Study of Rabbinic Compensation by Gender

 This Study of Rabbinic Compensation by Gender is undertaken by the Central Conference of American Rabbis (“CCAR”) as a service to CCAR rabbis and all the congregations, organizations and communities which they serve and in furtherance of the Reform Movement’s long-standing commitment to economic justice.

This study relies upon the data collected in the 2010-2011 Study of Rabbinic Compensation. That study was conducted by an independent actuarial firm, Buck Consulting, LLC, a Xerox Company (“Buck”), with the assistance of the Reform Pension Board (“RPB”), for the CCAR in partnership with the Union for Reform Judaism (“URJ”). Gender material for this study was computed and analyzed by Mayeri Research/The Internet Poll (New York).

This study indicates:

• For Senior/Solo Rabbis, base compensation increases as congregational size increases.As known from prior salary studies and surveys, base compensation for senior and solo rabbis increases as size of congregation increases from a mean average of $92,384 per year where size of congregation is 150 units or less, to $181,062 where size is 601 to 800, to $273,261 where size is 1001 and over.
• For Senior/Solo Rabbis, the discrepancy in base compensation increases between men and women rabbis as congregational size increases, with women making less than men. Differences in senior/solo base compensation by gender are markedly less among “A” category congregations, which can be served by newly ordained rabbis (female is equal to 93% of male), than among “B” congregations where rabbis must be ordained at least three years (90%) or “C” congregations, minimum ordained five or more years (80%), or even “D” congregations, minimum eight years since ordination (89%). Looking at congregations by more discrete sizes, differences in senior/solo base compensation by gender is also shown to widen as size of congregation increases, with female as a percent of male at 93% where congregation size is 150 or less, and down to 77% where size is 601 to 800, with a slight increase in congregations over 801 member units (89%).
• For Assistant Rabbis, women rabbis make less than men rabbis on average. As for Assistant Rabbis, only rabbis in the “D” category congregations (1000 plus family units) were sufficiently numerous to report findings: female as a percentage of male is at 91%.
• For Associate Rabbis, women rabbis’ base salaries are slightly higher than men’s salaries. As for Associate Rabbis, in the Placement Commission categories, women rabbis reported out at a slightly higher percentage than male rabbis: “B” congregations, 105%; “C” congregations, 104%; “D” congregations, 105% (with more than twenty women reporting only in the “C” and “D” congregations.) When looking at the more discrete size congregation analysis, variations can be seen with women reporting at 90% of men in the 601-800 and 1000-1200 congregations, and with a slightly higher percentage than men in other categories. (Again, Mayeri Research cautioned that there are not twenty women reporting in any of these more discrete congregational size categories and twenty men in only one category.)