Female Pastors Make More Than Male Pastors

Pastors are interested in how much other pastors make. Our recent post “How Much Do Pastors Make?” has been one of our highest trafficked articles this month. Perhaps, then, many of our readers will be interested to know that female pastors average 10.4% higher total compensation than male pastors.

Your Church, a part of the Christianity Today family, conducted a national survey in early 2007 involving 5,750 people in 13 different church positions. The survey dealt with total compensation, factoring in “housing allowance/parsonage, retirement, life insurance, health insurance, and continuing education.”

Although the overwhelming majority (93.7%) of solo-pastor respondents were male, female solo-pastors reported 10.4% higher total compensation. Average salary for women solo-pastors alone was 8.6% higher than men’s. Benefits for women solo-pastors were higher as well including: housing allowance/parsonage (20.4% higher) and retirement (24.8% higher). This led to the combined 10.4% higher total compensation for female solo-pastors.

This is not true across the board, though. Only in the role of “full-time solo pastor” did women pastors make more than men. (They also made more as secretaries/administrative assistants, which is to be expected.) So in actuality, men made more than woman in 11 of the 13 categories. But whose going to write an article from that perspective? That certainly doesn’t make very exciting news.

The complete survey results will be available in The 2008 Compensation Handbook for Church Staff.

Read the whole report at the Church Law Today store.

As a side note, it’s too bad that Rev. Ann Gordon didn’t have access to these survey results before becoming Rev. Drew Phoenix. (Read about it.)

HT: Sermon Audio

See also our previous post:

• How Much Do Pastors Make?

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