The average senior pastor in U.S. churches today makes more than $80,000 a year, a recent national survey shows.
Compensation packages, including benefits such as retirement, life insurance, health insurance and continuing education allowances, have increased to $81,113 per year for the average senior pastor. And pastors who hold a higher academic degree are paid up to $30,000 more per year than pastors without any post-secondary education.
The statistics come from the 2009 Compensation Handbook for Church Staff, an annual analysis of compensation packages at churches across the country, and at a time when churches begin planning their budget for the next year. This year, 4,800 U.S. churches, representing about 11,000 employees, were surveyed between January and March by the Your Church Media Group at Christianity Today International.
According to the survey, churches that draw 101 to 300 people each week pay senior pastors $72,664 per year, including benefits. The pay increases to $88,502 for pastors at churches that average a weekly attendance of 301 to 500 people, and then to $102,623 when attendance averages 501 to 750 people.
Compensation also increased among executive and administrative pastors who now earn an average of about $60,777 at churches of 101 to 300 people and $76,671 at churches of 501 to 750 people.
Pastors who lead music, choir or worship earn an average of about $51,954 at the smaller churches and $64,781 at the bigger ones.
Senior pastors, full-time secretaries and administrative assistants in the New England states have higher compensation compared to those in other regions, the survey also found.
Compensation is highest in suburban churches with suburban senior pastors making an average of 50 percent more than their rural counterparts. The pay is lower with churches in metropolitan areas, small towns and then in rural communities, respectively.
Meanwhile, executive or administrative pastors, bookkeepers and accountants earn the most in the Pacific region and administrators fare best in Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and Mississippi.
Pay also differed among denominations. Pastors leading in Presbyterian and Lutheran churches earn the most with over $100,000 in compensation while executive and administrative pastors make more on average with independent and nondenominational churches ($80,469) than any other denomination.
The 2009 Compensation Handbook for Church Staff provides a complete analysis of 13 church positions and includes breakdowns for part-time, full-time, church size, income budget, and geographical setting.
RSS
I am a pastor. I am on call 24/7. I do weddings,funerals, hospital visits,preach at least 3x's/week,marriage counseling,attend all types of ministry functions,study,pray,and plan services, do church administration, hire staff, train staff, make sure everyone has a place if wanted, attend community events, denominational events, family events, and I get persecuted for my pay no matter what it is by ignorant people who don't know the Bible nor want to. I love my church, my job and my God. In man's eyes 80 grand seems like a lot. In God's eyes it's not much....Do I make 80 grand? In some churches yes and some I didn't. Every church does what it can. Paul made tents, he wasn't a pastor w/ a church to support him. He started churches and after awhile they began to support him. The Bible says the laborer is worthy of his hire and don't muzzle the ox that treads out the grain. There are pastors who are worth much more than 80 grand and some aren't worth much at all....Let God decide that.....not man. I have many in my church that are great and deserve much and some I just pray for....lol....I love them all. You get yourself in trouble judging anyone.
and you 'christians' want me to say what you want to hear!
to imavroff
it shows the hypocrisy of the church & the pastors. they preach self denial but they them selves could not deny themselves. show me in the bible that they should be earning $80,000/year, while they tell us to be contented with what we have. HYPOCRITES!!
'If a person is offered to work for a certain wage and it makes sense for the company, organization or church to pay that wage, who can complain?'
then christianity is not a relationship but a business to make a profit so a pastor can get rich & wealthy. HE THINKS OF HIM'SELF' which is contrary to their teaching of SELF DENIAL! again full of hypocrisy.
Why does it matter how much anyone makes? If a person is offered to work for a certain wage and it makes sense for the company, organization or church to pay that wage, who can complain?
Matthew 20:1-15 "1 "For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the owner of an estate who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work. 3 "At nine o'clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. 4 So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day. 5 At noon and again around three o'clock he did the same thing. 6 At five o'clock that evening he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, 'Why haven't you been working today?' 7 "They replied, 'Because no one hired us.'"The owner of the estate told them, 'Then go on out and join the others in my vineyard.' 8 "That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. 9 When those hired at five o'clock were paid, each received a full day's wage. 10 When those hired earlier came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day's wage. 11 When they received their pay, they protested, 12 'Those people worked only one hour, and yet you've paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.' 13 "He answered one of them, 'Friend, I haven't been unfair! Didn't you agree to work all day for the usual wage? 14 Take it and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. 15 Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be angry because I am kind?'"
wbmoore,
I'm not sure what the statistics are, but all the pastors I know are supported fully by the church. But those pastors are part of a successful denomination. I do know a pastor who is "independent" of any organization, and he is, for the most part, supported by the church, and he lives on next to nothing...literally. The only thing that gets him by is his disability checks. Which is also next to nothing.
Unless you're part of a big organization, or independenat and fortunate, it's hard to make ends meet as a pastor.
I know of no pastor who makes this money from the church. I do know more than a few who work multiple jobs or whose wife works.
Yes, the pastor is worthy of his pay. Yes, Paul sought to support himself to not be a burden to the church. But most of our churches do not support pastors full time - regardless of the amount of education they have.
1 Corinthians 9:14 "In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel."
Such a shame that Jesus and Paul lived before our time. Jesus never had a place to lay his head and Paul had to earn a living as a tentmaker. They sure missed out. Apostasy is is on the rise.
This is way out of line with the "avrage" pastor makes. Remember this takes some pastors who have huge churches.
Keep in mind to get a M Div the cost is more than $100,000. A M Div takes 128 hours and in some seminaries it's even a few more credit hours. Even suth some grants, most students come out with student loans that take a decade or more to repay. Then there are some churches that wont look at anyone who does not have a Dr. of Minisrty and that's atleast three more years and aboit 50 to 60 more hours of credits. Heck 128 hours is a PHD in any other field.
In some churches to ballance the budget the pastors wages is the first thing to put to the end and if there is anything left that's his raise. In some churches they vote the pastor our while he is on his 1 week vacation.
Don't be to impressed by this bias $80,000, wage. There many who work for less than half that for 60+ hours per week.
One thing about this article is it presents the average income without breaking it down. One pastor making quite a bit would offset the apperance of the 100's of pastors that make less than $40k for the same thing.
I rank this method of journalism right up there with reporting on surveys. Also, just how many pastors didn't answer the survey? What kind of controls were put in place to make sure the 'industry' was correctly represented?
I was raised in the ministry. Pay went up when the Churches stopped providing the house!
That comes out to $27/wk per member at 300 members.
Pastors are CEOs, CFOs, Chairman of the Board (in many cases), counselor, motivational speaker (preacher) and a few others. In most industries they would be getting $80k/yr for EACH position.
The Bible says a man is worth his wage. The only thing a church needs to do is to make sure the man is worth his wage!
"According to the survey, churches that draw 101 to 300 people each week pay senior pastors $72,664 per year,"
72,664 / 300 = $1,397 , or $1,397 per person per year.
Wow!
mike, are you speaking to the article or to the responses?
talk about SELF DENIAL! all I can say is hypocrisy exists in the church
When I was a Reformed Pastor of a 400 person Church, I only made about $35K and I also taught in the evenings for extra-money for my family.
I doubt seriously that pastors make this much, as most of my friends do not who still pastor. I do know for a fact that the Priest in charge of our parrish earns about $25K per year.