elected; living in the district isn't required. | |
| Term limits | None | |
Questions and answers
How much do members of Congress make?
$174,000 a year in 2026, the same since 2009. The Speaker makes $223,500 and each party's leaders $193,400.
Why hasn't the salary gone up since 2009?
The law provides an automatic yearly adjustment, but Congress has turned it down every year since 2010, most recently for 2026.
Are there term limits in Congress?
No. Senators and representatives can be re-elected without limit. Changing that would take a constitutional amendment; in 1995 the Supreme Court struck down term limits set by states.
New members of Congress · How the Speaker is elected · Control of Congress since 1951
Sources: Congressional Research Service, "Congressional Salaries and Allowances: In Brief" (September 2026); U.S. Constitution, Article I; U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton (1995).