Every year (since 1995) the White House releases a report to Congress detailing the salary of each of every White House employee. According to the latest annual staff report to Congress, which was sent July 1, 2009, 487 people work for the president. Their salaries totaled nearly $39.4 million (up from the $33 million and 439 positions in the final fiscal 2008 budget). Key advisers to President Obama earn the top White House salary of $172,200, and the lowest salary is $36,000. The staff includes, but is not limited to, the following categories*:

• Chief of staff, senior advisers and related staff: $1.7 million
• Personnel, operations and management: $3 million
• Personal/social secretaries, schedulers and related staff: $1.9 million
• Legal counsel: $4.1 million
• Media relations, speechwriters, new media: $5 million
• Travel/advance team: $1.2 million
• Correspondence and records management: $2.5 million

All numbers are derived from the annual report and do not include the salaries for generic positions such as associate director and staff assistant.