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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.

What Does a Pastor Do

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.

Learn more about what a Pastor does

How To Become a Pastor

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.

Learn More About How To Become a Pastor

Career Path For a Pastor

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

Average Salary for a Pastor

Pastors in America make an average salary of $44,787 per year or $22 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $64,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $30,000 per year.
Average Pastor Salary
$44,787 Yearly
$21.53 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Pastor

There are several types of pastor, including:

Chaplain

Role:

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.

  • Average Salary: $46,392
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Youth Pastor

Role:

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.

  • Average Salary: $39,712
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Youth Minister

Role:

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.

  • Average Salary: $41,513
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Pastor Jobs

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.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Pastor Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California8$55,305
2Texas6$44,031
3Washington5$40,809
4Colorado4$44,115
5Indiana4$41,059
6Pennsylvania3$46,085
7North Carolina2$49,137
8Kentucky2$42,885
9New York2$46,933
10Utah2$41,140
11Missouri2$40,751
12Oregon2$40,350
13Iowa1$42,683
14New Jersey1$47,863
15Virginia1$47,407
16Tennessee1$39,108
17Georgia1$40,650
18West Virginia0$62,472
19Delaware0$63,184
20Maine0$61,594
21Rhode Island0$61,763
22Hawaii0$69,052
23Massachusetts0$59,402
24Vermont0$55,556
25New Hampshire0$53,193
26Arizona0$51,781
27Ohio0$49,392
28Maryland0$54,898
29Connecticut0$51,005
30Michigan0$47,676
31Wyoming0$46,600
32Wisconsin0$46,432
33Alabama0$44,847
34Nevada0$44,631
35Florida0$45,869
36Idaho0$44,204
37South Carolina0$42,595
38Minnesota0$42,915
39North Dakota0$40,988
40Arkansas0$40,764
41Louisiana0$40,790
42New Mexico0$40,593
43Oklahoma0$39,518
44Illinois0$40,696
45Kansas0$38,634
46Mississippi0$35,233
47South Dakota0$33,836
48Montana0$30,723
49Nebraska0$31,205
50Alaska0$25,476

Pastor Education

Pastor Degrees

Bachelors

50.7 %

Masters

30.6 %

Associate

7.8 %

Top Colleges for Pastors

1. Emory University

Atlanta, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,306

Enrollment

6,975

2. Boston College

Chestnut Hill, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,464

Enrollment

9,639

3. Loyola Marymount University

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$48,522

Enrollment

6,557

4. North Park University

Chicago, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$29,860

Enrollment

1,967

5. Brescia University

Owensboro, KY • Private

In-State Tuition

$22,100

Enrollment

918

6. Saint Thomas University

Miami Gardens, FL • Private

In-State Tuition

$31,830

Enrollment

986

7. Fordham University

Bronx, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$52,687

Enrollment

9,392

8. Duquesne University

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$38,178

Enrollment

6,008

9. Southeastern University

Lakeland, FL • Private

In-State Tuition

$25,870

Enrollment

5,570

10. Gardner-Webb University

Boiling Springs, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$32,000

Enrollment

2,010

Top Skills For a Pastor

  • Community Outreach, 21.9%
  • Overseer, 6.9%
  • Bible Study, 6.7%
  • Public Speaking, 5.9%
  • GOD, 5.6%
  • Other Skills, 53.0%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Pastor Resume templates

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.

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Pastor diversity

Pastor Gender Distribution

Male
Male
87%
Female
Female
13%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among pastors, 12.9% of them are women, while 87.1% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among pastors is White, which makes up 68.3% of all pastors.

  • The most common foreign language among pastors is Spanish at 55.3%.

Online Courses For Pastor That You May Like

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Best States For a Pastor

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

Total Pastor Jobs: 0
Highest 10% Earn:
$98,000
Location Quotient:
0

2. Delaware

Total Pastor Jobs: 0
Highest 10% Earn:
$101,000
Location Quotient:
0

3. Maine

Total Pastor Jobs: 0
Highest 10% Earn:
$93,000
Location Quotient:
0
Full List Of Best States For Pastors

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Top Pastor Employers

Most Common Employers For Pastor

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Grace Church$69,253$33.2914
2Central Baptist Church of Oak Ridge$68,221$32.8010
3Freedom church$68,100$32.7416
4New Life Community Church$67,423$32.4110
5Trinity Baptist Church of Jacksonville$67,388$32.4017
6Bethel Church$67,378$32.3910
7Bethany Church$66,964$32.1910
8Tehachapi Nazarene$52,964$25.4630
9Westminster Presbyterian Church$50,033$24.0511
10United Methodist Church$49,182$23.65179