A 3.3% pay increase that affects scores of state officials also includes Pennsylvania judges at all levels, from magisterial district judges who handle minor offenses, including traffic citations, to the state’s court of last resorts.
On the seven-member Pennsylvania Supreme Court, justices will go from earning $261,976 in 2025 to $270,622 this year, while the chief justice will be paid $278,000.
At the former pay rate, Pennsylvania ranked seventh in how much it paid its supreme court justices behind Illinois, California, Florida, Hawaii, Washington D.C., and Washington state, according to the National Center for State Courts.
The NCSC won’t release its next annual report until this coming July, but the pay bump would place these judges third in the nation if other states don’t adjust judges pay, too, or do so at a lower rate.
At the 15-member Pennsylvania Superior Court and the nine-member Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, judges will earn $255,346 in 2026, while the president judges of those courts will each be paid $263,216.
Both are intermediate appellate courts. The superior court hears criminal and civil appeals, while the commonwealth court handles cases involving state and local governments and their respective agencies.
Judges on these appellate courts previously earned $247,188, ranking them the fourth highest-paid by court type in the country, according to 2025 data from the NCSC. Only Illinois, California and Washington paid their intermediate appellate court judges more.
Local and district judge pay in Pennsylvania
Most Courts of Common Pleas judges will be paid $234,916 in 2026. However, the president judges of these courts will earn more depending on the size of the court and the location.
For courts with six or more judges, the president judge will make $236,963. For courts with five or fewer judges, the president judge will be paid slightly less, $235,941.
President judges in Allegheny and Philadelphia counties will be paid even more: $238,853 and $239,641, respectively. These two county court systems also have administrative judges, who will be paid the same as president judges in other counties, depending on the number of other judges they oversee.
Philadelphia also has a municipal court system. Judges there are being paid $229,480 in 2026, while the president judge will make $233,026.
Magisterial district judges will see their annual pay increase to $117,466, with senior judges earning the per diem rate of $731. Senior judges are retired judges who, with approval of the court, continue to serve to help fill vacancies or ease backlogs. In Pennsylvania, judges are required to retire once they hit age 75. The state prohibits senior judges from earning more annually than an active judge when their salary is added to their retirement compensation.
The raises for Pennsylvania employees, including judges, are based on inflation indexes in the mid-Atlantic region and are enshrined in a law that sets the raises on an annual basis.
