Congress is hiring more Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders than ever - but paying them thousands less per year than white staffers. In the House, they make up the lowest-paid racial group.
AAPIs now make up 3.8 percent of all congressional staff. That's double the proportion that Congress hired 20 years ago.
Salary rates for all races have trended upward for years. But AAPI staffers aren't seeing the same pay rates as their white counterparts, according to LegiStorm data.
In 2020, the average AAPI aide working for the House made $51,700 - 94 percent of her or his white counterparts, who averaged $3,100 more. Hispanic and Black House staffers make 95 and 97 percent of their white peers' wages, respectively.
AAPI Senate staffers brought home an average of $52,600 last year. That's 88 percent of what the average white staffer made and $6,800 less. Hispanic and Black staffers made 86 percent and 84 percent, respectively, of what white staffers did.
Pay disparities among racial lines have always existed in Congress for Hispanic and Black staffers. While AAPI staffers have at times avoided that pay gap, Congress has more recently re-established their status as a lower-paid racial group. Just five years ago, AAPI staffers made 99 percent of that of white staffers in the House and 100 percent of those working for the Senate. The disparity has grown every year since.
