1. Emory University
Atlanta, GA • Private
In-State Tuition
$51,306
Enrollment
6,975
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A pastor leads a congregation of people and is responsible for their spiritual nourishment. They are responsible for assisting in church financial matters and overseeing the management of all areas of a congregation's ministry. They support, oversee and evaluate congregation staff by holding regular meetings to coordinate ministries.
Further duties include ensuring church facilities are functioning, leading religious worship services, providing counseling to parish members, including comforting them when they are distressed, visiting those who are sick, or offering advice on important decisions, performing religious ceremonies such as baptisms, weddings, and funerals, organizing and directing charitable efforts and fostering a sense of community, and composing and delivering sermons.
A pastor should have a strong character with impartiality and compassion for the concerns and struggles of others. He/She should have public speaking skills and the ability to communicate clearly. They earn an average of $44,708 per year. Most denominations require a pastor to complete higher education, such as earning a bachelor's degree in theology or religious studies. Some go through the seminary, theological college, or divinity school.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a pastor, we found that a lot of resumes listed 21.9% of pastors included community outreach, while 6.9% of resumes included overseer, and 6.7% of resumes included bible study. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
If you're interested in becoming a pastor, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 50.7% of pastors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 30.6% of pastors have master's degrees. Even though most pastors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of adjunct professor you might progress to a role such as project manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title area director.
Pastor
What Am I Worth?
There are several types of pastor, including:
A chaplain performs religious rites, worship services and even provides confidential counseling. They devote their lives to advising others on religious, spiritual and moral topics. Sometimes they'll work for the military and other times they work for a hospital.
When it comes to becoming a chaplain, the more education you have the better. While most chaplains have a Master's degree, there are some positions that require a Doctoral level of education. It's definitely a dream job for people who like promoting peace and helping others.
A youth pastor works in a church whereby he/she or she is responsible for the spiritual guidance of the younger members of the church. He/She or she leads children, teenagers, and young adults with the ultimate objective of fostering their spiritual growth and sharing the values and mission of the church. They do this by educating them about Christianity, encouraging them to worship, and encouraging them to take part in volunteer work. They also organize retreats, bible study lessons, community outreaches, etc.
A youth pastor works under the supervision of a senior pastor. In order to succeed in the role, youth pastors should be strong in their faith and should have a passion for sharing the gospel. They should also have the ability to connect with young people, confidence, leadership skills, communication skills, interpersonal skills, and the ability to inspire others.
Youth pastors have a rather flexible work schedule. They work an average of 40 hours a week. Their working hours also depend on the schedule of activities.
Youth ministers preach to and introduce teenagers and young adults to Christ. They educate teenagers about Christianity and encourage them to worship, leading them to Christ along the way. They earn an average salary of $40,000 per annum or $19 per hour.
Youth ministers act as guardians, and they serve as exemplary role models to children. They coordinate with the children for education, worship, volunteer work, and community outreach. They may also need to travel to communities or countries for mission trips. These trips are mostly to spread the gospel to the teens. They have reliable communication, leadership, and organizational skills.
Youth ministers hold a bachelor's degree in theology, biblical studies, or youth ministry. Most importantly, they are believers with a strong relationship to God. Some have previous youth ministry experience and an ability to understand the needs and challenges young people face. Also, they can work extended hours, sometimes into the evenings and weekends.
Mouse over a state to see the number of active pastor jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where pastors earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
---|---|---|---|
1 | California | 8 | $55,305 |
2 | Texas | 6 | $44,031 |
3 | Washington | 5 | $40,809 |
4 | Colorado | 4 | $44,115 |
5 | Indiana | 4 | $41,059 |
6 | Pennsylvania | 3 | $46,085 |
7 | North Carolina | 2 | $49,137 |
8 | Kentucky | 2 | $42,885 |
9 | New York | 2 | $46,933 |
10 | Utah | 2 | $41,140 |
11 | Missouri | 2 | $40,751 |
12 | Oregon | 2 | $40,350 |
13 | Iowa | 1 | $42,683 |
14 | New Jersey | 1 | $47,863 |
15 | Virginia | 1 | $47,407 |
16 | Tennessee | 1 | $39,108 |
17 | Georgia | 1 | $40,650 |
18 | West Virginia | 0 | $62,472 |
19 | Delaware | 0 | $63,184 |
20 | Maine | 0 | $61,594 |
21 | Rhode Island | 0 | $61,763 |
22 | Hawaii | 0 | $69,052 |
23 | Massachusetts | 0 | $59,402 |
24 | Vermont | 0 | $55,556 |
25 | New Hampshire | 0 | $53,193 |
26 | Arizona | 0 | $51,781 |
27 | Ohio | 0 | $49,392 |
28 | Maryland | 0 | $54,898 |
29 | Connecticut | 0 | $51,005 |
30 | Michigan | 0 | $47,676 |
31 | Wyoming | 0 | $46,600 |
32 | Wisconsin | 0 | $46,432 |
33 | Alabama | 0 | $44,847 |
34 | Nevada | 0 | $44,631 |
35 | Florida | 0 | $45,869 |
36 | Idaho | 0 | $44,204 |
37 | South Carolina | 0 | $42,595 |
38 | Minnesota | 0 | $42,915 |
39 | North Dakota | 0 | $40,988 |
40 | Arkansas | 0 | $40,764 |
41 | Louisiana | 0 | $40,790 |
42 | New Mexico | 0 | $40,593 |
43 | Oklahoma | 0 | $39,518 |
44 | Illinois | 0 | $40,696 |
45 | Kansas | 0 | $38,634 |
46 | Mississippi | 0 | $35,233 |
47 | South Dakota | 0 | $33,836 |
48 | Montana | 0 | $30,723 |
49 | Nebraska | 0 | $31,205 |
50 | Alaska | 0 | $25,476 |
Atlanta, GA • Private
In-State Tuition
$51,306
Enrollment
6,975
Chestnut Hill, MA • Private
In-State Tuition
$55,464
Enrollment
9,639
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-State Tuition
$48,522
Enrollment
6,557
Chicago, IL • Private
In-State Tuition
$29,860
Enrollment
1,967
Owensboro, KY • Private
In-State Tuition
$22,100
Enrollment
918
Miami Gardens, FL • Private
In-State Tuition
$31,830
Enrollment
986
Bronx, NY • Private
In-State Tuition
$52,687
Enrollment
9,392
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
In-State Tuition
$38,178
Enrollment
6,008
Lakeland, FL • Private
In-State Tuition
$25,870
Enrollment
5,570
Boiling Springs, NC • Private
In-State Tuition
$32,000
Enrollment
2,010
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Pastor templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Pastor resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
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Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a pastor. The best states for people in this position are Hawaii, Delaware, West Virginia, and Rhode Island. Pastors make the most in Hawaii with an average salary of $69,052. Whereas in Delaware and West Virginia, they would average $63,184 and $62,472, respectively. While pastors would only make an average of $61,763 in Rhode Island, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. West Virginia
$62,472
Avg. Salary
2. Delaware
$63,184
Avg. Salary
3. Maine
$61,594
Avg. Salary
Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Grace Church | $69,253 | $33.29 | 14 |
2 | Central Baptist Church of Oak Ridge | $68,221 | $32.80 | 10 |
3 | Freedom church | $68,100 | $32.74 | 16 |
4 | New Life Community Church | $67,423 | $32.41 | 10 |
5 | Trinity Baptist Church of Jacksonville | $67,388 | $32.40 | 17 |
6 | Bethel Church | $67,378 | $32.39 | 10 |
7 | Bethany Church | $66,964 | $32.19 | 10 |
8 | Tehachapi Nazarene | $52,964 | $25.46 | 30 |
9 | Westminster Presbyterian Church | $50,033 | $24.05 | 11 |
10 | United Methodist Church | $49,182 | $23.65 | 179 |