Clergy build social perceptiveness, service orientation and instructing skills that carry over to other work. Below are 25 careers ranked by how closely their skills match, with pay from BLS May 2025. The closest match is Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors (88%).
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Sorted by skill match.
| # | Career | Skill match | Median pay | Pay change | Extra education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors | 88% | $64,330 | +6% | None |
| 2 | Social and Community Service Managers | 83% | $80,390 | +32% | None |
| 3 | Child, Family, and School Social Workers | 83% | $59,550 | −2% | None |
| 4 | Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers | 81% | $60,280 | −1% | None |
| 5 | Healthcare Social Workers | 81% | $67,880 | +12% | None |
| 6 | Education Administrators, Postsecondary | 81% | $104,590 | +72% | None |
| 7 | Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary | 81% | $105,870 | +74% | None |
| 8 | Instructional Coordinators | 78% | $77,440 | +27% | None |
| 9 | Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary | 78% | $80,260 | +32% | None |
| 10 | Education Teachers, Postsecondary | 77% | $75,350 | +24% | None |
Compared with Clergy, median $60,810. Skill match is our estimate (0–99) from O*NET 31.0 skills, knowledge, work activities and interests, adjusted for preparation and big pay drops. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025, national median.
How important each skill is in work as clergy (O*NET importance, scale 1–5).
The gaps that show up most often across your top 10 matches.
Free and low-cost training: use the CareerOneStop training finder below.
A concrete first step, the skills to add, and the hard parts of each job, from O*NET 31.0 education, training and work context data.
88% skill match · $64,330 · +6% pay
Quality Control Analysis · Troubleshooting
83% skill match · $80,390 · +32% pay
Quality Control Analysis · Operations Analysis · Systems Analysis
83% skill match · $59,550 · −2% pay
Operations Analysis · Quality Control Analysis · Operation and Control
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors (88% skill match, median $64,330), Social and Community Service Managers (83% skill match, median $80,390) and Child, Family, and School Social Workers (83% skill match, median $59,550), based on O*NET 31.0 data and BLS May 2025 pay.
Among the 25 matches, 19 pay more than clergy at the median. The biggest increases: Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary (+74%, $105,870), Education Administrators, Postsecondary (+72%, $104,590) and Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, Postsecondary (+40%, $85,020).
25 of the 25 matches usually need no more education than you have now, based on O*NET Job Zones.
We compare the importance of skills, knowledge, work activities and interests in O*NET 31.0 for your job and every other career, then adjust for extra preparation and big pay drops. The full method is on our Methodology page.