$50K$55K$60K$65K$70K$75K$80K$85K$90K
$75KUS MEDIAN
$0PAY CONFIDENCE
Every church creative should walk into a salary negotiation knowing what their skills are worth.
WE NEEDED TO ANSWER:
Every church creative should walk into a salary negotiation knowing what their skills are worth.
Staying silent about pay and avoiding the topic costs creatives more than honesty ever would.
Leaders want to pay their teams fairly, and until now they've had nothing to build that on but guesswork.
CHURCH CREATIVESSURVEYED
Unique CRTVCHURCHJob Listings
IN POSTED SALARIESCAPTURED
DATA POINTS COLLECTED & ANALYZED
DESCRIPTION
Plans, shoots, and edits video for weekend services, stories, and promotion.
TITLES
Videographer, Video Producer, Filmmaker, Video Director, Video Editor, Film Director, Motion Graphics, Content Producer
MARKET EQUIVALENT
Film & Video Editors
US full-time church creatives. Every salary in this report describes them.US full-time church creatives.Every salary in this report describes them.
Part-time, contract, and volunteer creatives answered too. Their stories show up in the Culture section.
<200
200–500
500–1.5K
1.5–5K
5–10K
10K+
Most who answered serve mid-size churches. Not megachurches.
WHAT DOES WORKINGFOR A CHURCH PAY?
Median salary across all roles
Not enough data to accurately complete this section.
DON'T SEE YOUR TITLE? SEE
of staff receive a benefit
OF JOB LISTINGS
HIDE SALARY
WHAT'S THE JOB
ACTUALLY LIKE?
AVERAGE HOURS WORKED PER WEEK
THE U.S. FULL-TIME AVERAGE IS 41.9 HOURS
OTHER JOBS
200–500
500–1.5K
1.5–5K
5–10K
10K+
TYPICAL TEAM SIZE BY CHURCH SIZE
55%
Within 12 months
19%
1 to 2 years ago
7%
2+ years ago
19%
Never in this role
OF CHURCH CREATIVES HAVE 5+ YEARS OF EXPERIENCE
THE MEDIAN IS SEVEN
WHAT ARE
OUR INSIGHTS?
Production
Demand scales with every in-person church service. One designer might cover every campus. Production needs people at each one.
Video
The work outgrows the individual. Content demand multiplies faster than any one person can absorb, so the openings multiply with it.
Worship
The first creative role a church pays for, and often the only one. A church with no designer and no video team still hires someone to lead the music.
Photography
The one creative job a church rarely has to pay for but always needs. A vast majority rely on volunteers to cover this position.
Website Design
A website is a project, not a position. It gets built once. The build and management are outsourced to a dedicated design company.
Writing
The work is everywhere, which is exactly why it's nobody's job. Everyone writes a piece, so few churches hire anyone to just write.
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
POSTED 105 TIMES, MORE THAN ANY OTHER TITLE
YET ONE OF THE LOWEST PAID, A $49,500 MEDIAN
AI SYSTEMS & CONTENT
THE ONLY AI ROLE IN 1,653 POSTINGS
ONE OF 670 TITLES THAT APPEARED ONLY ONCE
Median total annual compensation
FREELANCE TO SUPPLEMENT THEIR CHURCH SALARY
AND THE BETTER-PAID DO IT JUST AS MUCH
HELP US IN 2027