Church Salary Survey

For the past 20 years Leadership Network has taken a salary survey of roughly 100 churches in their network. These churches would tend to be seen as those with influence and innovation that are leaders in the church world. This info may be helpful in negotiating your next raise or you may want to keep this hidden if you are being paid too much! The complete salary survey is also available under Special Reports on the Leadership Network Website:
http://www.leadnet.org/specialreports.asp

Church Size
The smallest church in the survey had an average weekend worship attendance of 800.
The largest church in the survey had an average weekend worship attendance of 8000.
The average (mean) church attendance was 2942.
The median (midpoint of data set) was 2252.

Annual General Budget Income

The number reported is the actual income for the last fiscal year:
The lowest to income reported was $1,800,000.
The highest income reported was $17,588,121.
The median income was $3,875,000.
The average income was $5,210,427.


Salary Levels
The survey asked for cash salary plus housing allowances for various roles. It does not include other benefits that are often a sizeable part of a minister’s compensation package. In addition, many churches have “Directors” which are not labeled “ministers” but serve in an equivalent role. Where there was role equivalency, these numbers were included in the survey.

Senior Pastor
• Average $130,004
• Median $126,900
Low $ 84,000
High $192,400

Executive Pastor
• Average $97,803
• Median $96,000
Low $61,437
High $167,300

Associate Pastor
• Average $ 80,441
• Median $ 78,850
Low $ 52,200
High $ 125,000

Worship Pastor
• Average $ 72,454
• Median $ 73,000
Low $ 36,000
High $ 115,900

Teaching Pastor
• Average $ 70,690
• Median $ 62,150
Low $ 47,000
High $ 126,200

Operations Director
• Average $ 71,607
• Median $ 75,000
Low $ 47,400
High $ 100,000

Business Administrator
• Average $70,690
• Median $70,200
Low $41,640
High $121,000

Equipping Pastor
• Average $ 70,300
• Median $ 74,000
Low $ 40,000
High $ 92,500

Director of Programming
• Average $ 69,653
• Median $ 56,650
Low $ 38,720
High $ 115,000

Family Ministry Pastor
• Average $ 69,180
• Median $ 71,475
Low $ 53,098
High $ 90,000

Small Groups Pastor
• Average $ 68,564
• Median $ 63,655
Low $ 43,700
High $ 150,000

Missions Pastor
• Average $ 67,370
• Median $ 66,000
Low $ 25,000
High $ 130,000

Pastoral Care Pastor
• Average $ 64,514
• Median $ 65,000
Low $ 36,000
High $ 90,000

Men’s Ministry Pastor
• Average $ 62,657
• Median $ 56,300
Low $ 50,000
High $ 78,000

Outreach Pastor
• Average $ 60,300
• Median $ 60,000
Low $ 30,000
High $ 100,800

Student Ministry Pastor
• Average $ 55,961
• Median $ 52,929
Low $ 40,000
High $ 74,000

Children’s Ministry Pastor
• Average $ 55,026
• Median $ 53,525
Low $ 35,000
High $ 78,000

Women’s Ministry Pastor
• Average $ 53,758
• Median $ 56,340
Low $ 26,000
High $ 72,400

High School Pastor
• Average $ 51,152
• Median $ 53,100
Low $ 32,287
High $ 69,000

Church Technology Director
• Average $ 51,070
• Median $ 51,000
Low $ 25,000
High $ 87,000

Communications Director
• Average $ 50,277
• Median $ 47,200
Low $ 26,000
High $ 82,000

Media Director
• Average $ 49,508
• Median $ 51,500
Low $ 37,507
High $ 60,200

Human Resources Director
• Average $ 47,087
• Median $ 45,000
Low $ 31,000
High $ 70,484

Middle School Pastor
• Average $ 45,845
• Median $ 46,000
Low $ 27,500
High $ 62,500

Younger Children’s Ministry Pastor
• Average $ 45,714
• Median $ 40,000
Low $ 32,000
High $ 66,800

Older Children’s Ministry Pastor
• Average $ 40,050
• Median $ 40,050
Low $ 37,600
High $ 42,500