BLS Clinical and Counseling Psychologists Median Annual Wage May 2025
The headline number: $100,580 median annual wage for Clinical and Counseling Psychologists (SOC 19-3033), per the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics May 2025 release (published 15 May 2026). The mean is $112,750. This page sets out all four psychology SOC codes, what the survey includes and excludes, and how the figures compare to other psychology pay benchmarks.
Last verified 17 June 2026 · Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 release (published 15 May 2026), figures pulled via the BLS public data API
$100,580
SOC 19-3033 median annual wage
$112,750
SOC 19-3033 mean annual wage
$48.36
Median hourly equivalent
75,990
Total national employment
All Four Psychology SOC Codes (May 2025)
SOC Code
Title
Median annual
Mean annual
Employment
19-3032
Industrial-Organizational Psychologists
$193,950
$170,230
790
19-3033
Clinical and Counseling Psychologists
$100,580
$112,750
75,990
19-3034
School Psychologists
$95,990
$99,160
63,940
19-3039
Psychologists, All Other (neuropsych, forensic, health, etc.)
Reading the I-O figure (19-3032): the $193,950 median rests on a survey frame of roughly 790 salaried jobs, so it swings hard year to year (the May 2024 median was $109,840) and the median can sit above the mean at this sample size. Most I-O psychologists are self-employed consultants outside OEWS, and BLS reports base salary only. Treat it as directional, not precise. The highest-paying jobs page works through the caveats in full.
What the BLS Number Includes and Excludes
OEWS is the most authoritative single source for psychologist pay because it is a 200,000-establishment federal survey, but it has one structural blind spot: it covers wage and salary employees only. Self-employed private-practice psychologists, a large share of the profession, are not in the frame. That is the main reason the BLS clinical median ($100,580) sits below self-employed-inclusive survey medians, where full-caseload private practitioners commonly report $125,000 to $165,000. Use BLS for cross-occupation and government benchmarking; use APA and private-practice surveys for in-profession career planning.
Each OEWS release blends six semi-annual collection panels for sample stability. The May 2025 release draws on panels from May 2023, November 2023, May 2024, November 2024 and May 2025, then anchors wages to the May 2025 reference month. This trades currentness for a larger, steadier sample.
What is the BLS clinical and counseling psychologists median annual wage for May 2025?
The BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2025 release reports the median annual wage for Clinical and Counseling Psychologists (SOC 19-3033) as $100,580. The mean annual wage is $112,750. The hourly equivalents are $48.36 median and $54.21 mean. Total national employment in this SOC category is 75,990. This is the most recent OEWS release, published 15 May 2026, and supersedes the May 2024 figure of $96,100. Self-employed psychologists are not included in OEWS, which is the main reason BLS medians sit below self-employed-inclusive private-practice surveys.
What is the BLS median for Industrial-Organizational Psychologists in May 2025?
BLS reports an Industrial-Organizational Psychologists (SOC 19-3032) median annual wage of $193,950 for May 2025, with a mean of $170,230. Treat both with caution: the OEWS frame for this code covers only about 790 salaried jobs, so the estimate swings hard year to year (the May 2024 median was $109,840) and the median can sit above the mean in a sample this small. Most working I-O psychologists are self-employed consultants outside the survey, and BLS reports base salary only, excluding the stock and bonus that often make up 30 to 50 percent of total comp in tech and consulting.
What does Psychologists, All Other (SOC 19-3039) include?
Psychologists, All Other (SOC 19-3039) is the catch-all BLS category covering psychologists who do not fit the Clinical/Counseling (19-3033), Industrial-Organizational (19-3032), or School (19-3034) categories. It includes neuropsychologists, forensic psychologists, health psychologists, sport psychologists, rehabilitation psychologists, social psychologists, developmental psychologists, experimental psychologists, and others. The May 2025 BLS median annual wage for SOC 19-3039 is $110,840. Mean is $111,210. Total employment is 18,820. The 19-3039 category captures most of the specialty premium positions and is often a more meaningful benchmark than 19-3033 for psychologists with a specific subspecialty credential.
What is the BLS median for School Psychologists in May 2025?
BLS reports School Psychologists (SOC 19-3034) median annual wage of $95,990 for May 2025. The mean is $99,160 and total employment is 63,940, the largest of the four psychology SOC categories. The relatively narrow distribution reflects the dominance of public-school employment with standardized salary scales. School psychologists in high-paying states (California, Colorado, Maryland, Washington, New York) carry state medians well above the national figure, particularly in suburban districts with unionized contracts.
Where does the BLS data come from?
BLS OEWS is a federal survey of approximately 200,000 establishments conducted by state workforce agencies on behalf of BLS. Each release combines six semi-annual collection panels, anchored to the reference month (the May 2025 release uses panels from May 2023, November 2023, May 2024, November 2024 and May 2025). This methodology trades currentness for sample stability. Self-employed workers, including a substantial fraction of private-practice psychologists, are NOT included in OEWS. This is the principal reason BLS psychology medians appear lower than self-employed-inclusive surveys like the APA private-practice studies.
How does BLS data compare to APA salary survey data?
APA salary surveys capture self-employed psychologists and report higher medians than BLS. The most recent comprehensive APA Center for Workforce Studies release reported a median for full-time licensed psychologists of roughly $112,000, versus BLS SOC 19-3033 at $100,580 for May 2025. The gap reflects BLS exclusion of self-employed practitioners (where median income runs $125,000 to $165,000 for full-caseload private practitioners) plus APA's narrower sample frame of doctoral-level licensed psychologists. Both sources are credible: BLS is the better source for cross-occupational comparison and government benchmark use; APA is the better source for in-profession career planning.
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