Aim for 45–50% of your church budget on staff salaries and benefits, spent on fewer people who are paid to thrive. The percentage only tells the truth next to how well you pay, and a healthy staff line is only half of a budget that actually grows a church.
The benchmark, and what it leaves out
The number most churches use comes from Vanderbloemen: staff 45–55% (up to 60% for small or staff-heavy churches), facilities 20–30%, ministries 10–15%, missions 10–15%, savings and debt 5–10%. You can read the full breakdown on their healthy church budget percentages page.
It’s a good benchmark. But notice what it doesn’t have: a line for growth. Nothing in it is set aside for getting new people in the door or helping them stay. And that’s the gap in most church budgets.
Marketing figure from Church Law & Tax’s 2019 Church Budget Priorities study.
Stagnant budget vs. growth budget
A stagnant budget is one where people and buildings eat almost everything, leaving nothing to reach new people. A growth budget funds staff well, holds facilities in check, and protects a real line for marketing, outreach and recruiting. Here’s the shift I recommend, next to a church that has taken it all the way.
| Category | Stagnant budget (common pattern) | Growth budget (Pastor Center target) | Hyper-growth (Church of the Highlands) |
|---|---|---|---|
| How the budget is set | This year’s hoped-for giving | Last year’s actual giving | 90% of last year’s actual income, written into the bylaws |
| Staff salaries + benefits | 60–70% (many staff, underpaid) | 45–50% (fewer staff, paid to thrive) | Never more than 35% of the budget (~31.5% of income) |
| Facilities + operations | 25–30% | 20% or less | Never more than 35% of the budget; debt-free, building with cash |
| Ministry programs | 5% | 10% | Not broken out publicly |
| Growth: marketing, outreach, guest experience, recruiting | 0–1% | 10% | Not broken out publicly |
| Missions + generosity | 3–5% | 10% | First 10% of income, given off the top every Monday |
| Reserves + debt | 0% reserves; carrying debt | 5–10% | No debt; ~10% of income left unbudgeted as margin |
The growth-budget column is our recommended target, not an industry average. Highlands figures from Chris Hodges on The Unstuck Church Podcast. From Pay to Thrive, chapter 29.
Chris Hodges says Highlands runs on about 60–70% of its income. Build the budget on 90% of last year’s income, cap staff and buildings at 35% each, give the first 10% away, and keep the rest as margin, “money without a name,” ready for the next opportunity. Highlands is a multisite church of tens of thousands, so treat that column as the ceiling to aim at, not a starting point for a church of 150.
Why the percentage alone misleads
Two churches can both spend 50% on staff and be in completely different places. Vanderbloemen reads the percentage alongside pay level, and so should you:
- 45% on staff, paying above the 50th percentile: healthy. Lean and well paid.
- 60% on staff, paying below median: in trouble. Too many people, paid too little, with revenue that can’t support them.
- 60%+ on staff, paying above median: the worst case.
The goal is the first box: a lean team with strong pay. If your staff line is high and your people are still underpaid, the answer isn’t a bigger budget. It’s fewer people, paid better, with volunteers and AI carrying the busywork.
Fund the whole funnel, not just Sunday
Every church runs on three building blocks: inbound (getting new people in the door), experience (giving them a reason to come back) and retention (helping them stay). Most budgets pour nearly everything into the Sunday experience. Retention, meaning groups, teams, care and follow-up, usually shares the ministry line with kids, students and worship, so it ends up underfunded too.
| What you’re seeing | What’s likely missing | What to fund |
|---|---|---|
| “We’re not growing.” | Inbound | Marketing, digital, photography, invite tools, outreach events |
| “Guests visit once and don’t return.” | Experience | Preaching prep, kids ministry, guest experience |
| “People come for a while, then leave.” | Retention | A multiplication pastor, groups and teams, care follow-up, Engage |
A great Sunday with no inbound stays small. Strong inbound with a weak Sunday wastes the marketing. And a great Sunday with no retention becomes a revolving door. That’s why the growth line in a growth budget funds both inbound and retention, not just ads. Retention is the church’s version of customer support: catching care signals early (missed Sundays, a dropped group, a hard season) and reaching out before someone quietly drifts away. That’s exactly what Engage is built to surface, so your team can make the call.
What 45–50% can fund at your size
Here’s what the target looks like in real dollars. A thriving family role costs about $121,000 all in, in a middle-cost state like Florida. These are starting models, not rules, and every full-time role is paid at a thriving level.
| Annual budget | Staff budget (45–50%) | What it can fund |
|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $45,000–$50,000 | A bivocational lead pastor, paid at the thriving rate for about 15 hours a week |
| $200,000 | $90,000–$100,000 | A lead pastor at the thriving rate for about 30 hours a week, or close to full time in a lower-cost state |
| $300,000 | $135,000–$150,000 | Lead pastor at a thriving level, plus a part-time ops coordinator |
| $600,000 | $270,000–$300,000 | Lead pastor + ops pastor, both thriving; part-time worship or creative leader |
| $1,000,000 | $450,000–$500,000 | Lead pastor, executive or ops pastor and next-gen pastor, all thriving, plus a part-time creative director |
From Pay to Thrive, chapters 23 and 28, at the thriving Florida package of about $121,400, or about $58 an hour all in. Volunteers lead the ministry areas, with AI and Engage carrying the admin.
If that table makes your stomach drop, I understand. But look at a typical small church: three “full-time” roles at $30,000 each, all below basic needs, all with side jobs. That’s $90,000. The same $90,000 can give the lead pastor a $30,000 raise and pay one high-capacity young leader $60,000, with AI and volunteer teams doing the busywork. Same dollars, and everyone is closer to thriving.
Don’t forget the missing line: retirement
Look at most church budgets and you’ll find salaries, facilities, ministries and missions. You’ll rarely find a real line for staff retirement. Make it its own line, not something buried in salary. GuideStone recommends churches contribute 10% of salary to each staff member’s 403(b), and that’s the floor, not the goal. A church with $300,000 in staff salaries should budget at least $30,000 a year for retirement contributions, every year.
This is one more reason the fewer-and-better model matters. A lean team paid to thrive is a team the church can actually afford to retire well.
How to move from stagnant to growth
You won’t get there in one budget cycle, and you don’t have to. Move toward the growth column over 12–24 months:
- Freeze new hires until you’ve mapped every role against the high-capacity test.
- Re-scope or consolidate roles as people leave naturally, and raise pay for the high-capacity staff who stay.
- Audit the building. If facilities take 30% or more, look at energy, contracts, unused space, renting space out, or a bigger decision about the property.
- Carve out a growth line, even 3% to start, and protect it like payroll. Fund the things that bring new people in: ads, photography, guest experience, events.
- Grow it every year as giving rises, until it reaches about 10%.
- Budget conservatively. Plan on last year’s actual giving, not hoped-for giving, and build toward 3–6 months of reserves.
Your staff percentage is a guardrail, not a goal. The real question is whether the people on your payroll are paid to thrive and are moving the five numbers: visitors, engagement, groups, teams and giving. A lean team, strong pay and a protected growth line will do more than any percentage on its own.
I wrote the whole plan, with the worksheet, the board script and every chart, in my free book Pay to Thrive. If you’re building next year’s budget, start there.
