Size of State Legislative Staff

10/2/2018

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Every six to seven years, NCSL conducts a census of legislative staff to learn about the number of staff employed in every state legislature. The first legislative staff census was conducted in 1979 and the last census was in 2015.

Today, there are more than 30,000 legislative staff that work in America’s state legislatures. While staff numbers increased in past decades, the growth trend has flattened out in recent years.

NCSL maintains data on the number of staff in each legislature and how they have changed over time. Staff censuses were conducted in 1979, 1988, 1996, 2003, 2009 and 2015.

LEGISLATIVE STAFF 2015 Longer description comes here AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DC DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY PR MP GU AS VI

National Total 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 26992 31678 33888 34979 35884 33330

Alabama 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 370 408 550 496 414 416

Alaska 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 276 513 460 449 405 450

Arizona 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 590 618 701 682 567 420

Arkansas 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 370 532 546 493 456 376

California 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 1760 2101 2106 2359 2610 2978

Colorado 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 283 316 345 385 260 249

Connecticut 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 425 590 617 539 623 602

Delaware 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 107 158 125 131 164 159

Flordia 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 1335 1613 1570 1803 2173 1774

Georiga 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 600 735 773 823 742 679

Hawaii 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 485 591 707 652 742 772

Idaho 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 175 158 155 183 145 136

Illinois 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 1119 851 1091 906 1057 1245

Indiana 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 308 305 375 383 326 303

Iowa 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 388 342 370 370 366 415

Kansas 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 366 354 388 340 363 387

Kentucky 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 335 468 679 628 583 462

Louisiana 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 482 922 868 739 524 531

Maine 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 154 206 211 190 180 187

Maryland 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 628 773 732 965 737 771

Massachusetts 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 595 759 903 935 850 782

Michigan 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 1047 817 973 1153 1404 1289

Minnesota 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 641 636 723 684 841 804

Mississippi 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 221 173 206 195 180 187

Missouri 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 402 426 509 349 524 587

Montana 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 258 251 237 247 299 266

Nebraska 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 220 236 243 239 250 217

Nevada 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 205 585 601 498 490 266

New Hampshire 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 140 150 179 165 159 142

New Jersey 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 582 757 816 1265 1514 914

New Mexico 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 262 674 679 648 540 369369

New York 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 3100 2865 2751 3428 3899 4157

North Carolina 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 390 678 646 629 464 485

North Dakota 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 126 122 105 124 172 192

Tennessee 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 320 322 335 284 283 260

Texas 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 1486 2359 2388 2268 2420 1809

Ohio 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 390 476 465 506 552 524

Oklahoma 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 326 299 407 433 415 394

Oregon 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 663 454 478 465 484 557

Pennsylvania 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 1430 2358 2919 2947 2702 2012

Rhode Island 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 228 259 441 454 228 232

South Carolina 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 396 332 337 421 493 338

South Dakota 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 135 114 106 75 94 99

Utah 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 182 227 220 181 225 189

Vermont 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 65 92 86 82 58 71

Virginia 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 581 822 751 682 823 623

Washington 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 920 793 846 826 902 1049

West Virginia 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 394 352 414 410 356 381

Wisconsin 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 633 649 640 756 691 688

Wyoming 1979-2015

1979 2015 2009 2003 1996 1988 98 109 125 114 125 113
 

Number of Legislative Staff as of 2015: 0-250 | 251-500 | 501-750 | 751-1000 | > 1000

Total Staff During Session | Permanent and Session Staff
STATE 1979 1988 1996* 2003 2009 2015
Alabama 370 416 414 496 550 408
Alaska 276 450 405 449 460 513
Arizona 590 420 567 682 701 618
Arkansas 370 376 456 493 546 532
California 1,760 2,978 2,610 2,359 2,106 2,101
Colorado 283 249 260 385 345 316
Connecticut 425 602 623 539 617 590
Delaware 107 159 164 131 125 158
Florida 1,335 1,774 2,173 1,803 1,570 1,613
Georgia 600 679 742 823 773 431
Hawaii 485 772 742 652 707 591
Idaho 175 158 155 183 145 136
Illinois 1,119 1,245 1,057 906 1,091 851
Indiana 308 303 326 383 375 305
Iowa 388 415 366 370 370 342
Kansas 366 387 363 340 388 354
Kentucky 335 462 583 628 679 468
Louisiana 482 531 524 739 868 922
Maine 154 187 180 190 211 206
Maryland 628 771 737 965 732 773
Massachusetts* 595 782 850 935 903 759
Michigan 1,047 1,289 1,404 1,153 973 817
Minnesota 641 804 841 684 723 636
Mississippi 221 187 180 195 206 173
Missouri 402 587 524 349 509 426
Montana 258 266 299 247 237 251
Nebraska 220 217 250 239 243 236
Nevada 205 266 490 498 601 585
New Hampshire 140 142 159 165 179 150
New Jersey 582 914 1,514 1,265 816 757
New Mexico 262 369 540 648 679 674
New York 3,100 4,157 3,899 3,428 2,751 2,865
North Carolina 390 485 464 629 646 678
North Dakota 126 192 172 124 105 122
Ohio 390 524 552 506 465 476
Oklahoma 326 394 415 433 407 299
Oregon 663 557 484 465 478 454
Pennsylvania 1,430 2,012 2,702 2,947 2,919 2,358
Rhode Island 228 232 228 454 441 259
South Carolina 396 338 493 421 337 332
South Dakota 135 99 94 75 106 114
Tennessee 320 260 283 284 335 322
Texas 1,486 1,809 2,420 2,268 2,388 2,359
Utah 182 189 225 181 220 227
Vermont 65 71 58 82 86 92
Virginia 581 623 823 682 751 822
Washington 920 1,049 902 826 846 793
West Virginia 394 381 356 410 414 352
Wisconsin 633 688 691 756 640 649
Wyoming 98 113 125 114 125 109
50 State Totals 26,992 33,330 35,884 34,979 33,888 31,374


Permanent Staff
STATE 1979 1988 1996* 2003 2009 2015
Alabama 200 339 316 422 467 349
Alaska 116 251 237 307 325 341
Arizona 280 323 472 631 598 521
Arkansas 230 250 292 339 405 435
California 1,760 2,865 2,506 2,334 2,067 2,098
Colorado 173 189 213 209 230 228
Connecticut 225 400 446 393 490 465
Delaware 32 49 58 84 74 79
Florida 1,095 1,581 1,896 1,650 1,457 1,446
Georgia 275 466 511 603 605 221
Hawaii 150 151 256 170 355 307
Idaho 55 51 61 75 81 76
Illinois 984 1,066 969 905 1,048 784
Indiana 138 171 183 304 239 252
Iowa 93 163 180 172 191 167
Kansas 126 117 121 100 150 148
Kentucky 135 216 317 386 406 375
Louisiana 327 360 419 688 666 743
Maine 46 138 133 156 169 171
Maryland 328 447 505 850 562 656
Massachusetts* 595 782 850 935 903 759
Michigan 1,047 1,287 1,359 1,153 973 817
Minnesota 420 602 638 602 590 568
Mississippi 130 124 132 150 164 140
Missouri 212 368 476 321 474 403
Montana 108 128 119 122 127 136
Nebraska 182 199 202 217 228 229
Nevada 85 115 170 230 293 284
New Hampshire 84 120 139 165 147 129
New Jersey 492 780 1,465 1,206 768 727
New Mexico 40 49 49 145 172 168
New York 1,600 3,580 3,461 3,077 2,676 2,776
North Carolina 90 118 168 290 321 370
North Dakota 26 31 31 32 32 37
Ohio 390 524 552 505 465 476
Oklahoma 101 171 260 302 293 224
Oregon 173 288 240 181 298 303
Pennsylvania 1,430 1,984 2,682 2,947 2,918 2,358
Rhode Island 81 153 216 297 284 259
South Carolina 146 251 269 247 252 280
South Dakota 75 67 60 56 55 58
Tennessee 270 175 213 253 277 264
Texas 986 1,460 1,964 1,745 2,090 2,057
Utah 71 86 111 108 114 133
Vermont 34 34 35 52 60 55
Virginia 306 191 468 410 391 533
Washington 370 582 535 561 597 536
West Virginia 124 126 158 195 219 201
Wisconsin 476 568 691 756 640 649
Wyoming 18 19 18 29 39 36
50 State Totals 16,930 24,555 27,822 28,067 27,445 25,827


Session-Only staff
STATE 1979 1988 1996* 2003 2009 2015
Alabama 170 77 98 74 83 59
Alaska 160 199 168 142 135 172
Arizona 310 97 95 51 103 97
Arkansas 140 126 164 154 141 97
California 0 113 104 25 39 3
Colorado 110 60 47 176 115 88
Connecticut 200 202 177 146 127 125
Delaware 75 110 106 47 51 79
Florida 240 193 277 153 113 167
Georgia 325 213 231 220 168 210
Hawaii 335 621 486 482 352 284
Idaho 120 107 94 108 64 60
Illinois 135 179 88 1 43 67
Indiana 170 132 143 79 136 53
Iowa 295 252 186 198 179 175
Kansas 240 270 242 240 238 206
Kentucky 200 246 266 242 273 93
Louisiana 155 171 105 51 202 179
Maine 108 49 47 34 42 35
Maryland 300 324 232 115 170 117
Massachusetts* 0 0 0 0 0 0
Michigan 0 2 45 0 0 0
Minnesota 221 202 203 82 133 68
Mississippi 91 63 48 45 42 33
Missouri 190 219 48 28 35 23
Montana 150 138 180 125 110 115
Nebraska 38 18 48 22 15 7
Nevada 120 151 320 268 308 301
New Hampshire 56 22 20 0 32 21
New Jersey 90 134 49 59 48 30
New Mexico 222 320 491 503 507 506
New York 1,500 577 438 351 75 89
North Carolina 300 367 296 339 325 308
North Dakota 100 161 141 92 73 85
Ohio 0 0 0 1 0 0
Oklahoma 225 223 155 131 114 75
Oregon 490 269 244 284 180 151
Pennsylvania 0 28 20 0 1 0
Rhode Island 147 79 12 157 157 0
South Carolina 250 87 224 174 85 52
South Dakota 60 32 34 19 51 56
Tennessee 50 85 70 31 58 58
Texas 500 349 456 523 298 302
Utah 111 103 114 73 106 94
Vermont 31 37 23 30 26 37
Virginia 275 432 355 272 360 289
Washington 550 467 367 265 249 257
West Virginia 270 255 198 215 195 151
Wisconsin 157 120 0 0 0 0
Wyoming 80 94 107 85 86 73
50 State Totals 10,062 8,775 8,062 6,912 6,443 5,547

*No data for Massachusetts in 1996 (estimate 850 based on trend)