Therapist Salary in Florida: Counselors, MFTs and Social Workers
BLS publishes no occupation called therapist, and in May 2025 all three Florida rows sat below their national medians.
Counselors — a combined occupation that also counts substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors — had a median of $56,790, 4% below the national median.
Marriage and family therapists had a median of $56,400, 16% below theirs, and mental health and substance abuse social workers $51,590, 14% below.
The three medians span just $5,200, and the national order — family therapists on top — does not hold in Florida.
Counselors (combined) · SOC 21-1018
$56,790/yr
−4% vs. national $59,350
$27.30/hr median
Marriage & family therapists · SOC 21-1013
$56,400/yr
−16% vs. national $66,940
$27.12/hr median
MH & substance abuse social workers · SOC 21-1023
$51,590/yr
−14% vs. national $60,280
$24.80/hr median
Why three figures, not one
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state and national estimates — Florida, SOCs 21-1018, 21-1013, 21-1023.
Retrieved 2026-09-24 from the BLS Public Data API.
How to read these figures
Florida vs. the national figures, occupation by occupation
Each occupation is compared with its own national median from the same May 2025 release (national pages for counselors, marriage and family therapists, and social workers), and the national therapist salary page explains why the figures are never blended.
Ranks count only the jurisdictions (states plus DC) where BLS publishes that occupation’s figure.
Differences are whole percentages of the national figure, rounded half away from zero, computed from the figures shown.
By estimated employment, Florida ranks 3rd of 50 for counselors (combined), 9th of 40 for marriage and family therapists, 6th of 50 for mental health and substance abuse social workers.
Three medians below national, in a different order
None of the three Florida medians reaches its national figure, but they fall by very different amounts.
The counselor median of $56,790 is $2,560 below the national $59,350, the family therapist median of $56,400 is $10,540 below the national $66,940, and the social worker median of $51,590 is $8,690 below the national $60,280.
The order moves as a result.
Nationally the family therapist median leads the counselor median by $7,590 and social workers lead counselors by $930; in Florida counselors lead family therapists by $390 and lead social workers by $5,200.
The three Florida medians sit within $5,200 of one another, against a national spread of $7,590.
Where the national rows put the family therapist median on top, the Florida rows put the counselor median there, with the social worker median $4,810 below it.
Counselors: near national in the middle, further below at the ceiling
The counselor row is the Florida distribution closest to its national counterpart, and the shortfall widens moving up.
The 10th percentile of $39,430 is $490 above the national figure — the only wage figure on this page above its national counterpart — while the 25th percentile of $46,590 sits $510 below, the median of $56,790 sits $2,560 below the national $59,350, the 75th percentile of $73,030 is $3,500 below, and the 90th percentile of $84,410 is $13,180 below the national $97,590.
In percentage terms that is +1%, −1%, −4%, −5% and −14%.
The middle half of the Florida distribution spans $26,440 against the national band of $29,430, and the 10th-to-90th span is $44,980 against $58,650, so the Florida distribution is narrower at both ends.
BLS estimates 29,750 counselors employed in Florida, the 3rd largest count of the 50 jurisdictions that publish an employment estimate for this occupation, so these percentiles rest on a large count.
This is a combined occupation, so the row describes every kind of counselor it pools, not one licence.
What this figure covers: A COMBINED occupation: BLS publishes no wage series for licensed mental health counselors (LPC, LMHC, LPCC, LCPC) alone, so this figure pools them with substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors.
Nobody can tell from this release which way the blend pulls the figure.
Family therapists: the widest median gap of the three rows
Florida's family therapist median of $56,400 sits $10,540 below the national $66,940, a 16% gap, and the row is below the national distribution at every percentile.
The 10th percentile of $39,460 is $5,190 below the national $44,650, the 25th percentile of $45,800 is $4,270 below the national $50,070, the 75th percentile of $75,020 is $18,820 below the national $93,840, and the 90th percentile of $102,280 is $21,450 below the national $123,730.
In dollars the gap grows at every step from the 25th percentile upward.
The hourly median is $27.12 against $32.18 nationally.
The upper half stretches: the median sits $10,600 above the 25th percentile but $18,620 below the 75th.
BLS estimates 930 family therapists employed in Florida, tied for 9th of the 40 jurisdictions that publish an employment estimate for this occupation, and the median ranks 33rd of the 45 that publish one.
What this figure covers: An occupation of its own for marriage and family therapists — the only one of the three that is not a blend or a split.
Social workers: a low median and the steepest shortfall at the top
Mental health and substance abuse social workers in Florida have a median of $51,590, $8,690 below the national $60,280, and this row shows the widest dollar shortfall of the three at the 90th percentile: the 75th percentile of $62,050 is $17,680 below the national $79,730, and the 90th percentile of $77,610 is $26,560 below the national $104,170.
The floor is closer, with the 10th percentile of $38,180 $1,560 below the national $39,740 and the 25th percentile of $44,450 $2,620 below the national $47,070.
The shortfall widens at every percentile.
The middle half spans $17,600 against the national band of $32,660, and the 10th-to-90th span is $39,430 against $64,430, so pay in this occupation clusters tightly around the median.
The median ranks 31st of the 51 jurisdictions that publish one, and BLS estimates 5,150 employed, 6th of the 50 that publish an employment estimate.
What this figure covers: Clinical social workers (LCSWs) are counted either here or in SOC 21-1022, healthcare social workers, depending on the setting of the job.
This page shows 21-1023 only, so it does not describe every LCSW.
Reading an offer against these figures
Start with the occupation the job would be counted in, and compare against that row rather than a blended number.
A counselor offer at the Florida median of $56,790 sits $390 above the family therapist median but $5,200 above the social worker median.
Hourly postings read the same way: the Florida hourly medians are $27.30 for counselors, $27.12 for family therapists and $24.80 for social workers, a spread of $2.50 from the highest to the lowest.
The three medians cluster, so the percentile an offer reaches matters more: the counselor 90th percentile of $84,410 is $27,620 above the counselor median, and the family therapist 90th percentile of $102,280 is $17,870 above the counselor 90th percentile.
A percentile is a position in the state distribution, not a pay step, so an offer at the 25th percentile says where it sits among Florida jobs in that occupation, not a judgement about the person hired.
Which Florida licences these figures do and don't describe
None of the three rows is a licence figure.
The counselor row pools LMHCs with substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors, and BLS publishes no LMHC-only median for Florida.
The family therapist row is the closest to a single licence, an occupation of its own for marriage and family therapists, whom Florida licenses as the LMFT, with pre-licensure practice under a registered intern title; OEWS does not split the row by licence stage, so it cannot say what a registered intern earns.
Clinical social workers holding the LCSW are counted either in this social worker row or in healthcare social work, depending on the setting, so the $51,590 median does not describe every LCSW.
Florida also issues the CMSW, a certified master social worker credential that is not a licence and is not what any row on this page measures.
What each licence requires in Florida is summarized in counselor licensure in Florida, social work licensure in Florida, and MFT licensure in Florida.
Before you weigh an offer, check which licence the posting asks for — browse therapist jobs in Florida.
What Therapist Job Listings in Florida Show Right Now
From the 69 active therapist listings on BehavioralHires as of October 29, 2026.
Employers with the most openings
Benefits and work arrangement
- 6% remote or telehealth and 17% hybrid; the rest are on-site
- 401k Matchnamed in 83%
- Health Insurancenamed in 61%
- Dental & Visionnamed in 61%
- PTO / Paid Time Offnamed in 58%
- Continuing Education Budgetnamed in 30%
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 69 jobs →Frequently Asked Questions
What is the median therapist salary in Florida?
There is no single figure, because BLS publishes no occupation called therapist.
For May 2025 it publishes three Florida medians: $56,790 for counselors (a combined occupation that also counts substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors), $56,400 for marriage and family therapists and $51,590 for mental health and substance abuse social workers.
All three sit below their national medians.
Use the row for the occupation the job would be counted in.
Do counselors or marriage and family therapists earn more in Florida?
At the median, counselors: $56,790 against $56,400, a gap of $390.
That reverses the national picture, where the family therapist median of $66,940 leads the counselor median of $59,350 by $7,590.
The two rows cross twice in Florida: the family therapist 10th percentile of $39,460 is $30 above the counselor 10th percentile; counselors lead at the 25th percentile and the median; and family therapists lead again from the 75th percentile ($1,990 ahead) to the 90th ($17,870 ahead).
The two medians are the closest pair of the three.
What do the top 10% earn in each of the three occupations in Florida?
The Florida 90th percentile is $84,410 for counselors, $102,280 for marriage and family therapists and $77,610 for mental health and substance abuse social workers.
Against their national 90th percentiles those are 14%, 17% and 25% below.
One in ten workers in each occupation earned more than those figures.
The family therapist row has the highest ceiling of the three in Florida even though its median sits $390 below the counselor median.
How many counselors, family therapists and social workers work in Florida?
BLS estimates 29,750 counselors in the combined occupation, 930 marriage and family therapists and 5,150 mental health and substance abuse social workers employed in Florida.
Those are headcounts of people in jobs during the survey period, not open positions.
By employment, Florida ranks 3rd of the 50 jurisdictions that publish an employment estimate for counselors, tied for 9th of the 40 for family therapists and 6th of the 50 for social workers, counting only jurisdictions where BLS publishes an estimate.
More Florida Therapist Resources
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 state estimates — Florida, SOCs 21-1018, 21-1013 and 21-1023 (BLS Public Data API) (retrieved 2026-09-24)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025 national estimates — SOCs 21-1018, 21-1013 and 21-1023 (BLS Public Data API) (retrieved 2026-09-24)
Wage figures: BLS OEWS May 2025 state and national estimates, SOCs 21-1018, 21-1013, 21-1023, retrieved 2026-09-24.
Page last updated 2026-09-25.