Summary of Changes from Previous Years

For '25-'26 information, see our Congregational Salary Program page.

Information for 2024-2025

• Recommended salary ranges for 2024-2025 increased 3% for all positions, job levels, and congregational sizes, in keeping with nonprofit salary structure trends.
• Cost of living adjustment: The average third-quarter Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) increase from 2022 to 2023 was 3.5%.
• In our '24-'25 Geo Index Listing (PDF), we added a Geo Index 8 for the first time. This is due to an increasing number of congregations in locations where wages are consistently well above 127% of the U.S. average.

Information for 2023-2024

Because we changed the congregational sizes and also shifted from a job title system to a grade system, there was no standard increase across positions or sizes. That said, we assumed a 3% pay increase as a general starting point in crafting the new recommendations.

The CPI-U change from 3rd quarter '21 to 3rd quarter '22 was 8.5%.

Information for 2022-2023

• Salary tables: We did not revise our tables for 2021-2022, so the '22-'23 tables reflected 2-year adjustments. Salaries for most positions increased 3% from the '20-'21 tables. Salaries for positions on the Administration and Operations page were adjusted 4%, reflecting slightly more upward wage movement in those types of positions over that 2-year period than in wages as a whole.
• Cost of living adjustment: The third-quarter Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) increase from 2020 to 2021 was 5.3%.

Information from Prior Years

For 2021-2022, we did not post updated salary tables. Given the stresses and uncertainties of the pandemic and the challenges of using wage survey data in that moment, we kept salary recommendations at 2020-2021 levels, making clear that staff should still get raises. The cost of living adjustment factor was 1.2%, based on the third quarter CPI-U change from 2019 to 2020.

For 2020-2021, the recommended cost of living adjustment was 1.8%. Range midpoints and maximums on our salary tables increased between 2% and 6%, depending on position and congregational size. Minimum salaries for all positions and sizes were adjusted so that every minimum is at least 85% of its corresponding midpoint. This caused some range minimums to rise substantially. It also means that some "midpoints" are no longer the mathematical midpoint between the minimum and maximum. See Guide to Salary Recommendations (PDF) for explanation.

For 2019-2020 salary tables, we made a uniform adjustment of 1.8% to all positions at all sizes. In 2018-2019, a 4% adjustment was made across the board. 2017-2018 was a "catch-up year," in which we made no changes.