Psychologists are responsible for evaluating, diagnosing, and treating people for mental, emotional, behavioral, educational, and developmental disorders.
Psychologists in the areas of psychology, therapy, and research typically require a Ph.D. (PhD. or PsyD) from a recognized program in psychology. Additionally, they need a license in their state of practice. While licensure requirements vary by state and system, most require a doctoral degree in psychology, completion of an internship, a minimum number of years of supervised experience, and passing of an exam. The best psychologists have excellent interpersonal skills and are very trustworthy. And in the majority of cases, the best psychologists are licensed.
According to the most current Occupational Outlook Handbook from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median national annual salary for licensed psychologists is $70,580. Actual salaries may vary greatly based on specialization within the field, location, years of experience, and a variety of other factors.
Licensed Psychologist Overview
Working as a Licensed Psychologist
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a licensed psychologist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $37.54 an hour? That's $78,085 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 14% and produce 26,100 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Licensed Psychologist Do
There are certain skills that many licensed psychologists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, communication skills and integrity.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a licensed psychologist, we found that a lot of resumes listed 19.1% of licensed psychologists included group therapy, while 13.6% of resumes included psychological services, and 12.7% of resumes included crisis intervention. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the licensed psychologist job title. But what industry to start with? Most licensed psychologists actually find jobs in the health care and non profits industries.
How To Become a Licensed Psychologist
If you're interested in becoming a licensed psychologist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 4.7% of licensed psychologists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 18.4% of licensed psychologists have master's degrees. Even though most licensed psychologists have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a licensed psychologist. When we researched the most common majors for a licensed psychologist, we found that they most commonly earn doctoral degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on licensed psychologist resumes include bachelor's degree degrees or license degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a licensed psychologist. In fact, many licensed psychologist jobs require experience in a role such as internship. Meanwhile, many licensed psychologists also have previous career experience in roles such as clinical psychology internship or psychologist.
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Licensed Psychologist Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of clinical supervisor you might progress to a role such as clinical director eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title clinical director.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Licensed Psychologist
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Unitedhealth Group Inc. Licensed Psychologist, Peer Reviewer-Telecommute Licensed Psychologist, Peer Reviewer-Telecommute | Unitedhealth Group Inc. Unitedhealth Group Inc. | 01/27/2021 01/27/2021 | $79,70001/27/2021 $79,700 |
New York State Civil Service Licensed Psychologist-Regional Office Licensed Psychologist-Regional Office | New York State Civil Service New York State Civil Service | 01/23/2021 01/23/2021 | $91,79401/23/2021 $91,794 |
State of New York Licensed Psychologist-Regional Office Licensed Psychologist-Regional Office | State of New York State of New York | 01/23/2021 01/23/2021 | $81,44601/23/2021 $81,446 |
Washington State Dshs ESH Licensed Psychologist Dshs ESH Licensed Psychologist | Washington State Washington State | 01/04/2021 01/04/2021 | $107,00001/04/2021 $107,000 |
State of New York Licensed Psychologist Licensed Psychologist | State of New York State of New York | 12/13/2020 12/13/2020 | $81,44612/13/2020 $81,446 |
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Top Colleges for Licensed Psychologists
1. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
2. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
3. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
4. Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO • Private
5. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Public
6. University of California - San Diego
La Jolla, CA • Public
7. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Public
8. Hunter College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Public
9. University of Maryland - College Park
College Park, MD • Public
10. Clemson University
Clemson, SC • Public
Top Skills For a Licensed Psychologist
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 19.1% of licensed psychologists listed group therapy on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and communication skills are important as well.
- Group Therapy, 19.1%
- Psychological Services, 13.6%
- Crisis Intervention, 12.7%
- Mental Health, 7.0%
- Intellectual Disabilities, 6.2%
- Other Skills, 41.4% See All Licensed Psychologist Skills
Best States For a Licensed Psychologist
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a licensed psychologist. The best states for people in this position are California, North Dakota, Utah, and Nevada. Licensed psychologists make the most in California with an average salary of $105,042. Whereas in North Dakota and Utah, they would average $88,468 and $85,293, respectively. While licensed psychologists would only make an average of $84,989 in Nevada, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. California
$105,043
Avg. Salary
2. Nevada
$84,990
Avg. Salary
3. Alaska
$84,876
Avg. Salary