How much should you pay your staff? The UUA provides salary guidance to assist and empower congregational leaders in making values-based compensation decisions.

Economic Justice

Our program is grounded in economic justice – procedural justice (how pay decisions are made and implemented) and distributive justice (the dollar amounts). We emphasize procedural justice. Be sure to review the values-aligned Salary Policies and Practices on the next page.

Adjustments for 2026-2027

Recommended salary ranges have increased 2% for all positions, in keeping with nonprofit salary structure trends. A 2% raise will keep an employee at the same position within their salary range.

Career-Path and Community-Based Positions

Our salary ranges are created with UU career-path employees in mind – for those whose equivalent work is within Unitarian Universalism. Employees in community-based positions (those not tied to UU career paths) are more likely to pay attention to the local job market. For your community-based staff, prevailing wages for comparable work in your area are important to take into account.

Salaries for Ministerial Interns

See Guidelines for Ministerial Student Internships in the Internship Clearinghouse.