As of 2026, the ages of the Supreme Court justices range from 54 to 78, with an average of about 66. Clarence Thomas is the oldest at 78; Amy Coney Barrett is the youngest at 54. Because federal judges hold their seats for life under Article III, those ages are the clearest clue to how long the current Court will look the way it does.
Every Current Justice, Ranked by Age
- Clarence Thomas, 78. Born June 23, 1948. Appointed by George H.W. Bush, confirmed in 1991.
- Samuel Alito, 76. Born April 1, 1950. Appointed by George W. Bush, confirmed in 2006.
- Sonia Sotomayor, 72. Born June 25, 1954. Appointed by Barack Obama, confirmed in 2009.
- John Roberts, Chief Justice, 71. Born January 27, 1955. Appointed by George W. Bush, confirmed in 2005.
- Elena Kagan, 66. Born April 28, 1960. Appointed by Barack Obama, confirmed in 2010.
- Brett Kavanaugh, 61. Born February 12, 1965. Appointed by Donald Trump, confirmed in 2018.
- Neil Gorsuch, 59. Born August 29, 1967. Appointed by Donald Trump, confirmed in 2017.
- Ketanji Brown Jackson, 56. Born September 14, 1970. Appointed by Joe Biden, confirmed in 2022.
- Amy Coney Barrett, 54. Born January 28, 1972. Appointed by Donald Trump, confirmed in 2020.
The 24-year gap between Thomas and Barrett is wide by historical standards and spans multiple generations of legal training.1Supreme Court of the United States. About the Court – Justices2United States Senate. Supreme Court Nominations 1789 to Present
What the Age Spread Means for the Court
The Court sits at a 6–3 split between Republican and Democratic appointees, and the ages tell you how durable that split is likely to be. Three of the four youngest justices are Republican appointees: Barrett at 54, Gorsuch at 59, and Kavanaugh at 61. Jackson, at 56, is the only member of the liberal wing young enough to plausibly serve into the 2050s.
Even if Thomas and Alito leave the bench in the near future, the conservative majority still holds four justices who could serve for decades. On the other side, Sotomayor at 72 is the oldest Democratic appointee, and Kagan is 66. For the current majority to flip from age alone, multiple vacancies would need to open during a Democratic administration.
How This Court Compares Historically
An average of about 66 is slightly above the long-run norm. A study covering every justice-year from 1789 through 2006 put the mean age of sitting justices at roughly 63.3National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retirement and Death in Office of U.S. Supreme Court Justices The Court has been older before. Several justices in the late 19th and early 20th centuries served into their 80s and pulled the average up.
What stands out about the current bench is less the average than the spread. Modern justices tend to be appointed younger and stay longer than their predecessors, which widens the gap between the oldest and youngest members on any given Court.
No One Has to Retire
Article III says federal judges hold their offices “during good Behaviour,” which in practice means for life unless they choose to leave or are impeached and removed.4Congress.gov. Article III – Judicial Branch There is no mandatory retirement age for a Supreme Court justice, and every departure in the Court’s history has been voluntary.
Federal law does set the point at which a justice becomes eligible for senior status. Under the Rule of 80, a justice qualifies when age plus years of service totals at least 80, starting at age 65 with 15 years of service and sliding from there: a 66-year-old needs 14 years, a 67-year-old needs 13, down to a 70-year-old with 10 years of service.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 371 – Retirement on Salary; Retirement in Senior Status A justice taking senior status keeps the full salary of the office so long as they handle a workload equal to about a quarter of what an active judge handles.6United States Courts. FAQs – Federal Judges
Five current justices already satisfy the Rule of 80 and could step back today: Thomas (78, 35 years of service), Alito (76, 20 years), Sotomayor (72, 17 years), Roberts (71, 21 years), and Kagan (66, 16 years). Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, Jackson, and Barrett are either too young or have not served long enough to qualify.
Proposals to Impose Term Limits
The combination of lifetime tenure and increasingly young appointees has driven proposals to cap active Supreme Court service at 18 years. The Supreme Court Term Limits and Regular Appointments Act, reintroduced in the 119th Congress, would have the President appoint a new justice every two years on a staggered schedule.7Congress.gov. HR 1074 – Supreme Court Term Limits and Regular Appointments Act After 18 years of active service, a justice would move to senior status instead of leaving the judiciary, and the most recently designated senior justice would fill a mid-term vacancy temporarily.8Congress.gov. HR 5140 – Supreme Court Term Limits and Regular Appointments Act of 2021
Supporters say staggered 18-year terms would lower the stakes of any single appointment and prevent the kind of generational entrenchment the current age distribution makes possible. Opponents say changing lifetime tenure would require a constitutional amendment, not a statute, because Article III guarantees service during “good behavior.”4Congress.gov. Article III – Judicial Branch The bill has not advanced past committee in any session it has been introduced.