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Job outlook for missionaries in the United States
Missionary job and salary trends over time
Missionary jobs over time
Missionary job growth rate over time
Year  | # Of Jobs | % Of Population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 9,044 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 7,673 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 8,148 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 7,294 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 7,078 | 0.00% |
Average missionary salary over time
Missionary salary by year
| Year | Avg. Salary | Hourly Rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $51,599 | $24.81 | +6.0% |
| 2024 | $48,675 | $23.40 | +6.1% |
| 2023 | $45,889 | $22.06 | +1.7% |
| 2022 | $45,105 | $21.68 | +1.7% |
| 2021 | $44,350 | $21.32 | +0.2% |
Missionary jobs by state
Most common states for missionaries
| Rank | State | Population | # of Jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 1 | 0% |
| 2 | Alaska | 739,795 | 0 | 0% |
| 3 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 0 | 0% |
| 4 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 0 | 0% |
| 5 | New York | 19,849,399 | 0 | 0% |
| 6 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 0 | 0% |
| 7 | Michigan | 9,962,311 | 0 | 0% |
| 8 | Delaware | 961,939 | 0 | 0% |
| 9 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 0 | 0% |
| 10 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 0 | 0% |
| 11 | California | 39,536,653 | 0 | 0% |
| 12 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 0 | 0% |
| 13 | Arizona | 7,016,270 | 0 | 0% |
| 14 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 0 | 0% |
| 15 | Wisconsin | 5,795,483 | 0 | 0% |
| 16 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 0 | 0% |
| 17 | Ohio | 11,658,609 | 0 | 0% |
| 18 | West Virginia | 1,815,857 | 0 | 0% |
| 19 | Indiana | 6,666,818 | 0 | 0% |
| 20 | Vermont | 623,657 | 0 | 0% |
Missionary job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of missionary experts
George Fox University
What experience really stands out on Missionary resumes?
Paul Anderson Ph.D.: Three things stand out in resumes: (a) The student's grade point average; if he or she is not getting B's or better, that will likely be a sign of irresponsibility. However, if students have strong GPAs, that shows intelligence, consistency, and a strong work ethic. (b) The extracurricular and internship experiences show that the student is versatile and able to pick up new skills and experiences--leadership and service experiences are also strong indicators of career success. This is why we encourage students' participation in extracurriculars and especially internships in their experiences at George Fox University (c) Perhaps most importantly, strong letters of recommendation say the most. Students known by faculty, who can vouch for their performance records do the most for students seeking employment right out of college.
What Missionary skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Paul Anderson Ph.D.: A gap year after high school can help students get several experiences under their belt. Especially if it involves service experiences or international experiences that might broaden a student's perspective or help one learn another language. I would not recommend taking a gap year to make $12 an hour, when a college graduate might be more likely to make twice that much or more, having graduated. It's better to take out a loan and begin to pay it off with one's salary-based career in order, following college graduation--if that occurs.
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Missionaries in the next 3-5 years?
Paul Anderson Ph.D.: Computer and programming skills will help a person do well in the workplace. Increasingly, graphics design skills will also allow a student to help a business with media and outreach, including sales-related and promotional ventures. Also significant, will be working with website construction and developing language proficiency in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic. Graduates with those skills will find themselves sought after by potential employers.
One more thing. Preparing students for graduate school (if they choose to undertake application) is also critical. As I think of my students at George Fox University, my successful recommendation rate at top schools in the nation (in my discipline--Yale, Princeton, Emory, Duke, Vanderbilt) is over 90% over the last three decades. We prepare people well, and they do well--a high privilege of service, indeed!