Presidential salaries, from George Washington to Joe Biden
The presidential salary is set by Congress and has only been increased five times from the original pay of $25,000
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Like any other job, the position of U.S. president comes with a salary and benefits.
Congress sets the salary of the president, but according to Article II of the Constitution, the president's income cannot be changed during the term he was elected to serve in.
The last time Congress chose to increase the president’s salary was in 2001, just before George W. Bush took office.
Today, President Biden makes the same amount: $400,000. That doesn’t include a $50,000 "expense allowance," $100,000 for travel expenses or other entertainment allowances, according to Title 3 of the U.S. Code.
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Though it seems previous presidents didn't get nearly as much as our modern presidents -- George Washington made only $25,000 a year, for example -- former commanders-in-chief were, in fact, well-compensated after factoring in inflation.
The first presidential salary was $25,000, which in 2022 would actually be $798,715.91, according to an inflation calculator on officialdata.org.
President Joe Biden speaks during an event on the American Jobs Plan in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus, Wednesday, April 7, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) ((AP Photo/Evan Vucci) / AP Newsroom)
Congress raised the president’s salary for the first time in 1873, up to $50,000 a year. Today, that would be about $1.17 million, according to the inflation calculator.
In 1909, the president’s salary was raised again to $75,000 a year, which would be $2.3 million a year today. Forty years later, in 1949, the president earned $100,000 a year -- or $1.18 million today.
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By 1969, Congress raised the president’s salary to $200,000, which is about $1.5 million today. The president’s most recent raise came in 2001, up to $400,000.
In total, Congress has increased the president’s salary five times over the last 230 years since George Washington first took office.
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Here’s a look at how much each of the 46 U.S. presidents made in office -- not including any outside sources of income they may have had.
1789-1872: $25,000 a year
George Washington
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
James Monroe
John Quincy Adams
Andrew Jackson
Martin Van Buren
William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
James Polk
Zachary Taylor
Millard Fillmore
Franklin Pierce
James Buchanan
Abraham Lincoln
Andrew Johnson
Ulysses S. Grant
1873-1908: $50,000 a year
Ulysses S. Grant
Rutherford B. Hayes
James Garfield
Chester Arthur
Grover Cleveland
Benjamin Harrison
Grover Cleveland
William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
1909-1948: $75,000 a year
William H. Taft
Woodrow Wilson
Warren G. Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
1949-1968: $100,000 a year
Harry S. Truman
Dwight D. Eisenhower
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
1969-2000: $200,000 a year
Richard Nixon
Gerald R. Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
George H. W. Bush
Bill Clinton
2001-Present: $400,000 a year
George W. Bush
Barack Obama
Donald Trump
Joe Biden