---
title: "Clinical Psychologist"
description: "Assess, diagnose, and treat mental and emotional disorders of individuals through observation, interview, and psychological tests. Help individuals with…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/clinical-psychologist"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Clinical Psychologist

**Category:** Life, Physical, and Social Science · **SOC code:** 19-3033 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 19-3033.00

Assess, diagnose, and treat mental and emotional disorders of individuals through observation, interview, and psychological tests. Help individuals with distress or maladjustment understand their problems through their knowledge of case history, interviews with patients, and theory. Provide individual or group counseling services to assist individuals in achieving more effective personal, social, educational, and vocational development and adjustment. May design behavior modification programs and consult with medical personnel regarding the best treatment for patients.

Also advertised as: Case Manager; Clinical Psychologist; Counseling Psychologist; Counselor; Licensed Clinical Psychologist; Licensed Psychologist; LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor); Psychologist.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $100,580 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $48.36/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $55,170 to $180,960, with the middle half between $73,210 and $135,200
- **Total US employment:** 75,990
- **Typical entry education:** Doctorate
- **Preparation required:** Considerable preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +11.7% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 4,100 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 33/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 75,990 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $55,170 |
| 25th | $73,210 |
| 50th (median) | $100,580 |
| 75th | $135,200 |
| 90th | $180,960 |
| Mean (average) | $112,750 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| OR | $134,350 | $129,981 | 540 |
| NJ | $127,090 | $116,805 | 2,700 |
| NM | $124,800 | $135,340 | Not published by BLS |
| AK | $124,270 | $121,406 | 40 |
| AZ | $119,010 | $118,210 | 730 |
| HI | $117,860 | $107,193 | 250 |
| ND | $116,130 | $130,543 | 170 |
| CA | $116,000 | $104,769 | 12,840 |
| WA | $115,240 | $107,688 | 1,270 |
| MA | $115,180 | $108,910 | 2,860 |
| NY | $114,400 | $106,003 | 8,420 |
| WI | $113,360 | $120,474 | 1,150 |
| CO | $113,290 | $109,935 | 1,170 |
| DE | $113,050 | $113,267 | 280 |
| RI | $107,490 | $105,094 | 420 |

34 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 49 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/clinical-psychologist/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/clinical-psychologist.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 81,300 in the 2025–2035 base year to 90,900 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 9,500 jobs, or +11.7%. Much faster than average: 11.7% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 4,100 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Doctoral or professional degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Considerable preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Internship/residency.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Post-Doctoral Training | 48.0% |
| Doctoral Degree | 44.0% |
| Master's Degree | 8.0% |

## What the work involves

- Conduct assessments of patients' risk for harm to self or others.
- Document patient information including session notes, progress notes, recommendations, and treatment plans.
- Identify psychological, emotional, or behavioral issues and diagnose disorders, using information obtained from interviews, tests, records, or reference materials.
- Write reports on clients and maintain required paperwork.
- Counsel individuals, groups, or families to help them understand problems, deal with crisis situations, define goals, and develop realistic action plans.
- Interact with clients to assist them in gaining insight, defining goals, and planning action to achieve effective personal, social, educational, or vocational development and adjustment.
- Collect information about individuals or clients, using interviews, case histories, observational techniques, and other assessment methods.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of counseling or treatments and the accuracy and completeness of diagnoses, modifying plans or diagnoses as necessary.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Social Perceptiveness — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Psychology — importance 5.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Therapy and Counseling — importance 5.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Sociology and Anthropology — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Expression — importance 4.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Expression — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Social (S), Investigative (I), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| S — Social | 6.57 |
| I — Investigative | 5.58 |
| C — Conventional | 3.49 |
| A — Artistic | 3.06 |
| E — Enterprising | 2.65 |
| R — Realistic | 1.05 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| INFJ | 68.6 |
| ENFJ | 68.0 |
| ENFP | 64.7 |
| INFP | 62.1 |
| ESFP | 55.2 |

Best-fitting types: INFJ, ENFJ, ENFP.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mental-health-and-substance-abuse-social-worker) — median $60,280
- [Marriage and Family Therapist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/marriage-and-family-therapist) — median $66,940
- [Mental Health Counselor](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mental-health-counselor) — median $60,320
- [Psychiatrist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/psychiatrist) — median $281,870
- [Healthcare Social Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/healthcare-social-worker) — median $67,880
- [School Psychologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/school-psychologist) — median $95,990
- [Neuropsychologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/neuropsychologist) — median $110,840
- [Clinical Neuropsychologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/clinical-neuropsychologist) — median $110,840
- [Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurse](https://nuecareer.com/careers/advanced-practice-psychiatric-nurse) — median $97,550
- [Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselor](https://nuecareer.com/careers/substance-abuse-and-behavioral-disorder-counselor) — median $60,320

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/clinical-psychologist