I’ve been talking recently with the two leaders of this year’s Ministers’ Salary Survey, Carley Dodd and Renee Paul. The results were posted last month, and now, a few weeks later, we’ve been reflecting together on this year’s process. I hope you find this conversation interesting and illuminating!

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David: The Ministers’ Salary Survey has been going for over 20 years now.  What do you think is the ongoing value of doing something like this survey every year?

Carley: The survey has developed considerably over time, from providing simple baseline information to offering granular analyses of ministerial roles and experiences such as salary ranges, benefits/allowances, salary trends across regions, education, time in ministry, congregational attendance and giving.  For example, we could simply report that the average salary across all ministry roles is just under $60,000, but the sorting of specific ministry roles along with region, education, experience, and size of the congregation paints a detailed picture. An annual knowledge of these data presents leaders and ministers with valued understanding for congregational operations. 

Renee: I think its value—and what keeps us doing this survey each year—is in the feedback we receive from church leaders. Any time a minister or church is facing a transition, the salary survey provides helpful guidance. That’s true whether we’re talking about negotiating salaries and benefits packages, noting trends in compensation, or hiring new ministers.

David: This year's survey looks a little different than it has in past years.  What are some changes that we should know about?

Renee: Each year we seek to update and improve our survey to make it more relevant, user-friendly, and helpful to ministers and churches. This year, you will find new questions, updated questions, and new charts in the report. Some of the new questions gather information about bi-vocationality (whether they have more than one job), the total number of years in their current ministry position and in their overall ministry career, benefits (such as whether they receive life or disability insurance), and any current or anticipated changes in online worship participation. We also updated some questions for purposes of clarity and usefulness. We did the same with the language on ministry role types and housing allowances and defined part-time and full-time based on the Affordable Care Act (ACA). 

Carley: Some changes for this include the following: preaching roles are differentiated as solo ministers (no other staff) and lead/preaching/senior ministers (with other staff), and housing allowances are indicated in more detail. In addition to what Renee mentioned, the survey also adds more specificity for salary and experiences for part-time ministers (composing 16% of ministers in the sample) and gathers more information about housing and benefits.

David: Now that you've worked your way through this year's responses, what has jumped out at you from the data?  Are there trends to note, or phenomena that are either accelerating or declining?

Carley: Overall findings reveal average salaries for all ministry roles at just under $60,000. The five roles with the highest average salary are family minister, education/spiritual formation, lead/preaching/senior, associate, and connections/discipleship/involvement. The number of ministry roles responding to the survey are 52% lead/preaching/senior/solo, 11% youth, 9% children’s, 6% administrative/executive, 5% worship, 4% connections/discipleship/involvement, and 3% or less for associate, campus/college/university, community outreach, education/spiritual formation, family, missions, and other. Some 70% of respondents are from the South with Midwest 14%, West 12%, and Northeast 4%. Overall, the average congregational size is 290 with 72% of congregations at 300 or less and 45% being 120 or less. Congregations of 300-500 represent 14%, while another 14% number 500 and up (including 8% with 750 or more). Across all congregations, and with a large range based on church size, the overall annual budget average is $418,238. 

Carley: Other data trends among respondents indicate slight increases in average salaries and benefits, salary raises for 2022 (51% of respondents), female survey respondents (doubled in four years), and Social Security participation. Annual giving amounts and numbers of congregations per region reveal little change, but decreases occur in worship attendance, including a reduction in online worship for 2022. Only 12% have 30% or more of the congregation participating in online worship, and overall one-third of ministers expect a decrease in online worship while 7% expect an increase. 

David: As you look ahead to next year, what would you like to see in 2023?  What would help make the salary survey even better?

Renee: Overall, I would love to see an increase in the number of participants. The more people that participate in the survey, the richer and more accurate the data. This is especially true in those ministry role types that tend to have a smaller response rate (such as associate, community outreach, education/spiritual formation, and family). 

Carley: Looking toward a 2023 salary survey, it would be useful to discover future salary increases and more data on attendance and contribution trends. 

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If you’d like to learn more about the Ministers’ Salary Survey, or to sign up to participate in next year’s survey, please visit our landing page at this link.