How much do pastors make: Pastor Pay Benchmark
The median published figure in the Pastor Pay Benchmark is 55,550 USD across 3 sources' own pages (range 49,720 to 58,920 USD), read 11 October 2026.
Sacristo sells its own paid plan in this category (our pricing). It is not counted here: every figure in this index is another provider's own published price, read from its own page.
3 of the 13 named sources read in full publish a figure; 10 publish none, read 11 October 2026.
The median is unchanged since 26 September 2026 (was 55,550 USD across 3).
By time
| Breakdown | Median | Range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| timeMay 2023 | 58,920USD | 58,920 to 58,920USD | 1 |
| timeMay 2022 | 55,550USD | 55,550 to 55,550USD | 1 |
| timeMay 2021 | 49,720USD | 49,720 to 49,720USD | 1 |
Every figure, with its source
One row per source: the figure the source's own page publishes, the page, and the day it was read. A figure that is not on a page we read is not on this one.
| Source | Figure | Breakdown | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| BLS OEWS Clergy (21-2011), May 2023 | 58,920USD | May 2023 | 2026-10-11 |
| BLS OEWS Clergy (21-2011), May 2022 | 55,550USD | May 2022 | 2026-10-11 |
| BLS OEWS Clergy (21-2011), May 2021 | 49,720USD | May 2021 | 2026-10-11 |
The sentence each figure was read from (3)
- BLS OEWS Clergy (21-2011), May 2023, read 2026-10-11:
Annual Wage (2) $ 35,400 $ 45,540 $ 58,920 $ 74,620 $ 96,600
- BLS OEWS Clergy (21-2011), May 2022, read 2026-10-11:
Annual Wage (2) $ 31,170 $ 41,040 $ 55,550 $ 68,180 $ 93,530
- BLS OEWS Clergy (21-2011), May 2021, read 2026-10-11:
Annual Wage (2) $ 30,450 $ 38,800 $ 49,720 $ 63,560 $ 80,920
Read in full, publishes no figure
10 named sources were read in full on the dates shown and print no usable figure. They are counted, never filled in.
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wages news release, May 2025, read 2026-10-11: every candidate on the page was refused
- BLS OEWS Table 1: national employment and wage data by occupation, May 2025, read 2026-09-12: every candidate on the page was refused
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, data for occupations not covered in detail, read 2026-10-11: every candidate on the page was refused
- BLS OEWS state occupational employment and wage estimates, May 2025, read 2026-10-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- BLS occupational projections and worker characteristics, read 2026-09-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- BLS OEWS overview and methodology, read 2026-10-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- BLS OEWS tables index, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- FRED (St. Louis Fed): employed full time, wage and salary workers, clergy occupations, read 2026-10-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- US Census Bureau industry and occupation, read 2026-10-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- BLS OEWS May 2025 occupation profiles index, read 2026-10-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
Methodology
Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2).
3 of the 13 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 10 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 0 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere.
The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source in USD (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences), so N counts sources, never sentences; 43 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded.
The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): the national and per-state mean, median and percentile wage for Clergy (SOC 21-2011) read from each dated OEWS release, joined across releases into a series with the year-on-year change and the real change against CPI; the spread between the 10th and 90th percentile, the states above and below the national median, and the gap between the OEWS clergy figure and the judicatory minimums in the schedules dataset - which is the number a treasurer actually wants and which neither source publishes on its own
43 candidate sentences on these pages were refused by a reviewer; each refusal and its reason is recorded in the review ledger.
Sources (13)
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wages news release, May 2025(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS OEWS Table 1: national employment and wage data by occupation, May 2025(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS OEWS Clergy (21-2011), May 2023(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS OEWS Clergy (21-2011), May 2022(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS OEWS Clergy (21-2011), May 2021(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, data for occupations not covered in detail(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS OEWS state occupational employment and wage estimates, May 2025(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS occupational projections and worker characteristics(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS OEWS overview and methodology(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS OEWS tables index(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- FRED (St. Louis Fed): employed full time, wage and salary workers, clergy occupations(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- US Census Bureau industry and occupation(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS OEWS May 2025 occupation profiles index(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
Cite or embed this figure
Cite or embed this figure
The median published figure in the Pastor Pay Benchmark is 55,550 USD across 3 sources' own pages (range 49,720 to 58,920 USD), read 11 October 2026.
3 of the 13 named sources read in full publish a figure; 10 publish none, read 11 October 2026.
Pastor Pay Benchmark, time May 2023: median 58,920 USD across 1 source, read 11 October 2026.
Pastor Pay Benchmark, time May 2022: median 55,550 USD across 1 source, read 11 October 2026.
Pastor Pay Benchmark, time May 2021: median 49,720 USD across 1 source, read 11 October 2026.
The median is unchanged since 26 September 2026 (was 55,550 USD across 3).
Cite as: "Sacristo Pastor Pay Benchmark", updated 2026-10-18, https://sacristo.com/datasets/pastor-pay-benchmark/.
Download the CSV (3 rows, computed 2026-10-18)