Even as 9.7% of the American workforce can’t find employment and an even larger percentage are underemployed, nearly 2,000 staffers in the House of Representatives are pulling down six-figure salaries on the taxpayer dime.

Nearly 2,000 House of Representative staffers pulled down six-figure salaries in 2009, including 43 staffers who earned the maximum $172,500 — or more than three times the median U.S. household income.

Starting salaries on Capitol Hill are still low — many entry-level congressional jobs pay less than $30,000 a year. And many of the most highly paid staffers could make several times the maximum by jumping to lobbying and consulting jobs in the private sector.

But the salary data, compiled for POLITICO by LegiStorm.com, show that it’s possible to make an enviable living in Congress, even without winning an election.

The 43 staffers who maxed out at $172,500 — the salary cap for leadership and committee staffers — include John Lawrence, chief of staff to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Paula Nowakowski, the late chief of staff to House Minority Leader John Boehner; and House Parliamentarian John Sullivan. They earned only slightly less than rank-and-file members of Congress, who make $174,000.

Which begs the question: Why? Congressional staffers aren’t chosen by the American people and haven’t made their way up a branch of the service. They’re partisan staffers helping push partisan agendas through Congress. Necessary positions obviously, but we’re talking salaries worth more than three times the median household income.

Most of the staffers at the top salary level serve in upper-level committee and leadership office staffs, including staff directors, policy advisers and legislative counsels — positions that have often had direct input on the formation of major legislation, such as health care. Many of those staffers also have law degrees.

But while these top earners are a small percentage of the overall congressional work force, their numbers are growing at a rapid rate under the Democratic Congress. The number of staffers earning within the upper 3 percent of House salaries — currently $163,358 or more — has increased by nearly 39 percent in the past four years, according to LegiStorm data. In 2005, there were 203 staffers earning in the top 3 percent. That number spiked to 304 people in 2008 but then dropped in 2009 to 282, likely caused in part by the economic downturn.

282 Congressional staffers making $163,358 or more per year while the constituents to which their bosses are supposedly beholden struggle to pay their bills.

“These are people who could be making a lot more money in the private sector, but they choose to work here,” said Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly, who also makes $172,500. “Often some of the junior-level staffers make $25,000 a year and work very long hours. They’re certainly not being overpaid. Many of these people have a great deal of expertise.”

$25,000 per year for staffers is just fine, especially since they get an impressive line on the resume. But you know who is overpaid? The guy making $172,500 per year to give statements and issue press releases for a public servant.

According to LegiStorm’s data, 53 personal office House staffers are making the most money possible in a regular congressional office — $168,411. Among those are Kathy Perdue, the House’s assistant chief administrator for administrative and financial services, , and Jedd Moskowitz, chief of staff to Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.)…

An additional 80 staffers are only a raise away — about $2,000 — from hitting that $168,411 cap. And 117 are a few thousand dollars away from hitting the $172,500 limit.

The ranks of our Congressional betters pulling down six-figure salaries increases as the rest of the economy flails and Americans struggle to pay their mortgages. It’s sickening.