Are priestly ordinations rising or falling? Depends on where you are

Nationally, priestly ordination numbers are up from last year, but still lower than they were a decade ago.

Priestly ordinations in the United States are up slightly from last year, but are heavily concentrated in certain regions of the country.

According to data gathered and analyzed by The Pillar, of the 342 men ordained to the diocesan priesthood in 2026, a little more than half were ordained in Midwest and Southeast dioceses, despite those dioceses making up only 28% of the Catholic population in the country.

Nationally, priestly ordination numbers this year were up from last year, when 315 men were ordained to the diocesan priesthood.

However, numbers are still lower than they were a decade ago. In 2016, there were 376 men ordained to the diocesan priesthood in the United States, making the ordination class that year about 9% larger than this year’s class.

The Pillar analyzed the data both for individual dioceses and for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ 14 pastoral regions. Data was collected from a variety of online, publicly available resources including diocesan press releases, social media posts and diocesan websites.

Diocesan analysis

In 2026, only one U.S. diocese ordained 10 or more men to the priesthood: the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina (10 ordinations). Two dioceses ordained nine men: the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and the Archdiocese of Miami.

This year, both the Archdioceses of Philadelphia and Newark ordained eight men, while the Diocese of Arlington ordained seven men. The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Diocese of Allentown, the Diocese of Cleveland, the Diocese of Joliet, and the Diocese of Wichita each ordained six men.

Of the 10 dioceses with the largest ordination classes, only one — the Archdiocese of Philadelphia — is also among the 10 most populated dioceses. With 1,551,000 registered parishioners, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is the eighth largest archdiocese by population.

However, in 2016, four U.S. dioceses ordained 10 or more men to the priesthood — the Archdiocese of New York (14), the Diocese of Brooklyn (10), the Archdiocese of Newark, (10) and the Diocese of Paterson (10).

Three dioceses ordained nine men in 2016: the Archdiocese of Boston, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. That year, the Diocese of Dallas and the Archdiocese of Washington D.C. each ordained eight men.

Only three dioceses ranked in the top 10 for largest ordination class sizes in both 2016 and 2026 — the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, the Archdiocese of Newark, and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Two dioceses among the largest 2016 ordination classes experienced notable decline in ordinations in 2026, with the Archdiocese of New York ordaining two men and the Diocese of Brooklyn ordaining just one in 2026.

Other major dioceses with significant declines in ordinations from 10 years ago include the Diocese of Dallas: -5, the Archdiocese of Hartford: -5, Archdiocese of Los Angeles: -6, the Diocese of Trenton: -6, and the Diocese of Paterson: -8.

Fifty dioceses in the United States did not ordain any men in 2026, slightly fewer than the 52 dioceses that did not ordain any men in 2016.

USCCB pastoral region analysis

The USCCB divides dioceses in the United States into 14 “pastoral regions,” defined largely by geography.

Regions in the Midwest and Southeast had the largest ordination classes this year, while the regions along the coasts and the Southwest had smaller numbers of new priests.

Region XIV (Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina) had the most 2026 priestly ordinations, with 38, while Region VII (Illinois and Indiana) and Region III (Pennsylvania and New Jersey) each had 36 priestly ordinations.

Region XII (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington) had the smallest ordination class this year, with just seven new priests. Region II (New York State) had 13 priestly ordinations, while Region XI (California, Nevada) had 16, and Region I (Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont) and Region XIII (Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico) each had 17.

Compared to 10 years ago, Region XIV saw the largest increase in ordinations, with 21 more this year than in 2016.

Region II saw the greatest decline in ordinations over the last decade, with 27 fewer ordinations in 2026 than in 2016. This year, Region II had the second smallest ordination class, with 13 new priests being ordained. In 2016, it had the second largest ordination class, with 40.

Population to ordination ratio

USCCB pastoral regions and dioceses vary drastically in size. To account for varying population sizes, The Pillar used available data to calculate the population-to-ordination ratio to understand how many priests are being ordained per capita in a specific region or diocese.

The dioceses with the most ordinations per capita are the Diocese of Steubenville, which had one new priest per 14,164 Catholics; the Diocese of Fargo, which had one new priest per 14,800 Catholics; and the Diocese of Dodge City, with one new priest per 14,833 Catholics.

Of the 50 dioceses with zero ordinations, three have populations of more than 1 million: the Diocese of San Diego (1,300,000 Catholics), the Diocese of Fort Worth: (1,200,000 Catholics), and the Diocese of Sacramento (1,000,000 Catholics).

Excluding dioceses with no ordinations, dioceses with the fewest priestly ordinations per capita are the Diocese of Brooklyn, with one ordination per 1,400,000 Catholics; the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, with one ordination per 1,333,333 Catholics; the Diocese of Orange, with one ordination per 1,300,000 Catholics; and the Diocese of Brownsville, with with one ordination per 1,189,500 Catholics.

The Archdiocese of Seattle had one ordination per 1,000,000 Catholics, the Archdiocese of New York had one ordination per 785,000 Catholics, and the Archdiocese of Chicago had one ordination per 650,000 Catholics.

Compared to 10 years ago, the Diocese of Brooklyn saw the largest decline in its ordination to population ratio – from an ordination ratio of one new priest per 140,000 people in 2016 to one new priest per 1,400,000 people this year.

One diocese saw a significant shift in the opposite direction – the Diocese of Austin had 700,000 people per priestly ordination in 2016, compared to 140,000 people per new priest in 2026.

As for regions, the pastoral region with the most new priests per capita is Region IX (Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska) with one new priest per 68,223 Catholics. Next is Region VIII (Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota) with one new priest per 76,845 Catholics, followed by Region V (Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee) with one new priest per 85,342 Catholics.

The regions with the fewest new priests per capita include several of the most populated pastoral regions. Region XI (California, Nevada), the most populated region, had the fewest new priests per capita, with one ordination per 835,028 Catholics.

Region II (New York State) is the fourth most populous pastoral region, but had the second lowest number of ordinations per capita, with one new priest for every 436,465 Catholics.

Region X (Texas and Oklahoma), the second most populated region, had the third lowest number of ordinations per capita, with one ordination per 304,339 Catholics.

Looking ahead

Data for the ordination class of 2027 is difficult to gauge, as some dioceses ordain transitional deacons in the fall or winter.

To date, 210 men have been ordained to the transitional diaconate in 2026.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore ordained 12 men to the transitional diaconate this year, while the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston ordained seven, and the Dioceses of Austin, Dallas, and Pittsburgh each ordained six men to transitional diaconate.

A few notable dioceses have only ordained one man to the transitional diaconate so far this year, including the Archdiocese of Washington D.C., the Archdiocese of Denver, the Archdiocese of Newark, and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Compiling ordination data for 2025-2027, including the transitional deacons who are expected to become priests next year, the Archdiocese of Baltimore will see the greatest number of new priests over the three-year span with 22, followed by the Diocese of Charlotte with 20, and the Diocese of Arlington with 19.

As for pastoral regions with the most ordinations, Region X (Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas) will have the largest cohort of new priests over the three-year span with 105. Region VII (Illinois and Indiana) will follow with 88 ordinations, and Region XIV (Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina), with 86 ordinations.