EAJA Hourly Rates 2026: Courts Approved a Median $252.00 an Hour

What is the EAJA hourly rate in 2026?

Federal courts approved a median $252.00 an hour for attorney time under EAJA in 2026: the $125 statutory rate adjusted for the cost of living.

The Equal Access to Justice Act lets a party who prevails against the United States recover attorney fees, most often in Social Security disability appeals. The statute sets the rate at $125 an hour "unless the court determines that an increase in the cost of living or a special factor, such as the limited availability of qualified attorneys for the proceedings involved, justifies a higher fee" (28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(2)(A)).

By the year of the ruling. Courts often apply the rate for the year each hour was worked, so a ruling can approve several rates.

Does the EAJA rate differ by circuit?

Only slightly. The cost-of-living method is the same everywhere, but circuits use different price indexes and years.

Why is the EAJA rate higher than $125?

Because courts adjust the 1996 statutory rate for inflation.

In practice nearly every court adjusts the $125 for inflation using the Consumer Price Index, so the approved rate rises each year and differs slightly by circuit, by the CPI series the court uses, and by the year the work was done. Several circuits publish their own adjusted rates; the figures here are what judges actually approved in their rulings.

What do courts approve for paralegals under EAJA?

A median $100.00 an hour, across 177 approved paralegal rates.

Paralegal time is paid at market rates rather than the statutory rate, so it is not capped the same way.

When do courts award more than the cost-of-living rate?

Rarely: 5 approved attorney rates above $350.00, in 2 rulings.

Rates far above the cost-of-living figure require a "special factor", usually distinctive expertise the case needed that is not available at the statutory rate. Courts grant these rarely.

How to request the right EAJA rate

• Ask for the rate for the year each hour was worked. Many courts apply the CPI for that year rather than one rate for the whole case.
• Show the calculation: $125 times the CPI for the period, divided by the CPI when the cap was set. Courts cut requests that skip it.
• Keep time records by task. EAJA awards are also cut for excessive hours, and the government routinely objects to time on routine briefing.

Hours are cut too. See which objections courts accept and what a fee declaration needs.

Recent EAJA rate rulings

Methodology and sources

• Every federal ruling on GovInfo since January 1, 2024 that awarded fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act and stated hourly rates (526 rulings).
• Each rate is checked against the opinion text. Attorney medians use rates up to the special-factor threshold; enhanced rates are counted apart.
• A median needs at least 5 approved rates; the middle half is shown at 10 or more.

Limitations. The year shown is the year of the ruling, not always the year the work was done. Some federal districts publish few or no opinions to GovInfo, including the Southern District of New York, the Northern District of Illinois, the Middle District of Florida, the Eastern District of Virginia, the Western District of Washington and the District of Nevada. They are missing or thin here. LegalTime sells timekeeping software for law firms. The sections on LegalTime describe our own product; everything else comes from the court rulings.

General information from public court rulings, not legal advice. Data: CSV (CC BY 4.0). Spot an error? Email team@legaltime.ai with the case name and we will correct it.

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