As of 2026, the age of Supreme Court justices ranges from 54 to 77, with the nine sitting members averaging roughly 65 years old. The Constitution sets no minimum or maximum age for the job, and no law forces a justice to retire, so the spread between the youngest and oldest justice can stretch across more than two decades — as it does right now.
How Old Each Current Justice Is
The same nine justices have served together since Ketanji Brown Jackson joined the bench in 2022. From oldest to youngest:
- Clarence Thomas, 77. Born June 23, 1948. Appointed by George H.W. Bush in 1991, and the longest-serving current justice at more than 34 years on the bench.
- Samuel Alito, 76. Born April 1, 1950. Appointed by George W. Bush in 2006.
- Sonia Sotomayor, 71. Born June 25, 1954. Appointed by Barack Obama in 2009.
- John Roberts, 71. Born January 27, 1955. Appointed Chief Justice by George W. Bush in 2005.
- Elena Kagan, 66. Born April 28, 1960. Appointed by Barack Obama in 2010.
- Brett Kavanaugh, 61. Born February 12, 1965. Appointed by Donald Trump in 2018.
- Neil Gorsuch, 58. Born August 29, 1967. Appointed by Donald Trump in 2017.
- Ketanji Brown Jackson, 55. Born September 14, 1970. Appointed by Joe Biden in 2022.
- Amy Coney Barrett, 54. Born January 28, 1972. Appointed by Donald Trump in 2020.
Birth dates come from the Court’s own biographies page.1Supreme Court of the United States. About the Court – Current Members Retirement speculation has centered on Thomas and Alito, but neither has announced plans to step down as of mid-2026.2The Green Papers. United States Supreme Court Justices
The Constitution Sets No Age Rules
Unlike every other federal office of comparable importance, a Supreme Court seat has no age floor, no residency requirement, no citizenship-length rule, and no requirement of a law degree.3Supreme Court of the United States. Frequently Asked Questions – General Information The President must be at least 35, Senators 30, Representatives 25. A justice, in theory, could be 25 with no legal training.
Article III says only that federal judges “shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour,” which has always been read as life tenure.4Congress.gov. Article III That design was meant to insulate the judiciary from political pressure: a justice who never faces voters or reappointment can rule on cases without worrying about popularity. The President nominates, the Senate confirms or rejects, and that is the entire screening process.5Congress.gov. Article II Section 2 Clause 2
Why Modern Nominees Keep Getting Younger
Life tenure creates a straightforward incentive. The younger a justice is at confirmation, the longer that president’s judicial philosophy stays on the bench. Recent presidents have leaned hard into that math. Barrett was 48 at confirmation, Gorsuch 49, Jackson 51. All three are likely to serve into the 2050s or beyond.
It wasn’t always this way. Early republic nominees were often in their 40s or early 50s, but that reflected shorter life expectancies more than strategy. Through much of the 20th century the average appointment age drifted upward as presidents valued seasoned judicial résumés. The recent swing back toward younger nominees is a frank acknowledgment that a 50-year-old appointee can shape American law for three or four decades, while a 63-year-old might serve half that long.
Confirmation fights now routinely turn on a nominee’s age and health alongside their judicial views. Every additional year of expected service carries weight when a single vote can decide cases affecting hundreds of millions of people.
The Youngest and Oldest Justices in History
Joseph Story holds the record as the youngest justice ever confirmed, taking his seat in 1812 at age 32. William Johnson was also 32 when he joined in 1804, but Story was slightly younger in months.6Supreme Court of the United States. Justices 1789 to Present At the time a 32-year-old federal judge was unusual but not scandalous. The nation was young, the legal profession small, and talented lawyers rose quickly.
At the other end, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. was the oldest justice ever to actively serve, stepping down in January 1932 at age 90 after nearly 30 years on the bench. John Paul Stevens matched him, retiring at 90 in June 2010. Holmes edged Stevens by a few months in terms of age while still hearing cases.6Supreme Court of the United States. Justices 1789 to Present Stevens later lived to 99, the longest-lived justice in history.
Retirement and the Rule of 80
No law forces a Supreme Court justice to retire. Justices serve until they choose to step down, become unable to serve, or die in office. What federal law does offer is a financial reward for stepping aside once a justice reaches a set combination of age and service.
Under 28 U.S.C. § 371, a justice can retire on full salary, or take “senior status” with a reduced workload, once age plus years of federal judicial service total at least 80. The thresholds:7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC Chapter 17 – Resignation and Retirement of Justices and Judges
- Age 65 with 15 years of service
- Age 66 with 14 years
- Age 67 with 13 years
- Age 68 with 12 years
- Age 69 with 11 years
- Age 70 with 10 years
Clarence Thomas, at 77 with more than 34 years of service, cleared this bar decades ago. Even Amy Coney Barrett, the youngest current justice, will qualify by the time she turns 65 in 2037. Lower-court federal judges routinely take senior status and handle a lighter docket; Supreme Court justices almost never do. They typically stay fully active or retire outright.
When a Justice Cannot or Will Not Step Down
Age-related decline is the uncomfortable reality behind life tenure. The Constitution provides only one way to remove a sitting justice against their will: impeachment by the House followed by conviction by the Senate.8Congress.gov. ArtII.S4.4.10 Judicial Impeachments That requires “high Crimes and Misdemeanors,” and no Supreme Court justice has ever been removed this way.
For a justice who becomes physically or mentally unable to do the job, the path is largely voluntary. Under 28 U.S.C. § 372, a permanently disabled justice can retire by giving the President a certificate of disability signed by the Chief Justice.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 372 – Retirement for Disability The catch is that this process depends on the justice’s cooperation. If a justice refuses to acknowledge a disability, no administrative panel or judicial council can force the issue at the Supreme Court level. The Judicial Conduct and Disability Act handles complaints against lower federal judges, but its enforcement machinery does not reach the Supreme Court.10United States Courts. Judicial Conduct and Disability Persuading a declining justice to step down has historically fallen to colleagues, family, and the appointing party. That informal process has sometimes taken years.
Proposals to Add Term Limits or Age Caps
Life tenure, aging justices, and rising political stakes have produced a steady stream of reform proposals. The most prominent idea replaces life tenure with fixed 18-year terms, giving each president exactly two appointments per four-year term. Versions of the Supreme Court Term Limits and Regular Appointments Act, introduced across multiple recent Congresses, would move newly appointed justices to senior status after 18 years rather than let them hold active seats indefinitely.11Congress.gov. H.R.1074 – Supreme Court Term Limits and Regular Appointments Act of 2025 Existing justices would be grandfathered in.
A separate proposal introduced in February 2026 takes a different route. The Judicial Term Limits Amendment (H.J. Res. 145) would cap all federal judges, not only Supreme Court justices, at 20-year terms, applying only to future appointees.12Representative Tom Barrett. Barrett Introduces Constitutional Amendment to Establish Term Limits for Federal Judges Because it is a constitutional amendment, it would need two-thirds approval in both chambers of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of state legislatures. No term-limit proposal has come close to clearing that bar.
Whether any of these bills advance, the underlying tension is not going away. The current Court holds justices appointed across five presidencies spanning more than three decades. As long as life tenure remains the rule and strategically timed retirement remains the norm, the age of every sitting justice will carry political weight far beyond what the framers likely imagined.