Claim: New Hampshire state legislators receive a salary of $100 per year.

TRUE

Example: [Collected via e-mail, October 2012]



I read that in the state of New Hampshire, state house representatives have not raised their $100 per year salary since 1889. Is this true? How does it compare to other state representatives salaries? I read that in the state of New Hampshire, state house representatives have not raised their $100 per year salary since 1889. Is this true? How does it compare to other state representatives salaries?



Origins: If anyone working in the U.S. could make a case for being overdue for a raise, it might be legislators in the state of New Hampshire. In 1889 that state’s constitution was modified to change the remuneration rates for members of the state Senate and House of Representatives from $3 per day to $200 for a two-year term ($250 for presiding officers) plus mileage, and that payment rate remains in effect to this day.

(Although $100 per year might seem a pitifully small salary even by 1889 standards, keep in mind that back then the New Hampshire legislature only met once every other year, for about sixty days, so legislators did not need to support themselves solely on their state salaries.)

In terms of straight salary, New Hampshire isn’t the lowest-paying state for legislators. Legislators in the state of New Mexico aren’t paid any salary at all, although they do receive a variable per diem rate (currently about $159) for expenses.