Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of therapist salary by state for the United States:
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California has the highest therapist salary of $72,873
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Missouri has the lowest therapist salary of $44,095
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The national average salary for therapists is $55,943
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The national hourly pay for therapists is $26.9
You can read more on the specific methodology.
Background
Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do therapists get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for therapist by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
The state with the best salary for therapists after this adjustment? That would be California.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for therapist salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Therapists By State
| Rank | State | Average Therapist Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $72,873 | $47,000 | $110,000 |
| 2 | New Jersey | $72,644 | $47,000 | $110,000 |
| 3 | Connecticut | $65,435 | $43,000 | $98,000 |
| 4 | North Dakota | $64,560 | $45,000 | $90,000 |
| 5 | Virginia | $64,529 | $42,000 | $99,000 |
| 6 | Vermont | $62,110 | $42,000 | $91,000 |
| 7 | Maryland | $61,867 | $40,000 | $94,000 |
| 8 | Louisiana | $61,554 | $39,000 | $95,000 |
| 9 | Nevada | $61,221 | $40,000 | $92,000 |
| 10 | Massachusetts | $61,055 | $40,000 | $91,000 |
| 11 | New York | $60,889 | $40,000 | $92,000 |
| 12 | Washington | $60,328 | $43,000 | $84,000 |
| 13 | Minnesota | $58,668 | $40,000 | $84,000 |
| 14 | Maine | $57,955 | $39,000 | $84,000 |
| 15 | Pennsylvania | $57,838 | $38,000 | $87,000 |
| 16 | New Hampshire | $57,638 | $38,000 | $85,000 |
| 17 | Rhode Island | $57,365 | $38,000 | $86,000 |
| 18 | Idaho | $56,652 | $40,000 | $79,000 |
| 19 | Arkansas | $56,025 | $38,000 | $82,000 |
| 20 | Texas | $55,069 | $36,000 | $83,000 |
| 21 | Illinois | $54,910 | $37,000 | $81,000 |
| 22 | Alabama | $54,818 | $36,000 | $83,000 |
| 23 | Mississippi | $54,755 | $36,000 | $83,000 |
| 24 | Arizona | $54,419 | $36,000 | $80,000 |
| 25 | Michigan | $53,853 | $35,000 | $80,000 |
| 26 | Oregon | $53,583 | $37,000 | $75,000 |
| 27 | Wyoming | $53,421 | $38,000 | $73,000 |
| 28 | Alaska | $52,598 | $44,000 | $61,000 |
| 29 | New Mexico | $52,313 | $35,000 | $77,000 |
| 30 | North Carolina | $52,242 | $33,000 | $80,000 |
| 31 | West Virginia | $51,682 | $34,000 | $78,000 |
| 32 | Ohio | $51,000 | $33,000 | $77,000 |
| 33 | Georgia | $50,155 | $32,000 | $76,000 |
| 34 | Delaware | $49,244 | $32,000 | $74,000 |
| 35 | Utah | $48,736 | $34,000 | $69,000 |
| 36 | Colorado | $48,615 | $34,000 | $68,000 |
| 37 | Wisconsin | $48,615 | $32,000 | $71,000 |
| 38 | Oklahoma | $48,449 | $33,000 | $70,000 |
| 39 | Indiana | $47,539 | $31,000 | $71,000 |
| 40 | South Carolina | $47,265 | $30,000 | $73,000 |
| 41 | Kentucky | $47,088 | $31,000 | $70,000 |
| 42 | Montana | $46,169 | $33,000 | $63,000 |
| 43 | Iowa | $45,910 | $31,000 | $66,000 |
| 44 | Tennessee | $45,900 | $30,000 | $68,000 |
| 45 | Hawaii | $45,830 | $35,000 | $58,000 |
| 46 | Florida | $45,486 | $28,000 | $72,000 |
| 47 | Nebraska | $44,782 | $31,000 | $62,000 |
| 48 | South Dakota | $44,756 | $31,000 | $62,000 |
| 49 | Kansas | $44,352 | $31,000 | $63,000 |
| 50 | Missouri | $44,095 | $30,000 | $63,000 |
Methodology: Therapist Salary By State
To better understand therapist pay by state, Zippia has aggregated data across a multitude of channels including the BLS, FLC, and OPM. We then supplement that data with actual listed salaries from job posts. Finally, the data science team calculates a weighted average of these inputs to create an average pay for therapists by state.
We took the average annual salary data for therapists from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for therapists.
Therapist Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for therapists?
The highest-paid state for therapists is California with an average salary of $72,873 per year.
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What city pays therapists the most?
San Francisco, CA pays therapists the most with an average salary of $77,931 per year.
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What is the worst state for therapists?
The worst state for therapists is Missouri with an average salary of $44,095 per year.
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
