Do you wish to become a staff member for a member of Congress? Don’t do it for the money. Or move to Alabama.
While the salaries in the public sector may be the opposite of lavish, the sense of fulfillment and pride in serving your country and your community can make up for the lower paycheck. A great way to make a difference is by being in the heart of the Federal Government as a staff member of a representative. Staff members for Congress members have a wide variety of tasks and responsibilities that include working directly with the Congress members constituents, monitoring meetings, assessing casework for the drafting of legal legislation, and much more. Unfortunately, pay is not the reason for becoming a staff assistant for a Congressional member. In fact, salaries are low primarily to attract those that have a passion for serving the public and not those who are looking to become wealthy. Just because salaries are low, that does not mean you cannot try and maximize your disposable income. There are two ways to increase disposable income, earn more income and minimize your expenses. The US is an extremely vast country with widely varying cost of living. The Census separates the country into 4 distinct regions: Northeast, South, Midwest, and West. Generally speaking, the Northeast and the West has a higher cost of living relative to the Midwest and the South.
Personnel compensation is up to the discretion of Congressional members themselves. It would be reasonable to believe that Congress members representing high cost of living areas would pay their staffers more, however that is not necessarily the case. In fact, pay is roughly similar regardless of region as you can see in the chart below. Interestingly Congressional members in the Northeast and DC, compensate their staff members on average less than the lower cost of living Midwest and South. Average quarterly (3 months) compensation for Congressional staff members in the 116th congress is just short of $10,000 for each region in the United States plus Washington DC. The US West barely nudges out the Midwest and the South, but not nearly enough to make up the cost of living difference between the regions.
Even within regions, cost of living can vary. California has a higher cost of living index compared to Colorado. Alabama has a lower cost of living compared to Virginia. When comparing Congressional staff member compensation between the top 5 most expensive states and the top 5 least expensive states, we see a similar trend in that staff member compensation is roughly similar across different states, regardless of cost of living index. What is quite surprising is that the average quarterly compensation for Congressional staff members in Alabama (4th lowest) is higher than all of the top 5 most expensive states. Average quarterly compensation for Congressional staff members in Alabama for the 116th Congress was approximately $11, 542 which is much higher than $9814 for Congressional staff members in California, the state with the 3rd highest cost of living index. Congressional staff personnel for Hawaii and Massachusetts representatives, the two states with the highest cost of living index, have an average quarterly income of about $8793 and $10,144 respectively.
Who knows what can explain the lack of pay for Congressional staff members in higher cost of living areas. Could it be that these areas have a higher number of applicants thus Congress members can get away with paying less for their staff? Or perhaps they are just a bit out of touch with just how much more expensive these places are. Regardless, if you wish to serve as a staff member for a member of Congress, it may be wise to avoid high cost of living places such as California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and DC if you care about your wallet. Alabama and Kansas aren’t exactly sexy places to be, but hey at least you will have more money while still making a difference. Money is not everything, and if you are considering a staff assistant job for a Congressional member, chances are you care more about the difference you can make and not the paycheck. It is important to earn enough money to take care of basic expenses and the salaries should be enough to do that regardless of location. You may just have to make sacrifices to live somewhere like California or DC.
Data Sources: https://projects.propublica.org/represent/expenditures
