Chart: Politicians are overpaid in almost every country

Members of Congress and Senators make $174,000 a year, far above the median income in the US. But things are even worse abroad. A design collective, Visualizing Impact, built this amazing graphic to illustrate income inequalities between elected representatives and their constituents around the world:

Visualizing Impact

For example, Kenya's National Assembly members are paid 97 times Kenya's median income, a ridiculously large difference for a poor country with a GDP per capita of about $1,800. By contrast, Norwegian parliament members have been relatively competitive salaries compared to their citizens, in keeping with the country's generally egalitarian income distribution.

Will you join us?

Our biggest supporters are our readers — and we’re so grateful to everyone who has made a contribution during our September campaign. We’re less than 1,000 contributions away from reaching our goal for the month, which in turn will allow us to say yes more often when our incredible journalists come to us with questions they want to answer and projects they want to pursue. Will you make a contribution before the month ends and support our policy coverage through 2024 and beyond?

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via