How Much Do Mental Health Clinicians Make?

Having a clear understanding of earnings potential is important, especially if you are researching career paths or considering changing jobs. If you're one of those people, and you're curious what kind of salary mental health clinicians make, you've come to the right place.

Using data from Lightcast,™ the Best Adult Colleges and Careers Guide has compiled rich information about salary for mental health clinicians and related jobs, including details about average compensation, salary trends and job growth. We've also gathered advertised salaries from actual job postings to provide insight into what employers of mental health clinicians are offering as compensation.

Keep reading to learn more about how much mental health clinicians can expect to make in the United States.

At a Glance: Salary & Jobs for Mental Health Clinicians

According to data from 2023, there were about 191,646 positions for mental health clinicians in the United States. In terms of salary, the national median salary for mental health clinicians was reported to be $62,941. Additionally, when examining job demand, employers across the country posted 106,518 job postings related to positions for mental health clinicians.

How Much Money Do Mental Health Clinicians Make?

Median salary is just one data point. To build a better understanding of how much money mental health clinicians and related positions can expect to make in the United States, it can be helpful to look at the full range of compensation for those jobs.

Let's look more deeply at data that was reported to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for detail into the lowest and highest salary earnings for mental health clinicians.

Annual Salary for Mental Health Clinicians

According to the BLS, the lowest earners for mental health clinicians and related professions earned about $41,850 per year in 2023. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, the highest earners made about $97,781 annually.

As mentioned previously, the median salary for mental health clinicians in the United States in 2023 was $62,941.

Hourly Salary for Mental Health Clinicians

The BLS also breaks down compensation for mental health clinicians by hourly salary, and the median average hourly pay for mental health clinicians in 2023 was $30. Lowest hourly earners took home $20 while the highest reported hourly salaries for mental health clinicians was $47.

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Degree Options for Mental Health Clinicians

Advertised Compensation for Mental Health Clinicians

Data from the BLS is one way to dig into compensation for mental health clinicians, but another way to build a more real-time understanding of salary is to look at actual job postings and see what compensation organizations are currently providing to fill open positions for mental health clinicians.

Keep in mind that salary data is not included in every job posting, so the information compiled here is reflective of the data available through Lightcast.™

Annual Salary from Job Postings for Mental Health Clinicians

During a review of 39,600 job postings related to mental health clinicians, advertised salary was included in 18,098 of them, which was 46%. Based on those postings, the median advertised salary for mental health clinicians was $88,448 per year.

Hourly Salary from Job Postings for Mental Health Clinicians

A similar analysis of job postings provides insight into advertised hourly salary for mental health clinicians. Based on 17% of postings with advertised compensation, the median hourly salary for open positions for mental health clinicians in the United States is about $43.

Salary Trend for Mental Health Clinicians

If you're thinking about pursuing a career in the field, you may want to understand how compensation has changed over time for mental health clinicians. The chart below provides a snapshot of advertised salaries over the past three years.

Based on compensation data that was included in job postings for mental health clinicians dating back to September 2020, advertised salaries for mental health clinicians have increased 16%.

What's the Job Growth for Mental Health Clinicians?

Another data point that someone thinking about a career path should consider is whether or not jobs are expected to see growth in the future. The chart below looks at projected employment for mental health clinicians over the next 10 years.

According to the data obtained through Lightcast,™ there were 191,268 jobs for mental health clinicians in the United States in 2023. By 2033, it is expected that about 27,315 jobs will be added. That's a 14.3% increase over the next 10-year period.

Additional Links

Ready to dig deeper into career information about mental health clinicians? Visit our other pages focused on salary and education for mental health clinicians.

What do mental health clinicians do?
Mental Health Clinicians: How do you become one?

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