The Chief Justice of the United States earns $320,700 a year in 2026, and each of the eight Associate Justices earns $306,600. Those are the current Supreme Court Justice salary figures, set through an automatic annual adjustment tied to national labor costs. Congress controls the pay scale, but the Constitution forbids cutting a sitting justice’s compensation.
For scale, federal circuit judges earn $265,100 and district judges earn $249,900 in 2026. All four figures move together each year under the same adjustment process.1United States Courts. Judicial Compensation The 2026 numbers are a small step up from 2025, when the Chief Justice earned $317,500 and Associate Justices earned $303,600.
How the Salary Changes Each Year
Congress does not vote on a new salary for justices annually. Federal law sets an automatic adjustment pegged to the Employment Cost Index, a Bureau of Labor Statistics measure of what employers pay for labor. Each year’s raise is rounded to the nearest $100 and cannot exceed the percentage increase given to General Schedule federal employees.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 461 – Adjustments in Certain Salaries
That cap matters. When Congress holds down the GS raise, judicial pay gets the same ceiling. The mechanism came out of the Ethics Reform Act of 1989, which traded automatic cost-of-living raises for tighter limits on outside income. Before the deal, judicial pay stagnated for long stretches because every raise required an affirmative vote.
Why Congress Can’t Cut the Pay
Article III of the Constitution says federal judges “shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.” The clause exists to keep Congress and the President from applying financial pressure to sitting judges.3Constitution Annotated. Compensation Clause Doctrine
The protection has been tested. In United States v. Will (1980), the Supreme Court held that Congress can block a scheduled raise before it takes effect but cannot rescind one already in force.4Cornell Law School. Judicial Compensation Clause – Doctrine and Practice Congress went on to freeze judicial cost-of-living adjustments in several years during the 1990s, and federal judges sued. In 2012, the Federal Circuit ruled in Beer v. United States that the 1989 Ethics Reform Act created a binding commitment to those raises. Because judges had given up outside income in exchange, blocking the raises amounted to an unconstitutional pay cut. Freezes in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1999 were struck down.5Justia Law. Beer v. United States
Benefits and Chambers Support
Justices receive the same core benefits as other federal employees: coverage through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance, and dental and vision plans through FEDVIP.6United States Courts. Benefits
Each justice also gets substantial staffing support. A typical Supreme Court chambers has four law clerks, a secretary, and a messenger. The Court covers work-related travel, and the United States Marshals Service handles security both at the Court and, during heightened-threat periods, at the justices’ homes.
What Retirement Pays
The Rule of 80
Justices hold lifetime appointments but can step down voluntarily. Under 28 U.S.C. ยง 371, a retiring justice receives a lifetime annuity equal to the salary they were earning when they left, provided their age and years of federal judicial service add up to at least 80:7Office 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 earliest exit with full benefits is 65, and only with 15 years on the federal bench. A justice who joined at 55 would have to wait until 70.
Full Retirement Versus Senior Status
Justices who meet the Rule of 80 have two options, and the financial gap between them is meaningful. Full retirement under Section 371(a) locks in an annuity at the salary in force when the justice leaves. If judicial pay rises later, the annuity stays flat.
Senior status under Section 371(b) is the more popular route. A justice on senior status keeps drawing the current salary of the office, so pay rises whenever active justices get a raise. The catch is a workload requirement: senior justices must be certified each year as having performed at least three months’ worth of judicial duties, which can include hearing cases, writing opinions, handling motions, or doing administrative work for the courts. A justice who retired in 2000 on a fixed annuity would still be receiving the 2000 salary while living in a 2026 economy, which is why most who leave choose senior status.
Survivor Annuity
Justices can buy into the Judicial Survivors’ Annuities System by contributing 2.2 percent of their salary while serving, and the same rate applies to retirement salary if they take senior status.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 376 – Annuities for Survivors of Certain Judicial Officials of the United States A surviving spouse’s annual benefit is calculated from the justice’s three highest-paid years and total creditable service, with a floor of 25 percent and a ceiling of 50 percent of that three-year average.
Outside Income and Ethics Limits
A sitting federal judge who practices law commits a “high misdemeanor” under federal law.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 454 – Practice of Law by Justices and Judges The ban is categorical. Justices cannot take clients, serve as counsel, or give paid legal advice.
They can teach, write, and speak, but total outside earned income in any calendar year cannot exceed 15 percent of the annual rate for Level II of the Executive Schedule. That works out to roughly $30,000 to $35,000, depending on the year. Book advances and royalties are treated differently and have been a large supplemental source for several recent justices, sometimes exceeding their government salary over time.
Every justice must file a public financial disclosure by May 15 each year, covering the prior calendar year. A report more than 30 days late triggers a $200 penalty.10Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Judiciary Financial Disclosure Filing Instructions The filing must include non-government income over $200, real property and investment holdings, liabilities over $10,000 owed to a non-family creditor, purchases or sales over $1,000 in real property or securities, and outside positions. Under the STOCK Act, justices also file periodic reports within 45 days of any securities transaction over $1,000 by them, a spouse, or a dependent child; widely held mutual funds are exempt.11Congress.gov. Financial Disclosure and the Supreme Court Gifts and travel reimbursements from a single source totaling more than $480 in a year must also be disclosed.12eCFR. 5 CFR 2634.304 – Gifts and Reimbursements