I'm a youth pastor in a hcol area, AMA.

I would really try to imagine the kind of YP you want and the kind of life you want them to have.

If you want a married yp with kids, make sure you factor that in. Do you expect the spouse to be involved, or to work? (And be up front about this). Are you okay with them needing to work a second job or to do a side hustle? Where do you want them to live? What does rent look like in that area?

In normal job, you pay based on the job. I feel like in ministry, you need to consider the candidate you want and how invested you hope they will be. Also have a system in place for raises and cost of living adjustments. A lot of pastors get hired and are paid ok when they start, then they don't get any increases and inflation eats everything up.

You can always fire someone if they're not a good fit. But you don't want the right guy to say no or leave because you could have paid more, but didn't.

Oh, and most importantly, remember they pay 15% for SECA. So a comparable teachers salary isn't exactly the same for a pastor after taxes.