Therapist Salary in Pennsylvania: Counselors, MFTs and Social Workers

All three Pennsylvania medians sit below their national figures, but not by the same amount.

The counselor median of $52,010 is $7,340 below the national $59,350, and the social worker median of $48,290 is $11,990 below the national $60,280, while the family therapist median of $66,040 sits just $900 under the national $66,940 — a 1% gap.

The gaps between the occupations reorder them.

Nationally, family therapists lead counselors by $7,590 at the median; in Pennsylvania that premium widens to $14,030.

And the counselor and social worker rows swap places: nationally social workers sit $930 above counselors, in Pennsylvania counselors lead social workers by $3,720.

The three Pennsylvania medians span $17,750, from $48,290 to $66,040.

The Pennsylvania counselor distribution sits below its national counterpart at every percentile, and the shortfall deepens toward the top.

The median of $52,010 is 12% below the national $59,350; the 75th percentile of $65,280 is 15% below the national figure, and the 90th percentile of $81,970 is 16% below.

The floor falls off less steeply: the 10th percentile of $36,280 is 7% below the national $38,940, and the 25th percentile of $43,210 is 8% below.

The middle half spans $22,070, against a national band of $29,430.

BLS estimates 30,620 counselors employed in Pennsylvania, ranking it 2nd of the 50 jurisdictions that publish an employment estimate for this occupation, while the median ranks 45th of the 51 that publish one.

This is a combined occupation, so the figures describe every kind of counselor it pools, not one licence.

Pennsylvania marriage and family therapists straddle their national distribution: above it in the lower half, below it in the upper half.

The 10th percentile of $47,050 is 5% above the national $44,650, and the 25th percentile of $56,120 is 12% above.

The median of $66,040 sits 1% below the national $66,940, and the gap then opens upward: the 75th percentile of $80,200 is 15% below the national figure, and the 90th percentile of $91,980 is 26% below the national $123,730 — a $31,750 shortfall at the ceiling.

The middle half spans $24,080 against the national band of $43,770, and the stretch from the median to the 75th percentile is $14,160 in Pennsylvania against $26,900 nationally.

The hourly median is $31.75, $0.43 under the national hourly median of $32.18.

BLS estimates 2,350 family therapists employed in Pennsylvania, ranking 5th of the 40 jurisdictions that publish an employment estimate for this occupation.

Mental health and substance abuse social workers in Pennsylvania have a median of $48,290, 20% below the national $60,280 — the largest gap of the three occupations — and it widens toward the top: the 75th percentile of $58,860 is 26% below the national figure, and the 90th percentile of $73,940 is 29% below.

The floor sits closer, with the 10th percentile of $37,790 just 5% below the national $39,740.

The middle half of the Pennsylvania distribution spans $15,050, about half the national band of $32,660, so pay in this occupation clusters tightly around the median.

BLS estimates 3,500 social workers employed in Pennsylvania, ranking 12th of the 50 jurisdictions that publish an employment estimate, while the median ranks 40th of the 51 that publish one.

Start with the occupation the job would be counted in, and compare against that row rather than a blended number.

The Pennsylvania hourly medians are $25.01 for counselors, $31.75 for marriage and family therapists and $23.21 for mental health and substance abuse social workers; the national hourly medians are $28.53, $32.18 and $28.98.

The same dollar figure reads differently in each row: an offer of $52,010 matches the counselor median, sits $3,720 above the social worker median, and falls $14,030 short of the family therapist median.

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 Pennsylvania jobs in that occupation — nothing about the person hired.

None of the three rows is a licence figure.

The counselor row pools the Licensed Professional Counselor — Pennsylvania's one counselor licence, with no associate tier — with substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors, and BLS publishes no median for licensed professional counselors alone, so the $52,010 figure does not describe any single credential.

The family therapist row is the closest to a single licence, an occupation of its own for the licence Pennsylvania calls the LMFT, but OEWS does not split it by licence stage.

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 $48,290 median does not describe every LCSW.