The Vice President of the United States is paid $235,100 in 2026. The official salary rate on the books is higher, $292,300, but Congress has frozen the payable amount for years, so that is what actually lands in the paycheck. On top of the salary, the job comes with a $20,000 expense allowance, a taxpayer-funded residence, a military aircraft, Secret Service protection, and a pension keyed to total years of federal service.
Why the Payable Salary Is Lower Than the Official Rate
Federal law ties the Vice President’s salary to an automatic adjustment formula based on the Employment Cost Index, a Labor Department measure of private-sector wage growth. Each January, the official rate is supposed to rise by the same percentage as the General Schedule raise most federal workers receive. For 2026, that formula produced an official rate of $292,300.1Federal Register. January 2026 Pay Schedules
Congress has overridden that adjustment every year since 2014 through annual spending bills. The payable salary was set at $235,100 in 2019 and has stayed there. The Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2026 extended the freeze through the last pay period beginning in calendar year 2026, which runs through January 9, 2027.2U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Updated Guidance – Pay Freeze for Certain Senior Political Officials
The unpaid $292,300 figure still does work in the background. Federal agencies with certified performance-appraisal systems use it as the pay ceiling for their top career employees, so it effectively caps senior executive compensation across the government.3U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Salary Table No. 2026-EX
The $20,000 Expense Allowance
The Vice President also receives a $20,000 annual expense allowance, paid in equal monthly installments, to help cover costs tied to official duties. There is no requirement to account for how the money is spent, but it counts as taxable income and must be reported on a federal tax return. Congress made the allowance taxable in 1951.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 3 USC 111 – Expense Allowance of Vice President
No Outside Income While in Office
The salary and allowance are effectively the whole cash paycheck. Federal ethics regulations bar full-time presidential appointees from collecting outside earned income for employment or any other outside activity performed during their appointment.5eCFR. 5 CFR 2635.804 – Outside Earned Income Limitations Applicable to Certain Presidential Appointees
Housing, Travel, and Security
The Vice President’s family lives at Number One Observatory Circle, on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory in northwest Washington, D.C. The federal budget covers upkeep, utilities, and staffing. For fiscal year 2024, the operating budget for the residence was estimated at $329,000.6GovInfo. Special Assistance to the President and the Official Residence of the Vice President
When traveling, the Vice President flies on a C-32, a military version of the Boeing 757-200 fitted with secure communications equipment including satellite links, encrypted phones, and television monitors. Any Air Force aircraft carrying the Vice President uses the call sign “Air Force Two.”7Air Force. C-32
The U.S. Secret Service provides continuous protection for the Vice President and immediate family while in office, including advance work, motorcade logistics, and a round-the-clock detail. Coverage after leaving office is much shorter. Former Vice Presidents, their spouses, and their children under 16 are protected for only six months, though the Secretary of Homeland Security can extend that window if a specific threat warrants it. There is no automatic lifetime protection of the kind former presidents receive.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3056 – Powers, Authorities, and Duties of United States Secret Service
Pension After Leaving Office
Former Vice Presidents do not get a flat lifetime pension the way former presidents do. Their pension depends on years of federal service, calculated under the same framework that covers members of Congress and other federal employees. At least five years of federal service is required to qualify at all.
The formula multiplies a percentage rate by the average of the three highest-earning years of federal pay. Under the Civil Service Retirement System, the multiplier for congressional and related service is 2.5 percent per year. Other federal service is calculated on a tiered scale.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 8339 – Computation of Annuity
Because the Vice President’s salary counts toward the high-three average, even one term can meaningfully raise the pension amount for someone with prior years in Congress or other federal positions. A Vice President who previously spent decades in the Senate would combine those years at the 2.5 percent rate with a high-three average inflated by the Vice President’s salary.
Transition Help and Retiree Health Coverage
The Presidential Transition Act authorizes the General Services Administration to provide outgoing Vice Presidents with office space, staff, communications services, and travel allowances to wind down their affairs. This support runs up to seven months, starting 30 days before the term expires and continuing six months after.10U.S. Government Accountability Office. Presidential Transitions – GSA’s Reported Cost for the 2020-2021 Transition and Its Budget Request for the 2024-2025 Election Cycle Congress caps combined transition spending for the outgoing president and vice president at $1.5 million.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 3 USC 102 – Compensation of the President
Health insurance follows federal retiree rules. A former Vice President enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program for at least five years immediately before leaving office can continue that coverage into retirement.12OPM.gov. Health If total enrollment was under five years, coverage still qualifies as long as the Vice President was enrolled from the first opportunity to sign up. The government continues to pay its share of the premium.
How the Pay Compares to Other Top Federal Jobs
The $235,100 payable salary sits well below the President’s $400,000 but above what members of Congress earn. Rank-and-file senators and representatives are paid $174,000. The Speaker of the House earns $223,500. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court earns $312,200, and associate justices earn $298,500. Because most of those other salaries have seen at least some cost-of-living adjustments while the Vice President’s pay has stayed locked at $235,100, the position’s compensation has been slipping behind in real terms for years.