In 2026, the Chief Justice of the United States makes $320,700 a year and each Associate Justice makes $306,600. That is the base salary alone. A Supreme Court justice also receives a lifetime pension equal to their full salary, federal health and life insurance, an optional survivor annuity, paid official travel, four law clerks and support staff, and the ability to earn a capped amount of outside income from teaching, speaking, and unlimited book royalties.
The 2026 Salary Numbers
Under 28 U.S.C. § 5, Supreme Court pay is set by formula rather than a fresh vote each year. The 2026 rates are:
- Chief Justice: $320,700
- Associate Justice: $306,600
Every Associate Justice earns the same base pay. A justice confirmed last year makes exactly what a justice who has served thirty years makes.1United States Courts. Judicial Compensation
For scale, the President earns $400,000, the Vice President’s payable salary has sat at $235,100 since 2019, and rank-and-file members of Congress earn $174,000. Justices are paid above legislators and below the President.
How the Salary Gets Set
Congress controls judicial pay, but the mechanism runs on autopilot most years. The Citizens’ Commission on Public Service and Compensation reviews senior federal pay every four years and sends recommendations to the President, who forwards rates to Congress; those rates take effect unless Congress passes a law rejecting them.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 2 USC Ch 11 – Citizens Commission on Public Service and Compensation
Between those reviews, 28 U.S.C. § 461 raises judicial salaries automatically by a percentage tied to the Employment Cost Index, capped at whatever percentage increase the General Schedule receives that year.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 461 – Adjustments in Certain Salaries
The automatic adjustment has often been blocked. A 1981 appropriations rider required specific congressional authorization for any judicial pay increase, and Congress used that veto in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, and other years. A group of federal judges sued, and in 2012 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that some of those freezes violated the Compensation Clause because Congress had allowed the adjustments to take effect before rescinding them.
That Compensation Clause matters. Article III, Section 1 provides that judicial compensation “shall not be diminished” while a justice remains in office. Congress can freeze pay, but it cannot cut it.4Cornell Law School. Compensation Clause Doctrine and Practice
The Lifetime Pension
The retirement package is the most valuable piece of the deal. Under 28 U.S.C. § 371, a justice who meets combined age-and-service thresholds can leave the Court and collect their full salary for the rest of their life:5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 371 – Retirement on Salary; Retirement in Senior Status
- 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
The annuity equals the salary the justice was drawing at retirement, and it moves up if Congress later raises judicial pay, because the statute pegs the annuity to “the salary he was receiving.” A justice retiring today at $306,600 keeps collecting $306,600 for life.
Senior Status
Justices who qualify for retirement have a second option. Senior status, available to Supreme Court justices since 1937, lets a justice step off the Court while remaining eligible to sit by designation on lower federal courts. A senior justice cannot hear Supreme Court cases but can be assigned to a circuit court or other federal bench.6Federal Judicial Center. The Evolution of Judicial Retirement The annuity is identical either way, so the choice is about whether to keep working, not money. Most justices who leave the Court take senior status.
Health, Life, and Survivor Benefits
Justices are covered by the Federal Employees Health Benefits program, which offers a menu of private plans and continues into retirement for anyone enrolled for the five years before they retire.
Life insurance runs through the Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance program. Basic coverage is automatic unless declined and equals annual salary rounded up to the next $1,000, plus $2,000. Optional tiers add standard extra coverage, a salary multiple, and family coverage. For Article III judges, including Supreme Court justices, basic and optional coverage continues without the age-65 reduction that hits most other federal employees.7eCFR. Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Program
Survivor protection is optional and paid for by the justice. A justice who joins the Judicial Survivors’ Annuities System has 2.2 percent withheld from active salary, and the same percentage from any later retirement annuity, in exchange for a lifetime annuity to a surviving spouse or dependent children.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 376 – Annuities for Survivors of Certain Judicial Officials of the United States At the Associate Justice salary of $306,600, the withholding is roughly $6,745 a year.
Travel, Clerks, and Staff
Every justice’s official duty station is Washington, D.C. For court business trips of fewer than 30 consecutive days, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts pays transportation costs and a per diem for lodging and meals; longer assignments switch to reimbursement of actual expenses.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 456 – Traveling Expenses of Justices and Judges; Official Duty Stations
Each justice hires four law clerks per term, usually recent graduates of top law schools, who serve for one year researching legal questions, drafting memoranda, and helping prepare opinions. Clerks are paid under the Judiciary Salary Plan. Each justice also has a secretary and a messenger or administrative assistant. The Chief Justice gets additional staff tied to running the federal judiciary as an institution.
Outside Income and Disclosure
A justice can earn money outside the Court from teaching and lecturing, but there is a ceiling: 15 percent of the annual rate for Level II of the Executive Schedule, which comes to $33,855 in 2026.10U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics. Financial Thresholds and Limits Book royalties are not counted against that cap. Several justices have signed publishing contracts worth well into six figures, and that income is permitted as long as it appears on the annual disclosure.
The Ethics in Government Act requires every justice to file a yearly financial disclosure covering income, property, debts over $10,000, reportable gifts, securities transactions, and outside positions held by the justice or their spouse.11United States Courts. US Judiciary Financial Disclosure Regulations – Guide Vol 2D The reports are public.
How the Pay Compares
Every sitting justice could earn substantially more in private practice. Median compensation for a partner at a midsize law firm runs roughly $600,000 to $650,000 a year, and equity partners at the largest firms routinely clear seven figures. Even a senior associate at a top firm can out-earn an Associate Justice. Chief Justice John Roberts called the gap a “constitutional crisis” in his 2006 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary. The counterweight is what private practice cannot offer: lifetime tenure, a full-salary pension, and the position itself.