Therapist Salary in Virginia: Counselors, MFTs and Social Workers

Virginia is a state where the three rows agree at the median: every one sits above its national figure.

The counselor median of $59,880 is 1% above the national $59,350, the social worker median of $64,240 is 7% above the national $60,280, and the family therapist median of $79,900 is 19% above the national $66,940.

The national order holds too — family therapists highest, counselors lowest.

But the gaps between the occupations are wider here than nationally: family therapists lead counselors by $20,020 at the Virginia median against $7,590 nationally, and lead social workers by $15,660 against $6,660.

Where the rows stop agreeing is the shape: only the counselor distribution is above national at every percentile, while the family therapist ceiling and the social worker ceiling both sit below theirs.

The counselor row is the flattest of the three: Virginia sits above the national figure at every percentile, and never by much.

The 10th percentile of $39,730 is 2% above the national $38,940, the 25th percentile of $47,390 is 1% above $47,100, the median of $59,880 is 1% above $59,350, the 75th percentile of $77,870 is 2% above $76,530 and the 90th percentile of $100,040 is 3% above $97,590 — the widest of the five gaps.

The middle half spans $30,480 against a national band of $29,430, so the distribution is national in shape as well as level.

Ranked by median, Virginia sits 25th of the 51 jurisdictions that publish one for this occupation.

BLS estimates 17,940 counselors employed in Virginia, 9th of the 50 jurisdictions with a published employment estimate, so the percentiles rest on a large count.

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

The family therapist median of $79,900 ranks 7th of the 45 jurisdictions that publish one, and the hourly median of $38.41 sits $6.23 above the national $32.18.

The floor runs high too: the 10th percentile of $49,720 is 11% above the national $44,650 and the 25th percentile of $52,000 is 4% above $50,070.

The ceiling is the exception: the 75th percentile of $91,250 is 3% below the national $93,840 and the 90th percentile of $103,330 is 16% below $123,730.

The stretch from median to 90th spans $23,430 in Virginia against $56,790 nationally, so an offer near the middle of this distribution reads against national figures that sit below it, while an offer above the 75th percentile is past the point where the Virginia table still tracks national.

BLS estimates 930 family therapists employed in Virginia, tied for 9th of the 40 jurisdictions with a published employment estimate.

Mental health and substance abuse social workers have the largest floor advantage of the three rows: the 10th percentile of $48,530 is 22% above the national $39,740 and the 25th percentile of $53,620 is 14% above the national $47,070.

The advantage narrows as the distribution rises — the median of $64,240 is 7% above $60,280, the 75th percentile of $80,390 is 1% above $79,730, and the 90th percentile of $102,480 is 2% below the national $104,170.

The middle half spans $26,770 against a national band of $32,660.

For someone weighing an offer near the bottom of this distribution, the national percentiles understate the Virginia figures; near the top, they slightly overstate them.

BLS estimates 3,670 social workers employed in Virginia, 10th of the 50 jurisdictions with a published employment estimate, and the median ranks 13th of 51.

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

Hourly postings compare against the Virginia hourly medians: $28.79 for counselors, $38.41 for family therapists and $30.89 for mental health and substance abuse social workers.

The same dollar figure sits differently in each row: $64,240 is exactly the social worker median, $4,360 above the counselor median and $15,660 below the family therapist median, so a figure quoted without its occupation can mislead in either direction.

Read a percentile as a position in the state distribution, not a pay step: an offer at the 25th percentile of the counselor row, $47,390, says where the job sits among Virginia counselor jobs, and the family therapist 25th percentile of $52,000 is a different dollar figure for a different occupation.

None of the three rows is a licence figure.

The counselor row pools LPCs — the licence Virginia grants after a Resident in Counseling period — with substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors, and BLS publishes no LPC-only median for Virginia.

The family therapist row is the closest to a single licence, an occupation of its own for marriage and family therapists, whom Virginia licenses as the LMFT; the row is not split by licence stage, so it cannot say what a Resident in Marriage and Family Therapy 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 $64,240 median does not describe every LCSW.

Virginia's LBSW and LMSW are social work licences below the clinical tier; no figure on this page describes them.