Salary
Average Salary: $140,000
Expected Lifetime Earnings: $5,844,720
Out of all the spiritual leaders of the world—priests, ministers, pastors, reverends, imams—rabbis get the gelt.
Rabbis take in about $140,000. That's no chopped liver; especially when you compare it to other religious clergy (who usually only take between $25,000-30,000 in a year).
However, rabbis have to pay back their rabbinical school tuitions, which can get pricy at around $20,000–25,000 a year or more for five years (source).
They also must work as interns for a year before they can even take a job. Starting salary for rabbis is around $65,000.
Orthodox rabbis don't earn nearly as much money. However, they also don't have to typically pay anything to go to Yeshiva, and many of their expenses are taken care of by the congregation. Things often even out.
It'll typically take you ten or more years to get that six-figure salary. Unless you're breaking challah in a Temple in Beverly Hills, then it's probably significantly sooner (although, you may have to shell out a portion of that for Botox surgeries and gym memberships).
Something to take note of as well is that these salary figures don't include extra gigs that come with the job. These are things like officiating at weddings, funerals, and of course, the biggie—bar and bat mitzvahs. These could bring anywhere from $500 to $1,000 for each event. It pays to be popular and to be the go-to rabbi for these big life events. We're getting all verklemt just thinking about it.