Pastors who work a second job
Percent of clergy who are bivocational, by tradition (in percent)
Key finding
Nearly half of evangelical pastors have a second job.
- Evangelical Protestant: 47%
- All U.S. clergy: 35%
- Black Protestant: 35%
Source: Lifeway Research, Evangelical Pastors More Likely Than Others to Be Bivocational · National Survey of Religious Leaders. Published Jun 4, 2025.
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Questions about this statistic
What does this statistic show?
Nearly half of evangelical pastors have a second job. Evangelical Protestant: 47%. All U.S. clergy: 35%. Black Protestant: 35%.
Who published this data?
Lifeway Research, 2025. Source: Lifeway Research, Evangelical Pastors More Likely Than Others to Be Bivocational (https://research.lifeway.com/2025/06/04/evangelical-pastors-more-likely-than-others-to-be-bivocational/).
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About this data
Leader Insights collects statistics about U.S. churches from published research by organizations such as Lifeway Research, Barna Group, Springtide, the American Bible Society and PRRI. Every number is checked against the wording of the original source before it is published, and each statistic links back to the study it came from. Figures are reproduced from the publishers named above; see the source for full methodology.