Share of budget spent on personnel, by church size
Percent of budget, Southern Baptist congregations (in percent)
Key finding
The bigger the church, the larger the personnel share of the budget.
- 250+: 50%
- 100 to 249: 47%
- 50 to 99: 46%
Source: Lifeway Research, Southern Baptist Pastor Pay Stagnant Since 2024 · n=3,888 Southern Baptist respondents. Published Sep 8, 2026.
See all 4 categories, the full chart and more
Free account: full chart, CSV and PNG downloads, ready-to-paste citation, branded share image, and a discussion question for your team.
Questions about this statistic
What does this statistic show?
The bigger the church, the larger the personnel share of the budget. 250+: 50%. 100 to 249: 47%. 50 to 99: 46%.
Who published this data?
Lifeway Research, 2025. Source: Lifeway Research, Southern Baptist Pastor Pay Stagnant Since 2024 (https://research.lifeway.com/2026/09/08/southern-baptist-pastor-pay-stagnant-since-2024/).
Where can I get the full data and a citation?
Create a free Leader Insights account to open the full chart, download CSV or PNG, copy a citation and save the statistic to your own library.
More Giving statistics
- Americans who donate to charity or church, by Bible engagement American Bible Society, 2025
- Church giving compared with last year Lifeway Research, 2025
- Congregations' income compared with expenses Lifeway Research, 2025
- Giving compared with what churches budgeted Lifeway Research, 2025
- Giving to religion in 2024 Giving USA 2025, 2025
- How churches collect offerings at worship services Lifeway Research, 2025
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.