Legislators
Develop, introduce, or enact laws and statutes at the local, tribal, state, or federal level. Includes only workers in elected positions.
Median pay (national)
$44,810
$20,380–$137,820 (10th–90th)
Employed (US)
26,510
BLS OEWS, May 2024
Outlook 2024–34
+3.4%
~2,200 openings/yr
Typical entry
Bachelor's degree
What the numbers say
Refit analysis ·Pay for legislators shows an unusually wide range: the top 10% earn $137,820 versus $20,380 at the bottom 10% — 6.8x. The median of $44,810 leaves roughly 208% of headroom to the 90th percentile, which is where seniority, specialization, and the skills below tend to pay off.
Refit analysis ·Employment is projected to change +3.4% from 2024 to 2034 — about as fast as the 3% all-occupation average. Even so, BLS projects about 2,200 openings a year, mostly to replace workers who retire or change careers.
Refit analysis ·Where you work moves the number a lot. Across the 33 states with released data, Washington pays the most for this role (median $109,390, +144% vs the national median), while South Carolina sits lowest at $19,270 — a 468% spread for the same job title.
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What they actually do
Core O*NET tasks for this role.
- Analyze and understand the local and national implications of proposed legislation.
- Appoint nominees to leadership posts, or approve such appointments.
- Confer with colleagues to formulate positions and strategies pertaining to pending issues.
- Debate the merits of proposals and bill amendments during floor sessions, following the appropriate rules of procedure.
- Develop expertise in subject matters related to committee assignments.
- Hear testimony from constituents, representatives of interest groups, board and commission members, and others with an interest in bills or issues under consideration.
- Keep abreast of the issues affecting constituents by making personal visits and phone calls, reading local newspapers, and viewing or listening to local broadcasts.
- Maintain knowledge of relevant national and international current events.
- Make decisions that balance the perspectives of private citizens, public officials, and party leaders.
- Negotiate with colleagues or members of other political parties in order to reconcile differing interests, and to create policies and agreements.
Tools & technology
- Cisco Webex
- Microsoft SQL Server
- Microsoft Visual Basic
- Structured query language SQL
- Adobe FrameMaker
- Antenna House
- Apple iWork Keynote
- Apple iWork Pages
- Apple Numbers for Mac
- Cisco AnyConnect
- Corel WordPerfect Office Suite
- GoodReader
- iAnnotate
- IBM Domino
- Legislative Automative Workflow System LAWS
- LogMeIn GoToMeeting