What Percentage of a Church Budget Should Be Used for Staff Compensation & Benefits?
Are we spending too much of our budget for staff compensation and benefits? When this question surfaces,
the follow up question is often, "How much do other churches our size spend on their staff compensation and
benefits. The 2006 SBC compensation study posed that question. Below is the statistical data that provides
the answer.
The first chart provides data based on church budget size. The second chart provides similar data based
on the state conventions.
For each group, the lowest, highest, median and average percentages are provided. Generally, when the
percentage for staff compensation is unusually high or low there are unique circumstances that create an
exception to the norms. Therefore, this report provides another item of statistical data that filters out those
churches with uniquely high and low percentages. The bottom and top 15% for each group is eliminated
and a range of percentages for the remaining 70% is listed as the range for the "middle majority".
Thus, for the Southern Baptist Convention, there were 5,840 churches that reported useable
data about the percentage of their church budget that is used to provide staff compensation
and benefits. The lowest reported percentage was 6% --- the median reported percentage
was 48% --- and the highest reported percentage was 90%. For the 5,840 reporting SBC
churches, the average percentage of their budget used for staff compensation and benefits
was 47.1%. Using the middle majority, 70% of those reporting use from 36% to 58% of their
budget for staff compensation and benefits.
Report Based on Church Budget
Annual Church Budget Churches Lowest Median Highest
Average
Middle Majority Range
$ 25,000 or less
216
6% 46% 90%
46.9% 29% to 64%
$ 25,001 -- $ 50,000
466
15% 47% 89%
47.5% 32% to 64%
$ 50,001 -- $ 75,000
537
13% 48% 84%
48.0% 32% to 61%
$ 75,001 -- $ 100,000
487
12% 48% 87%
47.4% 35% to 60%
$ 100,001 -- $ 125,000
380
20% 47% 79%
47.7% 38% to 59%
$ 125,001 -- $ 150,000
357
15% 49% 83%
48.1% 38% to 60%
$ 150,001 -- $ 175,000
318
20% 48% 78%
47.6% 37% to 57%
$ 175,001 -- $ 200,000
275
20% 46% 83%
45.7% 35% to 56%
$ 200,001 -- $ 250,000
463
20% 48% 75%
47.1% 37% to 57%
$ 250,001 -- $ 300,000
360
20% 47% 70%
46.2% 36% to 56%
$ 300,001 -- $ 400,000
459
19% 47% 75%
46.8% 35% to 57%
$ 400,001 -- $ 500,000
326
25% 48% 73%
47.2% 38% to 55%
$ 500,001 -- $ 700,000
399
17% 47% 70%
46.1% 37% to 55%
$ 700,001 -- $ 1,000,000
297
25% 47% 68%
46.0% 38% to 53%
$ 1,000,001 -- $ 1,500,000
239
26% 47% 68%
46.6% 39% to 55%
$ 1,500,001 and up
261
28% 48% 75%
46.9% 39% to 54%
All Reporting SBC
Churches in the Study
5,840
6% 48% 90%
47.1% 36% to 58%
Report by State Conventions of Percentage of Budget Used for Compensation & Benefits
State Convention
Churches Lowest Median Highest
Average Middle Majority Range
Alabama
343
15% 44% 76%
44.0% 32% to 54%
Alaska
21
15% 51% 83%
50.6% 43% to 60%
Arizona
40
16% 48% 78%
46.9% 33% to 62%
Arkansas
313
10% 47% 75%
46.2% 35% to 56%
California
175
10% 50% 89%
50.8% 36% to 65%
Colorado
82
25% 53% 80%
54.2% 40% to 64%
Dakotas
23
22% 45% 62%
43.8% 32% to 56%
District of Columbia
7
24% 35% 75%
52.5% 30% to 61%
Florida
252
15% 47% 80%
46.3% 35% to 57%
Georgia
408
25% 47% 83%
46.2% 36% to 58%
Hawaii
33
22% 50% 78%
51.7% 38% to 63%
Illinois
127
23% 48% 79%
48.0% 37% to 60%
Indiana
8
45% 52% 75%
54.7% 46% to 62%
Iowa
29
19% 50% 83%
48.0% 25% to 64%
Kansas/Nebraska
44
23% 47% 77%
47.6% 35% to 55%
Kentucky
379
18% 48% 81%
47.4% 38% to 56%
Louisiana
244
18% 45% 80%
45.7% 35% to 55%
Maryland
61
19% 47% 81%
47.7% 33% to 64%
Michigan
53
20% 44% 79%
45.1% 30% to 60%
Minnesota/Wisconsin
18
26% 53% 72%
51.8% 37% to 65%
Mississippi
286
20% 46% 79%
45.8% 35% to 55%
Missouri
206
20% 48% 75%
46.9% 35% to 57%
Montana
25
29% 50% 79%
51.6% 40% to 66%
Nevada
35
20% 50% 77%
51.4% 40% to 69%
New England
28
30% 50% 87%
52.5% 39% to 69%
New Mexico
66
30% 50% 65%
49.2% 40% to 56%
New York
39
6% 51% 80%
51.2% 38% to 62%
North Carolina
537
15% 48% 83%
47.0% 37% to 57%
Northwest
89
16% 47% 84%
48.0% 32% to 60%
Ohio
72
19% 48% 84%
47.0% 32% to 59%
Oklahoma
270
16% 46% 85%
45.2% 35% to 55%
Penn/So Jersey
37
21% 50% 72%
50.0% 21% to 72%
South Carolina
457
25% 48% 75%
47.2% 37% to 56%
Tennessee
224
22% 45% 75%
45.2% 36% to 55%
Texas - BGCT
194
21% 58% 72%
47.1% 38% to 57%
Texas - SBCT
191
30% 49% 83%
48.7% 38% to 60%
Utah/Idaho
25
26% 44% 68%
45.4% 35% to 59%
Virginia - SBCV
79
24% 49% 84%
49.2% 38% to 58%
Virginia - VBMB
276
20% 50% 89%
50.5% 39% to 61%
West Virginia
25
13% 39% 65%
39.0% 28% to 53%
Wyoming
19
12% 39% 58%
39.3% 29% to 51%
SBC
5,840 6% 48% 90%
47.1% 36% TO 58%
Source: 2006 SBC Compensation Study