Do deacons get compensated?
They are given necessities of life i’m sure, but the gift of holy orders is an honor in and of itself beyond any human worth, and their full compensation comes in the secondary beatitude of heaven.
One of the deacons from the parish where I was Confirmed is also the director of RCIA. Every week he would ask us to fill out scraps of paper with any question we might have and anonymously deposit it into a basket at the beginning of the following RCIA gathering where the question would be answered.
This was a question once. He said that someone who seeks to become part of the permanent diaconate on their own accord, most likely will not be paid by the diocese unless there are special conditions. However, he said, that he is paid by the diocese since he was asked by the diocese to study and enter into the diaconate.
He’s been a deacon for 20+ years now, is married, and has 7 children. I’m sure the pay has helped him and his family immensely since he does not have any other trade or job that he’s committed to.
Some do, some do not.
From reading I’ve been doing about the Dioaconate, anyone who already has employment outside of the Church is expected to support themselves with that job.
This is what Canon Law has to say on the topic:
Can. 281 §1. Since clerics dedicate themselves to ecclesiastical ministry, they deserve remuneration which is consistent with their condition, taking into account the nature of their function and the conditions of places and times, and by which they can provide for the necessities of their life as well as for the equitable payment of those whose services they need.
§2. Provision must also be made so that they possess that social assistance which provides for their needs suitably if they suffer from illness, incapacity, or old age.
§3. Married deacons who devote themselves completely to ecclesiastical ministry deserve remuneration by which they are able to provide for the support of themselves and their families. Those who receive remuneration by reason of a civil profession which they exercise or have exercised, however, are to take care of the needs of themselves and their families from the income derived from it.
In our diocese the rule is that deacons, married or not, working or retired from a secular job, do not receive compensation unless they are directly employed by the diocese in a chancery-type job. Deacons working at the parish level do not receive any compensation from the diocese. An individual pastor might decide to provide either a small stipend or permit the deacon to keep any offerings that a family might make for a baptism. Many parishes, however, expect the deacon to turn in anything he might receive for doing a baptism or conducting a wedding or a committal. It is my understanding that about 2/3rds of our deacons receive or allowed to keep nothing. An occasional pastor might give his deacon a small check at Christmas, but again that seems much less common that it used to be.
Our Permanent Deacon does. His salary appears in the parish’s annual accounts, which are displayed for everyone to see. From that, I learn that he receives about half the national average wage, which makes sense, as he is part-time PD, part-time running his own small business.
Or, rather, he’s a Permanent Deacon, working part-time for the parish and part-time running his own small business. 
Exactly, as a Deacon, his compensation is strictly spiritual in nature.
But a man who happens to be a Deacon can be employed by the parish, in the same was as a layperson can be employed. As such, the employment itself is compensated.
I know a Deacon who is a retired CPA. He was hired at a parish to manage the books. As such, he is paid as a bookkeeper would be, but not as a Deacon.
Yes, you are quite right. Phemie! It was badly phrased.
Thanks. I was with a co-worker this week who has recently begun work as a Deacon at his local Parish in Chicagoland. He corroborates everything said here.
That is how it is in our diocese too. Unless a deacon is specifically employed by a parish as DRE, business manager, etc., he does not receive any form of salary or compensation. Also he is expected to work up to ten hours the parish where he is assigned doing duties assigned to him by the pastor (RCIA, marriage prep, wakes, etc.) without payment.
In my diocese, not only are the deacons not compensated, but each parish is assessed a couple hundred dollars per year to the diocese for the privilege of having a deacon. I think it helps pay for their mandatory retreats.
The same in our diocese.