How Much Do Therapists Make by State? (2025 BLS Wage Data)

How much do therapists make by state?

Therapist pay varies more by role and state than almost any other factor. Across the official Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data:

• Mental health and substance abuse counselors and clinical social workers often post medians in the $45,000–$75,000 range.
• Marriage and family therapists tend to land somewhat higher.
• Clinical and counseling psychologists frequently earn $90,000–$120,000 or more.

High-cost-of-living states sit at the top of each range, but so do some rural states with provider shortages. To see the exact median, mean, and 10th-to-90th-percentile wages for any role in any state, use the free therapist salary by state tool.

Which role earns the most?

Among the common behavioral-health roles, the rough order from highest to lowest median wage is:

1. Clinical and counseling psychologists
2. Marriage and family therapists
3. Mental health and substance abuse social workers
4. Mental health and substance abuse counselors
5. Rehabilitation counselors

Licensure level explains much of the spread — doctoral-level roles command more than master's-level ones — but state and setting matter just as much.

The most important caveat: wages are a floor, not your fee

This is the number that trips people up. BLS measures what employed therapists earn — clinicians on a W-2 at an agency, hospital, or group practice. It does not measure what a private-pay practice charges or what a solo owner takes home.

The two can be very different. A counselor on staff in your state might have a median wage of $60,000. The same clinician in cash-pay private practice, billing $150–$200 a session, can earn well beyond that — because they keep the margin an employer would otherwise take.

So use the salary data two ways:

• As an employee — to check whether a job offer or salary is competitive for your role and state.
• As a practice owner — as a floor to clear, not a ceiling to aim at.

From employed wage to private-pay income

If you are weighing private practice, the employed wage is the starting point, not the destination. What you actually earn depends on your fee, your caseload, and what you collect. To model the other side:

• See what insurers pay each therapy code with the reimbursement benchmark.
• Make sure you are not under-coding sessions and losing legitimate revenue.
• Set accessible pricing fairly with the sliding-scale fee calculator.

You can find all of these in the free tools for private-pay therapists.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics. Figures are benchmarks, not guarantees, and reflect employed-clinician wages. For general information only.