Political lobbyists in the U.S. command wages well above the average, with the median annual salary for a lobbyist being 116.8 thousand U.S. dollars of September 2020. However, even at the lower end of the scale lobbyists earn respectable incomes, with 25 percent earning 73 thousand U.S. dollars. At the other end of the scale, the top 90 percent of lobbyist earned above 201 thousand U.S. dollars per year.
‘Political lobbying in the United States’
Political lobbying is the activity of trying to influence the opinions and actions of people in important political positions, generally elected representatives and people on regulative bodies. Often this activity is performed by professional lobbyists, who are hired owing to their existing connections to the political establishment. Since 2008 spending on lobbying in the U.S. has averaged around 3.3 billion U.S. dollars per year, with an average of around 12,000 active registered lobbyists.
‘Who engages in lobbying?’
A wide range of groups engage in political lobbying. Corporate interests are obviously well represented, with many familiar companies and industry advocacy groups filling out the 2020 list of highest spenders on political lobbying. Aside from big business, special interest groups can also spend significant amounts on lobbying – often with both sides of a public debate contributing large sums. For example, National Association of Realtors has spent over 84 million U.S. dollars in 2020 to convince the government of their cause.
