I’ve been thinking about going downtown and I wanted to see if ppl have thoughts on how much I can realistically expect to get paid. I’ve been on the Hill for my whole career (2 years House, 2 years Senate) and I’m currently making about $90k. I wouldn’t say I’m an incredible expert on any given policy area, but I think I have a pretty good grasp of Congressional procedure.
But yeah, would like to get some feedback on how much I can expect to get paid and what the work life balance would be like.
It can range quite a bit and there can be a significant bonus component depending on where you’re at.
Given you’re not super experienced in any given policy area, for a generic govt affairs role, you can probably try to get $120 all-in? WLB depends a lot on where you end up, but most of the ppl I work with seem to enjoy pretty stable 40-50 hour weeks.
Yeah, for a junior line level lobbyist role that you’d be entering at, $120k is a reasonable anchor. Though I know some staffers who recently left with similar amounts of experience, but deeper policy knowledge in a hot area, who have been able to get about $175k.
They covered tax issues and did quite a bit during the TCJA extension fight this year. Can’t say more than that to avoid outing them.
But if you think that’s crazy, I know some senior staff that have recently left who are getting paid just over $1M. Suffice it to say, they have a bit more than 4 years of experiences.
Not as directly relevant for you given that you’re not super in the weeds on a policy area, but think tanks can be another good option if you don’t want to go the lobbying route. My organization only pays about $80-$90k for someone with your level of experience, but we have very generous benefits (flex fridays, great healthcare, low stress atmosphere). I’ve also heard of some think tanks that pay fellows as much as $200k, but that’s typically for lawyers with a bit more experience I think.
Thanks everyone for the feedback! I should’ve clarified that I’m not in a particular rush to leave, but I guess the shutdown has given me plenty of time to think about leaving. Given this, do ppl think I should stay longer and develop a policy expertise? I guess I’m asking if people think I’m leaving too early.
If you’re not in a rush to leave, it probably is better to stick around and develop more expertise. Generic lobbyists are a dime a dozen. Granted most lobbyists are overpaid for what they do, there’s generally a cap on individuals who can’t go deeper on a topic. Of course the ultimate exception would be if you just have the connections that come with spending more time on the hill.
It depends on how you use your time on the hill. Spending more time in and of itself will get you nowhere. You need to either focus on moving into higher profile seats (e.g. leadership) or you need to develop a focus on specific industries that are likely to pay more (i.e. crypto, banks, tech).
A line level lobbyist at a large bank can reasonably expect to make approx $200-300k all in. By comparison, less profitable sectors / companies pay about half (sometimes less) of that for the same level of experience.