There are 677 permanent U.S. district court judgeships authorized by Congress, spread across 94 federal judicial districts. That figure answers how many US district court judges are there in the strict statutory sense, but it understates who is actually hearing cases: once senior district judges and magistrate judges are counted, roughly 1,600 judicial officers are working in the federal trial courts at any given time.
The 677 Authorized Judgeships
The controlling statute is 28 U.S.C. ยง 133, which lists every federal judicial district and assigns a specific number of judges to each one.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 133 – Appointment and Number of District Judges Add up the allocations and the total comes to 677.2United States Courts. Judicial Vacancies These are Article III positions. The judges who hold them have lifetime tenure and can only be removed through impeachment.3Constitution Annotated. ArtIII.S1.8.1 Overview of Establishment of Article III Courts
Only Congress can add or eliminate seats. The 677 figure has held steady for years even as caseloads have grown, and no temporary district judgeships currently exist.4Congressional Research Service. Temporary Judgeships – Frequently Asked Questions In March 2025 the Judicial Conference formally asked Congress to create 69 new district court seats to keep up with workload, but Congress has not acted on the request.5United States Courts. Judiciary Seeks 71 Judgeships to Meet Growing Caseloads A seat counts toward 677 whether or not anyone currently occupies it.
How the Seats Are Distributed Across 94 Districts
Every state has at least one federal judicial district, and the larger states are split into several.6United States Courts. About U.S. District Courts The 677 seats are not divided evenly. Allocation reflects population, case volume, and docket complexity.
At the top, the Central District of California and the Southern District of New York each hold 28 authorized judgeships, the most in the country.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 133 – Appointment and Number of District Judges At the bottom, districts like Idaho and North Dakota have just two seats. The Manhattan federal courthouse has more active-duty judges than many entire states.
Senior Judges Add Roughly 400 More
The 677 count covers active-duty seats only. On top of that, around 400 senior district judges continue hearing cases. The most recent comprehensive count, from September 2023, put the number at 404.7United States Courts. Status of Article III Judgeships – Judicial Business 2023 Senior judges have stepped back from full-time service but still carry caseloads, sometimes substantial ones.
A judge becomes eligible for senior status under the Rule of 80: age plus years of federal judicial service must total at least 80. The earliest a judge can go senior is 65, which requires 15 years on the bench. A 70-year-old needs just 10 years. The scale between those points fills in the way you would expect, with age 66 needing 14 years, age 67 needing 13, and so on.8United States Courts. FAQs – Federal Judges
9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 371 – Retirement on Salary; Retirement in Senior Status
When a sitting judge takes senior status, the permanent seat opens for the President to fill. The senior judge keeps working, often choosing the caseload. To keep full chambers and staff, a senior judge needs to perform what’s called substantial service, which can be met by carrying roughly a quarter of an active judge’s workload. Senior judges draw the same salary as active judges.
Magistrate Judges Are Counted Separately
Magistrate judges are a different category and do not count toward the 677. They are not nominated by the President, do not have lifetime tenure, and are not Article III judges. As of September 2025, the Judicial Conference had authorized 567 full-time magistrate judge positions and 24 part-time positions.10United States Courts. Status of Magistrate Judge Positions and Appointments – Judicial Business 2025
The active district judges in each court appoint their own magistrate judges by majority vote. Candidates must have at least five years as a member in good standing of a state bar, and each district uses a merit selection panel of local residents to screen applicants. Full-time magistrate judges serve eight-year terms, part-time magistrate judges serve four-year terms, and both are eligible for reappointment.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 631 – Appointment and Tenure
They handle a large share of the daily work: initial appearances, bail hearings, discovery disputes, and pretrial motions. If every party in a civil case consents in writing, a magistrate judge can preside over the full trial and enter final judgment.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 73 – Magistrate Judges Trial by Consent and Appeal
Why the Actual Sitting Count Rarely Equals 677
The authorized number and the filled number are almost never the same. Judges die, resign, get elevated to appellate courts, or go senior, and seats sit vacant until the President and Senate agree on a replacement. At one recent count the U.S. Courts reported 33 district court vacancies, about 5 percent of all seats, which is relatively modest by historical standards.2United States Courts. Judicial Vacancies
Vacancies have exceeded 10 percent of authorized judgeships in multiple years, including 1991 at 16 percent and 2019 at 18 percent. When vacancies stack up in a district with heavy caseloads, the Judicial Conference can declare a judicial emergency. As of April 2026, 15 judicial emergencies were active.13United States Courts. Judicial Emergencies The designation does not create new seats; it flags priority nominations for the President and Senate.
So the clean answer to the count question is 677 authorized Article III district judgeships, with the practical answer closer to 1,600 once senior judges and magistrate judges are included, and the day-to-day sitting count fluctuating with vacancies.