Updated
PERM occupation, SOC 21-2011.00, #163 of 1,410 by filings
Clergy
- Biggest sponsor
- New England Conference of the United Methodist Church · 2% of its filings
- Busiest state
- CA · 22% of its filings
- Major group
- Community and social service · SOC 21
Weighing an offer for this job?
Where it falls among certified offers, and the four wage levels DOL sets for it by area.
This rate is level with the field
Over 276 decided filings, this rate can't be told apart from the field in either direction.
Why
The 95% interval runs up to a 6.5% denial rate, which still covers the 3.20% the field as a whole records.
Median wage
$49,483
all PERM $103,272
Filings
292
#163 of 1,410
Approval
96.4%
field 96.8%
Median days
480
3 slower than the field
What it pays
Where its median offer sits among every occupation, then the whole ladder of certified offers by year and by state.
Median offered wage
$49,483above 31%
Approval rate
96.4%ahead of 48%
Median days to decision
480 daysahead of 39%
Each bar counts occupations at that value. More
- 5th to 95th
- 25th to 75th
- Median
- 10th and 90th
FY2025
$43,202 median · 94 certified cases
FY2026
$49,991 median · 166 certified cases
- 10th
- $37,222
- +10.6% since FY2025
- Median
- $49,991
- +15.7% since FY2025
- 90th
- $72,571
- +27.3% since FY2025
- 95th
- $75,375
- +15.3% since FY2025
Each row is that fiscal year's certified filings, counted on their own. A percentile is over the year, so a year with far fewer cases behind it is a thinner measurement than one with more.
| Fiscal year | Cases | 5th | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th | 95th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | 94 | $32,739 | $33,654 | $37,580 | $43,202 | $49,985 | $57,013 | $65,350 |
| FY2026 | 166 | $32,890 | $37,222 | $41,700 | $49,991 | $58,220 | $72,571 | $75,375 |
A median answers whether pay moved. More
Who files it
The sponsors and firms with the most PERM filings under this code, the places the work sits, and who the workers were.
Sponsors filing it
- New England Conference of the United Methodist Church 6 filings
- ECWA USA 5 filings
- NJ Onnuri Community Church Corp 4 filings
- BETHEL KOREAN CHURCH 3 filings
- EPARCHY OF OUR LADY OF LEBANON OF LOS ANGELES 3 filings
- Korean Community Presbyterian Church, Inc. 3 filings
How this is counted
The employers with the most applications under this code. 24 of 292 filings, 8% of the total.
Firms filing it
- LAW OFFICE OF KISUK PAEK, PC. 14 filings
- Law Offices of David S. Lim 13 filings
- Kim Law Office 12 filings
- WK Law Group, PC 12 filings
- CBI Immigration Law 11 filings
- Immigration Law Office of Hyon C Lee, PC 10 filings
How this is counted
The law firms named on the most applications under this code. 72 of 292 filings, 25% of the total.
Where the jobs are
- California 65
- Texas 25
- Illinois 20
- Georgia 19
- New York 15
- New Jersey 13
How this is counted
The worksite state on the application, which is where the job is and not where the company is headquartered. Volume by state across everyone is on the state map. These 6 states cover 157 of 292 filings.
Where the work is
- Los Angeles, CA 18
- Suwanee, GA 5
- Torrance, CA 5
- Columbia, SC 4
- Fort Lee, NJ 4
- Houston, TX 4
How this is counted
The worksite city on the application, which is where the job is. These 6 cities cover 40 of 292 filings.
- Every sponsor that files it, by state, approval rate, offered wage and time to a decision
- Every filing for it, PERM, wage requests and H-1B, case by case
Newspapers it advertised in
- 34 cases
Los Angeles Times
- 19 cases
Chicago Sun-Times
- 16 cases
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- 13 cases
The Dallas Morning News
- 10 cases
The Seattle Times
- 9 cases
Boston Herald
How this is counted
The newspaper or professional journal named for each case's two print ads, one count per paper per case, however the filer spelled it.
Additional steps it used
- 275 cases
Job search websites
- 254 cases
Local or ethnic newspapers
- 136 cases
Radio or TV ads
- 92 cases
The employer's website
- 36 cases
Employee referral programs
- 23 cases
Campus placement offices
How this is counted
The steps a professional job needs beyond the job order and the ads, by the number of cases that name each.
How long before filing it began
- 0.0%
Under 30 days
- 0.0%
30 to 59 days
- 56%
60 to 89 days
- 22%
90 to 119 days
- 12%
120 to 149 days
- 9.5%
150 to 180 days
- 0.7%
Over 180 days
How this is counted
Days from the first recruitment step to the filing. 20 C.F.R. § 656.17(e) puts the job order and ads 30 to 180 days before filing.
The job itself
What O*NET says the work is, what the market pays it by BLS's survey, its outlook, and DOL's wage levels year by year.
- United States57,200 jobs
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CALos Angeles, Torrance
- Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GASuwanee
- Columbia, SCColumbia
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJFort Lee
- Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TXHouston
- middle half of pay (BLS)
- median
- 10th to 90th percentile
- DOL's Levels I to IV, left to right
- median PERM offer
| Area | BLS median | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $60,810 | ||||
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $84,050 | $61,443 | $82,618 | $103,792 | $124,966 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $65,150 | $45,115 | $55,328 | $65,562 | $75,774 |
| Columbia, SC | $57,990 | $44,325 | $51,938 | $59,530 | $67,142 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $61,860 | $44,720 | $61,214 | $77,709 | $94,203 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | $61,010 | $45,448 | $54,642 | $63,835 | $73,029 |
How these figures fit together
BLS surveys employers on what they pay everyone in a job; DOL builds its four levels from the same survey a year later (the July 2026 wage year uses BLS's May 2025 estimates). DOL publishes levels by area, not nationally, so the United States line has none. Levels are hourly in DOL's tables; here they're shown a year at 2,080 hours, as DOL computes them. The metros are the ones holding the most of this job's PERM filings, placed by Census's county files.
The block is the middle half of what employers report paying everyone in this job, citizen or not; the ticks under it are DOL's four prevailing wage levels for that metro, the floors a PERM or H-1B offer is held to. More
DOL's levels for this job in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, year by year
Each July DOL resets the four levels from BLS's newest survey. A determination keeps the figures of the year it was issued in.
| Wage year | Level I | Level II | Level III | Level IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | $61,443 | $82,618 | $103,792 | $124,966 |
| 2025-26 | $55,078 | $73,840 | $92,581 | $111,342 |
| 2024-25 | $55,120 | $72,571 | $90,043 | $107,494 |
| 2023-24 | $49,483 | $64,355 | $79,227 | $94,099 |
| 2022-23 | $44,450 | $61,464 | $78,499 | $95,514 |
| 2021-22 | $44,928 | $61,922 | $78,915 | $95,909 |
What the job is
Conduct religious worship and perform other spiritual functions associated with beliefs and practices of religious faith or denomination. Provide spiritual and moral guidance and assistance to members.
- Preparation
- Extensive Preparation Needed
- O*NET Job Zone 5
- DOL's education basis
- Bachelor's degree
- Wage year 2026-27, on DOL's Appendix A list
- Jobs, 2025 to 2035
- +2.4%
- About 19,200 openings a year (BLS)
- Typical entry
- Bachelor's degree
- BLS
The work, most important first
- Pray and promote spirituality.
- Prepare and deliver sermons or other talks.
- Read from sacred texts, such as the Bible, Torah, or Koran.
- Organize and lead regular religious services.
- Instruct people who seek conversion to a particular faith.
- Share information about religious issues by writing articles, giving speeches, or teaching.
The education workers in it report
- 12%
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 15%
Some College Courses
- 18%
Bachelor's Degree
- 48%
Master's Degree
- 5%
Doctoral Degree
Titles people use for it
Minister, Pastor, Priest, Rector, Bishop, Chaplain, Children's Minister, Imam.
Related jobs: Directors, Religious Activities and Education, Child, Family, and School Social Workers, Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors, Social and Human Service Assistants, Social and Community Service Managers, Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary.
This section includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database and O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. PERM Tracker has modified some of this information (the shares are rounded and only the top tasks are shown); what changed. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Against other jobs
Where this sits in the ranking
Ranked 163 of 1,410 by volume: 162 filed at least as many filings, and 1,247 filed no more.
- Just above
- Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers 294 filings
- Just below
- Animal Caretakers 289 filings
Other community and social service roles
Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. More
Occupations sharing this one's SOC major group, which is carried in the first two digits of the code. Wages inside a group still swing hard, because the group holds every seniority level and every metro.
- #125 Rehabilitation Counselors 408 filings · 2 denied
- #250 Mental Health Counselors 144 filings · 1 denied
- #298 Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors 104 filings · 7 denied
- #351 Directors, Religious Activities and Education 80 filings · 2 denied
- #428 Health Education Specialists 59 filings · none denied
- #462 Healthcare Social Workers 49 filings · 3 denied
The same job on H-1B
839 certified H-1B labor condition applications for this occupation since FY2020, offering a median of $53,997 a year; the middle half ran $43,161 to $65,728. By state and year in the salary explorer.
Notes on these numbers
Reading the wage
A floor, not a salary survey: every level and metro mixed. DOL's four wage levels for this job, by area.
What the median is
The median wage employers committed to in federal filings for this occupation. It mixes every experience level and every metro, and it's a floor: the employer must offer at least the prevailing wage DOL determines for the occupation, level and county. Across all PERM filings the middle half of offered wages runs $45,178 to $141,357, so a figure inside that band is unremarkable whichever occupation it belongs to. The levels page reads DOL's OFLC wage search live.
What these numbers don't say
4 notes
- The code is the identity
- This one is SOC 21-2011.00. Two SOC codes can carry the same job title, so a title that looks duplicated on the ranking is two different occupations. Match on the code when you're checking a specific filing.
- A median isn’t an offer
- It's the middle of all 292 wages committed to for this occupation across the country, entry level and principal alike. The same role's medians swing hard by worksite, which the state map shows directly.
- Approval isn’t about the occupation
- The denial rate moves with what happened in the filing rather than with the job title, so nothing here is a property of Clergy. The measured factors are on the denial risk page, published as separate rates.
- Nothing here is pending
- All 292 counted here carry a decision date, because every case in DOL's disclosure files does, so a case still waiting is in none of them. The largest filer of this occupation is New England Conference of the United Methodist Church. Where the queue stands today is on the processing times page.
The window these figures cover: DOL's PERM disclosure files for fiscal years 2024 to 2026, through the third quarter of 2026, 373,939 decided cases. Nothing pending is counted here. How each figure is built
Weighing an offer?
Compare it against this median, then check the state map, where the same occupation's medians swing hard by worksite.
Setting one?
All 1,410 occupations sort together on the wages page, and denial rates show how outcome moves with the offered wage.
Filings newer than DOL's last published file can't be attributed to this occupation until DOL publishes them. The live list on the case search page carries them by employer.
Case data: DOL quarterly disclosure files (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jun 30, 2026 · quarterly
Employers and firms: Derived from DOL's disclosure files · data through Jun 30, 2026 · rebuilt with each quarterly load
O*NET occupation data: O*NET Database, USDOL/ETA (onetcenter.org) · data through Aug 16, 2026 · twice a year
BLS market pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (bls.gov) · data through May 31, 2025 · yearly, each spring
BLS employment projections: BLS Employment Projections (bls.gov) · data through Dec 31, 2025 · yearly, each autumn
DOL wage tables: DOL OFLC wage data downloads (flag.dol.gov) · data through Jul 1, 2026 · yearly, each july
What each source includes
Case data: Decided PERM cases only. A case still waiting isn't in here, so counts and durations describe finished cases.
Employers and firms: Employers, law firms and occupations ranked from decided cases only.
O*NET occupation data: What O*NET says each occupation is and takes: its description, tasks, Job Zone and the education workers report. A description of the job everywhere, not of any one employer's opening.
BLS market pay: What employers report paying everyone in each job, nationally, by state and by metro, from BLS's yearly survey (May of the year named). Citizens and immigrants alike; not PERM offers.
BLS employment projections: BLS's ten-year projection of each job's employment and yearly openings, and the entry education it calls typical. A projection, not a count.
DOL wage tables: The four prevailing wage levels DOL publishes for every job in every area, each wage year from 2021-22, as DOL's own tables print them. The floors an offer is held to, not what anyone was paid.
Cite this page
Waiting on a PERM case?
- When it'll likely be decided
- An email when DOL moves it