2027 | Planned Changes to Salaries, Benefits, and Payroll Budgets

As church leaders plan their 2027 budget, they have somehow already reached an incredible consensus. Half of churches (55%) plan to increase salaries/wages by 3 to 5.9%, 70% plan to increase benefits by the same range of 3 to 5.9%, and 50% are targeting an overall increase for their staff/payroll budget of 3 to 5.9%. Note that the average planned increase in benefit spending is greater than that for salaries 

Based on responses to the 2026 State of Church Compensation Survey (Aug–Sept, 2026) Because not every respondent answered all three questions sample size and confidence interval vary: Salaries N = 289, +/- 0.5% | Benefits N = 239, +/-0.2% | Payroll N = 246, +/-0.5%.
Chart: Aaron M. HillSource: State of Church Compensation Survey | ChurchSalary, 2026