Average Salary of a Therapist: Why There Is No Single National Median
Bureau of Labor Statistics (U.S. Department of Labor), Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 national estimates for SOCs 21-1013, 21-1018 and 21-1023 (annual percentiles retrieved via O*NET, August 2026; hourly medians via the BLS Public Data API, September 2026).
There is no BLS occupation called "therapist".
The three datasets behind a therapist salary
What is the average salary of a therapist in the United States?
There is no single figure, because the Bureau of Labor Statistics has no occupation called therapist.
Its May 2025 government data gives three national medians instead: $59,350 for counselors (SOC 21-1018), $60,280 for mental health and substance abuse social workers (21-1023) and $66,940 for marriage and family therapists (21-1013) — $28.53, $28.98 and $32.18 an hour.
Each card below is a separate occupation, with its 25th–75th percentile range:
Marriage & family therapists
SOC 21-1013 · median $66,940 · the cleanest single-license read of the three
$50,070–$93,840
Mental health & substance abuse social workers
SOC 21-1023 · median $60,280 · where most clinical social work roles sit
$47,070–$79,730
Counselors (combined occupation)
SOC 21-1018 · median $59,350 · LPC/LMHC pooled with substance abuse counselors
$47,100–$76,530
Healthcare social workers
SOC 21-1022 · median $67,880 · medical settings; LCSWs are counted here too
$56,710–$82,240
Therapist salaries by percentile: lowest, typical and highest pay
BLS publishes five points on each occupation's national wage distribution.
The 25th to 75th percentile band is the middle 50% of wages; the 10th percentile marks the low end and the 90th percentile is where the top tenth of earners begins.
| Annual wage, May 2025 | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Counselors (21-1018, combined) | $38,940 | $47,100 | $59,350 | $76,530 | $97,590 |
| Marriage & family therapists (21-1013) | $44,650 | $50,070 | $66,940 | $93,840 | $123,730 |
| MH & substance abuse social workers (21-1023) | $39,740 | $47,070 | $60,280 | $79,730 | $104,170 |
The same lowest, typical and highest pay by month and by hour.
BLS publishes the hourly median; the monthly figures (annual ÷ 12) and the 10th and 90th percentile hourly figures (annual ÷ 2,080 hours) are our own arithmetic, rounded.
| Monthly / hourly | Lowest (10th) | Median | Highest (90th) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Counselors (21-1018) | $3,245 / $18.72 | $4,946 / $28.53 | $8,133 / $46.92 |
| Marriage & family therapists (21-1013) | $3,721 / $21.47 | $5,578 / $32.18 | $10,311 / $59.49 |
| MH & SA social workers (21-1023) | $3,312 / $19.11 | $5,023 / $28.98 | $8,681 / $50.08 |
A percentile is a position in the wage distribution, not a pay step or an experience level.
BLS publishes nothing above the 90th percentile, so it is a threshold for top earners, not a ceiling.
How local therapist pay compares to the national average
Each state page compares the three state medians with their own national medians, and the three rarely point the same way.
Of the 51 jurisdictions (50 states plus DC), 28 have a counselor median above the national $59,350 and 20 have a social worker median above the national $60,280.
Of the 45 where BLS publishes a marriage and family therapist median, 17 sit above the national $66,940.
That is why a blended national average misleads.
In Texas, counselors earn a median of $62,630, above their national figure, while marriage and family therapists ($46,300) and social workers ($46,630) sit well below theirs; see therapist salary in Texas.
The social worker median reaches $79,000 in California, and in Washington the national order of the three reverses.
Every published state is in the directory further down this page.
Top-paying industries for therapists in healthcare
BLS also publishes these occupations by industry.
Median annual wages in the three behavioral health industries it reports, May 2025, employees only:
| Occupation | All industries | Offices of MH practitioners | Outpatient MH & SA centers | Residential MH & SA facilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Counselors (21-1018) | $59,350 | $59,060 | $58,750 | $49,660 |
| Marriage & family therapists (21-1013) | $66,940 | $65,810 | $74,070 | $75,000 |
| MH & SA social workers (21-1023) | $60,280 | $72,940 | $52,200 | $48,660 |
The highest-paying industry depends on the occupation.
Residential facilities and outpatient centers lead for marriage and family therapists but sit at the bottom for social workers, where offices of mental health practitioners lead.
Counselor pay barely moves except in residential care.
Two limits apply.
The tables are by industry, not ownership, so they cannot show whether nonprofit, government or for-profit employers pay more.
And OEWS surveys employees, so practice owners and the self-employed are not counted.
How these settings compare as places to work is in agency vs. group practice vs. private practice.
Therapist job outlook: projected demand to 2038
Demand projections for these occupations come from HRSA's National Center for Health Workforce Analysis.
Its December 2025 projections (status quo scenario, 2023 to 2038) estimate these shortfalls in full-time equivalents by 2038:
- Mental health counselors: 99,780 short, with supply meeting 55% of demand.
- Marriage and family therapists: 33,840 short, 60% of demand met.
- Mental health and substance use disorder social workers: 17,030 short, 85% of demand met.
These are workforce projections for healthcare jobs, not a pay forecast, and HRSA's counts are not the OEWS figures above.
For the roles employers are filling now, browse therapist jobs, where pay is shown when the employer posts it, or the behavioral health companies hiring on BehavioralHires.
What Affects Therapist Salary?
Search "therapist salary" and you will get a single figure, presented as though it were measured.
It was not: any one national number is somebody's choice about how to average the three BLS occupations above, and that choice is rarely disclosed.
The counselors figure carries a second problem worth knowing about.
SOC 21-1018 is "Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors" — one combined occupation.
O*NET presents it under two different occupation pages, mental health counselors and substance abuse counselors, and both display the identical wage table with a footnote saying the data was collected from the combined category.
So a page can quote "the mental health counselor median" in good faith and be reporting a pooled figure.
There is no published LPC-only median — the full version of that problem is on the mental health counselor salary page.
What actually moves your pay is mostly not the license.
It is whether you are independently licensed or still an associate, and the gap there is structural rather than a judgment about skill — associates generally cannot be credentialed by payers, so the work bills under a supervisor and the difference funds supervision, overhead and risk.
That mechanism is set out in can an associate bill insurance?
After licensure status come setting and geography.
The industry table above shows there is no rule that one setting pays more: the pattern differs by occupation.
Geography moves each median further than the gap between the three national medians, as the state comparison shows.
For which license to pursue, see LCSW vs. LPC vs. LMFT — but note that the three national medians sit within $7,590 of each other.
This page is career information, not legal or clinical advice, and it is not guidance for anyone seeking treatment. Wage figures are BLS OEWS May 2025 estimates for whole occupations, not a quote for any job; confirm pay and how it is structured with each employer.
Therapist Salary by State
Each state page shows the three BLS occupations behind the title side by side — median annual wage, BLS OEWS May 2025, with the difference from that occupation’s own national median.
States appear here as their pages are published.
What each licence requires, state by state, is in the counselor licensure, social work licensure, and MFT licensure series.
What Therapist Job Listings Show Right Now
From the 1,959 active therapist listings on BehavioralHires as of October 29, 2026.
Employers with the most openings
Where the openings are
- Pennsylvania160
- Virginia132
- Massachusetts121
- California118
- Illinois102
Pay employers post
- Median $37.50 an hour; the middle half of posted pay runs $33.50 to $39 (101 listings that state an hourly rate; 59 of them from Universal Health Services)
- 17% of therapist listings state any pay at all.
Benefits and work arrangement
- 17% remote or telehealth and 17% hybrid; the rest are on-site
- 401k Matchnamed in 73%
- Health Insurancenamed in 61%
- PTO / Paid Time Offnamed in 58%
- Dental & Visionnamed in 56%
- Flexible Schedulenamed in 46%
Source: active therapist listings on BehavioralHires, updated daily. Pay figures use only listings that state pay (midpoint of each posted range). Benefits count listings that name the benefit; a listing that doesn’t mention one may still offer it.
Browse 1,959 jobs →Frequently Asked Questions About Therapist Salaries
How much do therapists make a year?
It depends on which of three BLS occupations the job is counted in, because there is no occupation called therapist.
National medians for May 2025 are $59,350 for counselors (a combined occupation), $60,280 for mental health and substance abuse social workers and $66,940 for marriage and family therapists.
The middle 50% of wages runs $47,100–$76,530, $47,070–$79,730 and $50,070–$93,840 respectively.
How much do therapists make an hour?
BLS publishes national hourly medians of $28.53 for counselors, $28.98 for mental health and substance abuse social workers and $32.18 for marriage and family therapists (May 2025).
Dividing the annual 10th and 90th percentiles by 2,080 hours, our own arithmetic, gives roughly $18.72 to $46.92 for counselors, $19.11 to $50.08 for social workers and $21.47 to $59.49 for marriage and family therapists.
How much do therapists make per month?
Dividing the May 2025 national medians by twelve gives about $4,946 a month for counselors, $5,023 for mental health and substance abuse social workers and $5,578 for marriage and family therapists, before deductions.
BLS publishes annual and hourly wages, not monthly ones, so these are our own arithmetic on its annual medians.
What is the highest salary for a therapist?
BLS reports the 90th percentile, the point where the top tenth of earners begins: $123,730 for marriage and family therapists, $104,170 for mental health and substance abuse social workers and $97,590 for counselors (May 2025).
It publishes nothing above that, so no national maximum exists in the data.
Some states sit well above the national 90th percentile; each state page lists its own.
What is the lowest salary for a therapist?
The national 10th percentile for May 2025 is $38,940 for counselors, $39,740 for mental health and substance abuse social workers and $44,650 for marriage and family therapists.
Pre-licensure associates generally earn less than independently licensed clinicians, because most payers will not credential them and the work bills under a supervisor.