Compensation & Benefits Study,  January 2026

Introduction

We are pleased to share with you the report of our 2025 ARJE Salary Survey. We are grateful to our partners at KEES for engaging in a collaborative process and providing vital insights into both data collection and data interpretation. We are also deeply thankful to the ARJE members who took the time to submit their information. We could not provide this data to our members and partners without your commitment to this project—thank you.

You will find, in both the Executive Summary and the full report, a great deal of information to digest. The narrative that accompanies the data provides important context and interpretation, and we encourage you to take the time to read the report in its entirety. ARJE’s CEO and lay leaders are available to discuss these findings, and ARJE holds and archives annual webinars on negotiations and salary surveys.

One of the most common reasons members turn to this survey is to find an “apples-toapples” comparison. While this report is designed to provide our members and their employers with salary and benefits information, it is important to acknowledge the wide variation across Jewish educator roles – no two Jewish education jobs are identical, and no compensation reflects that. Differences in job responsibilities, training and credentials, institutional settings, geographic location, and benefits structures all shape compensation. For this reason, we encourage both educators and employers to view this survey as one important set of data points to be used alongside professional judgment, local context, and North American Trends. Especially with regard to benefits, there continues to be confusion and misinformation about what is and is not offered to employees, and employees generally construct their negotiations based on the benefits they individually seek at that moment in their career.

How can you use the data we are sharing?

If you are a Jewish educator, this report allows you to:

• see how your salary and benefits compare to those of colleagues across our organization

• identify the variables most relevant to your role.

The data can be a helpful tool as you prepare for contract negotiations or compensation conversations. ARJE, in particular, Rabbi Stacy Rigler, is committed to supporting you in this process, and we encourage you to reach out directly for negotiation and salary support to help interpret what this data means for your individual situation.

If you represent a congregation, school, camp, or organization, this survey provides:

• comparative data from institutions similar to yours

• can inform hiring, retention, and compensation decisions in order to attact and retain top talent.

We encourage employers to use this report thoughtfully and in conjunction with broader communal resources, including the Reform Pay Equity Initiative, support from the URJ and NATA, and the work of the Safety Respect and Equity Network, as part of an ongoing commitment to equitable and transparent employment practices.

We offer this report as a tool for learning, reflection, and action, in service of strengthening our educators, our institutions, and the Reform Movement.

With gratitude,

Rabbi Arianna Gordan, RJE
Chair, ARJE Job Services Committee

TERMS & DEFINITIONS

Understanding Salary Measures

Graphs and tables in this report include both median and mean (average) salary values:

The median represents the middle value of all reported salaries - half of educators earn below this number and half earn above it.

The mean is calculated by adding all salaries together and dividing by the total number of respondents. Because unusually high or low salaries can shift the mean upward or downward, the median often reflects a “typical” salary more accurately.

Where appropriate, KEES also included quartile values to illustrate the spread of salaries within the profession:

• Q1 (first quartile): 25% of educators earn below this point
• Q3 (third quartile): 25% of educators earn above this point
• The interquartile range (IQR) - the distance between Q1 and Q3 - represents the middle 50% of salaries and indicates variation within the field.

Reporting Context

This is the first year KEES has fielded and analyzed salary data for ARJE. Historical comparisons referenced in this report reflect figures provided to us by ARJE and are included when useful for context. Future survey cycles will allow for deeper longitudinal insights and a clearer picture of compensation trends over time within settings where ARJE members work.

Understanding Compensation Benchmarks

Compensation within settings where ARJE members work is shaped by many intersecting elements. While factors such as years of experience, professional role, educational background, and work setting tend to have the most direct impact, every characteristic plays a part. Salary benchmarks are therefore most meaningful when interpreted within context - not as single-point comparisons, but as part of a broader picture that reflects scope of responsibility, institutional structure, and the realities of the community served. To support clear interpretation, this report analyzes compensation across the following dimensions:

Individual Characteristics

• Gender identity
• Highest level of education completed
• Years of professional experience
• Professional title
• Role description and leadership scope
• Full-time vs. part-time employment status (Part-time is defined as working fewer than 40 hours per week. While actual hours may vary widely among part-time respondents, all were categorized as part-time for the purposes of this survey; this should be considered when interpreting part-time compensation analyses.).
• Contract type/status

Workplace & Institutional Characteristics

• Primary work setting (National or Local Agency, Camp, Afterschool program, or JCC, Congregation or Community part-time School, Day School, Institute of Higher Education or Hillel, Self-employed, Consultant, Coach.)
• Benefit access and benefit type

Geography can significantly influence compensation; however, it is not included as a primary analytic dimension in this report. Zip code data was collected, and respondents were heavily concentrated on the East Coast. The overall sample size was too limited to support reliable city- or state-level analysis. State-only comparisons can also mask meaningful cost-of-living differences within states - for example, compensation norms in New York City differ substantially from those in upstate New York. For these reasons, geographic analysis was intentionally excluded. Future surveys may consider including broader location-type categories (urban, suburban, rural) to allow for more meaningful geographic insights.

Where sample size allows, salary outcomes are presented using median values and quartile distributions, offering an apples-to-apples view across educators working in different environments. Quartiles help reflect the middle 50% of compensation values, decreasing the influence of unusually high or low outliers and offering a more realistic picture of typical earnings. Readers may notice that counts vary slightly across tables; this is intentional. As part of the analysis process, each subgroup is reviewed individually for statistical outliers, and any identified outlier salary values are removed from the calculations for that specific category only. This ensures that all reported figures are accurate, balanced, and reflective of true compensation patterns rather than skewed by extreme values.  

Confidentiality

In all cases reporting is designed to protect the confidentiality of responses. Data sets with fewer than 5 data points do not include percentiles.

It is our hope that you find the information contained in this study useful. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the ARJE.