The amount of money legislators receive for their service—and the process for how those amounts are set—varies by state. NCSL uses several factors to measure legislator compensation, including salary, mileage reimbursement and per diem. Legislator compensation is collected and published annually and biannually. This information is supplemented with additional data on compensation for leaders, insurance and retirement benefits, and office and staffing allowances.
This toolkit provides resources on legislator compensation from the last several years, as well as information on how compensation is determined and how it has changed over time.