Following an unprecedented MRA increase in March, House Republicans have begun paying their staffers an average of almost $2,600 more per year. The average raise for Democratic House staffers? Just $60, according to a new LegiStorm analysis.
In Q2, Republican House staffers made an average annualized salary rate of $75,100. That's 3.5% higher than their average Q1 salary rate, equivalent to almost $2,600 more per year.
Democratic House staffers averaged an annualized salary rate of $75,800 - still $700 more than the average Republican staffer makes in a year, but only $60 more than the party's average Q1 pay rate.
In March, Congress authorized a 21 percent increase to the House's office budgets for 2022. The Members' Representational Allowance increase was intended to bolster staffer pay in hopes of attracting and retaining talent.
This analysis examines the mean pay increase across all full-time House staffers but does not reflect the distribution of those pay differences.
Both parties averaged a 14% higher annualized pay rate in Q2 than they did in the same time period last year. Then, Republicans paid an average annualized rate of $65,800, or $9,300 a year less than the most recent pay rate, while Democrats paid $66,200, or $9,600 less.
The House's minimum salary of $45,000 per year went into effect on Sept. 1. The extent of staffer pay increases from the new salary floor won't be clear until the House releases its Q3 expense data in late November.
