The participants in this salary survey, conducted by the CTi research department, were randomly chosen on an "nth-name" basis from the subscriber lists of LEADERSHIP and YOUR CHURCH. The 10,000 names came roughly 80 percent from YOUR CHURCH and 20 percent from LEADERSHIP. Altogether, 3,977 usable surveys were returned and tabulated, giving a healthy 40 percent response rate.

Here are some facts about the respondents used for this article:

• 38 percent are senior pastors (overseeing at least one other ordained minister); 62 percent are solo pastors.

• 98 percent of the senior pastors and 96 percent of the solo pastors are male.

• The median age is 45.

• 69 percent have a master's degree, and 15 percent have a doctorate.

• The church's median attendance for senior pastors is 246, for solo pastors, 90.

• 54 percent live in a church-supplied parsonage, and 46 percent arrange their own housing.

• 46 percent live in a small town or a rural area, 30 percent in a suburb of a larger city, 17 percent in ...