How Much Do Therapists Make?
BLS has no job called therapist. It files therapists by license, and its main series is counselors, which counts employees only. The figure most sites quote leaves out the self-employed, so it leaves out private practices. Marriage and family therapists are a separate series, and clinical social workers and psychologists sit in others.
This page sets employee pay beside what one-person practices take in and what Medicare pays for a session, with a ZIP code tool and a calculator. It covers mental health therapists, not physical or occupational therapists.
The first two figures are the choice in front of you: draw a salary or run the practice. The third is one of the few session rates anyone publishes.
In ZIP code 98101 (Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue), employed counselors earn a median of $73,580, 24% above the national $59,350
Enter a ZIP code to see the median for employed counselors in your area (BLS) and what one-person practices in your county took in (Census). Every US ZIP code is matched to both.
Sources: BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 21-1018 by area; Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024 by county, NAICS 62133; the Census ZIP-to-county file; USDA rural-urban codes. 521 of 528 BLS areas report a median for counselors; the other 7 use the state figure. 40,767 ZIP codes are mapped. No agency publishes self-employed pay by area, so the calculator applies the local employee pay level to session fees. Your ZIP code stays in your browser.
Alaska pays employed counselors the most at $80,770; Louisiana the least at $37,910
The first column is a wage for employees from BLS. The second is the average gross receipts of one-person practices from Census, before expenses. They count different people and are not comparable.
| State | Employed counselors, median a year (BLS May 2025) | One-person practice, average gross (Census 2024) |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $59,350 | $56,403 |
| Highest five | ||
| Alaska | $80,770 | $80,511 |
| Oregon | $74,590 | $65,588 |
| New Mexico | $74,100 | $56,105 |
| Washington | $68,910 | $63,314 |
| North Dakota | $68,630 | $60,092 |
| Lowest five | ||
| Louisiana | $37,910 | $40,190 |
| Mississippi | $46,990 | $52,197 |
| Alabama | $47,310 | $48,082 |
| West Virginia | $49,430 | $49,385 |
| Tennessee | $49,580 | $58,412 |
| Most people employed in this job | ||
| California | $59,250 | $60,717 |
| Pennsylvania | $52,010 | $56,056 |
| Florida | $56,790 | $49,037 |
| New York | $59,450 | $71,574 |
| Texas | $62,630 | $49,624 |
| Illinois | $60,730 | $55,081 |
BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 21-1018, state medians for employees only. Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024, NAICS 62133, average gross receipts per one-person practice, before expenses.
The biggest pay decision: draw a salary or run your own practice
The numbers at the top of this page count different people: employees on a salary, and people who run a practice. About 26% of clinical social workers are self-employed (ASWB 2024 survey): 15.41% in private sole practice, 5.64% in group practice and 4.74% as contractors.
Licensing hours are normally accrued under supervision. The calculator below works out the practice side: sessions, fee and weeks, before tax.
Work out what a practice takes in before tax
The fee, sessions, days and weeks are examples; change each to yours. A preset starts from one therapist's fee or from Medicare's rate.
- Sessions in a year$103,040
- Your share$103,040
- Card fees− $3,091
Example figures from the sources named, checked in November 2026. Rent, insurance, software and cancellations are not deducted. With a ZIP code entered, the fee follows that area's pay level for employed counselors.
Medicare pays about $167 for a 60-minute session, and counselors get about $125 of it
Insurance drew 53 phrasings on our chart and pay per session drew 95. No agency publishes what commercial insurers pay or what therapists charge in private pay, so this section uses Medicare's rate and what one therapist published.
CMS Physician Fee Schedule, October 2026 relative value file, CPT 90837, 'Psytx w pt 60 minutes': 5.00 non-facility RVU x a conversion factor of $33.4009 = $167.00, office setting, before local adjustment. The multiplication is our arithmetic.
CMS's Medicare Mental Health booklet (MLN1986542) says clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors are paid 75% of the amount for clinical psychologists. 75% of $167.00 is about $125.25; that calculation is ours. The amount includes the patient's share.
One therapist's own report in a March 2025 video, not an average. She says she kept about $110,000 after taxes and business expenses.
The IRS list of occupations that customarily and regularly received tips has no therapist, counselor or social worker entry. Entry 602 is massage therapists, a different job.
What three working therapists say they made
These figures come from video captions. Each is one therapist's own report, not an average. Few therapists publish their books, and we found three.
One therapist's own report, taken from video captions. Her figures are rounded and the parts do not add exactly. About $119,000 private pay and about $43,000 from an employee assistance program. She says about $40,000 went to taxes and that she "only pocketed $110,000" after taxes and business expenses. She says she took no vacation and is burnt out.
Her goal was $50,000. Expenses she named: SimplePractice $859, admin help $1,825, child care $2,400. She says she is building a continuing-education course business.
She states the 42 sessions and the average herself. She also earns from coaching and consulting, and offers coaching to new therapists.
The lowest-paid tenth of employed counselors earn under $38,940 a year
No agency publishes therapist pay by years of experience. The closest official figures are the low end of the employed range, and they do not say who is new.
BLS May 2025, SOC 21-1018, employees only. The median is $59,350. BLS does not split these figures by experience.
BLS counted 533,400 jobs in 2025 and projects 18% growth from 2025 to 2035.
These are two examples. License names differ by state: LPC, LPCC in California, LMHC in Florida and New York, LCSW and LMFT. Your state board has the rules that apply to you.
Measured by us in November 2026, from Google's US suggestions. Counts are distinct phrasings.
Therapist pay questions
If you run your own practice, take bookings and payments online without phone tag.
The free plan takes your first 100 bookings without a credit card. It is a permanent plan, not a trial.
- A booking page clients can use from your website or a link
- Each service with its own length and price: an intake session and a 50-minute session
- A deposit at booking, or a card on file charged with the client's permission, into your own Stripe account
- Tap to Pay on iPhone, to take a card in the office with no reader
Sources
Where every number on this page comes from. Official figures carry their release; each witness figure is one person's own report on video.
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors (21-1018) and Marriage and Family Therapists (21-1013), national, state, metro and nonmetro areas, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employees only; the self-employed are not surveyed. 521 of 528 areas report a median for 21-1018.
- Occupational Outlook Handbook: Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Fetched November 2026. Jobs in 2025, projected growth 2025 to 2035, education and licensing, and median pay by industry, May 2025.
- Nonemployer Statistics 2024, NAICS 62133, national, state and county, U.S. Census Bureau Gross receipts of businesses with no paid employees, before costs and tax. An average, not a median. Includes part-time practices.
- Physician Fee Schedule 2026, October relative value file (RVU26D), CPT 90837, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 5.00 non-facility RVU x $33.4009 conversion factor = $167.00, office setting, before local adjustment. The multiplication is ours.
- Medicare Mental Health booklet (MLN1986542), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors are paid 75% of the amount for clinical psychologists.
- The Licensed Social Work Workforce: Analyses of the 2024 Social Work Workforce Survey, Association of Social Work Boards, July 2025 39,456 respondents. The report says the sample is not nationally representative, and it is unclear if the self-employed are included.
- Occupations that customarily and regularly received tips on or before Dec. 31, 2024, Internal Revenue Service No therapist, counselor or social worker entry. Entry 602 is massage therapists, a different job.
- Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor applicants, California Board of Behavioral Sciences
- Licensing for mental health professions, Florida mental health professions board
- TherapybyGabby, YouTube, March 2025 Private practice billings for 2024. A single self-report from video captions.
- Allyssa Powers, YouTube, January 2025 Part-time private practice gross for 2024. A single self-report from video captions.
- Shirria McCullough, YouTube, January 2024 Sessions and income for December 2023. A single self-report from video captions.
- Practitioner witnesses: the three therapists above Each published their own numbers on video. Every figure is one person's report, not an average.
- Stripe pricing, standard US card rate, Stripe, 2026-10-25 the card processor kiwilaunch uses; quoted for the 3% card fee in the calculator
Not tax, legal or financial advice. Pay and what you keep vary by state and city, and licensing rules differ by state. A tax professional who knows your situation can answer for you.