How much money does the president make?
How much does the US president make while in office? The presidents not only get a salary but plenty of benefits such as staying in the White House for free, expense accounts including personal expenses and travel, free transportation, and more.
Now that the inauguration days have gone by and Joe Biden will be the president of the United States for the next four years, here is how much he will earn.
The US president receives a base salary of $400,000 and a $150,000 expense account which is split between personal expenses for $50,000 and $100,000 for travel. Along with these and the benefits mentioned above, the presidents get maids, cooks, groundskeepers, and valets.
During their terms, the US presidents also get free healthcare from the White House Medical Unit. With these benefits and a relatively high-salary, a President isn’t expected to spend much. While the $400,000 is quite high for anybody’s finances, the president’s salary has undergone changes.
From 1789 to 2021, there have been six times where the salary of the president has been adjusted.
A look back of the US presidents salary
| Year | Salary at the time | Value Today |
|---|---|---|
| 1789 | $25,000 | $740,000 |
| 1873 | $50,000 | $1,080,000 |
| 1909 | $75,000 | $2,150,000 |
| 1949 | $100,000 | $1,090,000 |
| 1969 | $200,000 | $1,420,000 |
| 2001 | $400,000 | $588,888 |
While the current $400,000 salary is quite high for most of us, there are a few presidents in the past that refused to take the salary. The following presidents refused a salary and either donated it to charity or federal departments.
- George Washington
- Herbert Hoover
- John F. Kennedy
- Donald J. Trump
Given that the president isn’t expected to spend much – if any – of its money, the salary was always high but not as much as it used to compared to today’s dollars.
