diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/util/thread_pool.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/util/thread_pool.cc
index 3cefa9b1bc383..73a94619808e3 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/util/thread_pool.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/util/thread_pool.cc
@@ -72,7 +72,8 @@ struct QueuedTask {
 }  // namespace
 
 struct SerialExecutor::State {
-  std::deque<Task> task_queue;
+  std::priority_queue<QueuedTask> task_queue;
+  uint64_t spawned_tasks_count = 0;
   std::mutex mutex;
   std::condition_variable wait_for_tasks;
   std::thread::id current_thread;
@@ -170,8 +171,9 @@ Status SerialExecutor::SpawnReal(TaskHints hints, FnOnce<void()> task,
           "Attempt to schedule a task on a serial executor that has already finished or "
           "been abandoned");
     }
-    state->task_queue.push_back(
-        Task{std::move(task), std::move(stop_token), std::move(stop_callback)});
+    state->task_queue.push(QueuedTask{std::move(task), std::move(stop_token),
+                                      std::move(stop_callback), hints.priority,
+                                      state_->spawned_tasks_count++});
   }
   state->wait_for_tasks.notify_one();
   return Status::OK();
@@ -262,8 +264,8 @@ void SerialExecutor::RunLoop() {
     // because sometimes we will pause even with work leftover when processing
     // an async generator
     while (!state_->paused && !state_->task_queue.empty()) {
-      Task task = std::move(state_->task_queue.front());
-      state_->task_queue.pop_front();
+      Task task = std::move(const_cast<Task&>(state_->task_queue.top().task));
+      state_->task_queue.pop();
       lk.unlock();
       if (!task.stop_token.IsStopRequested()) {
         std::move(task.callable)();