Graduates with a master’s degree in psychology can earn up to $200K in 2022
BY Dawn Rzeznikiewicz
Students considering a master’s degree in psychology might be wondering what financial payoff they can expect postgraduation. Because of the many ways this degree can be put to use, expected salaries can also vary. Graduates with a master’s degree in psychology could land jobs that pay anywhere from $50,000 to $200,000, according to Gimel Rogers, Psy.D., ABPP, visiting clinical professor and associate director of online MAP/MACLP programs at Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology.
This range is in line with estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which reported a 2021 median annual salary of about $81,000 for psychologists, a career path that could require an additional doctorate degree. Meanwhile, the median salary was nearly $50,000 for marriage and family therapists and about $48,000 for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors. On the higher-earning end of the salary range are industrial organizational psychologists, who can generally be categorized as those applying psychology to business, with a median salary of $113,320.
Salaries for psychologist roles vary widely as they are based on someone’s chosen career path, geographical location, areas of special expertise or certifications, and level of education, according to Rogers. “There’s so many factors in psychology—that’s why psychology is gray, because humans are gray, right?” she says. “Humans are not zeros and ones, we’re not binary coding, we’re not on or off. Humans are gray and complex. So yes, it just depends.”
Fortune spoke with Yas D. Hardaway, executive director of career services at Pepperdine University, to learn about the areas of psychology that have the highest earning potential, which careers are of interest to 2022 graduates, and what’s next for the psychology industry.
What psychologists earn working in the behavioral field
One of the most popular career paths for people with a master’s degree in psychology is the field of behavioral psychology. The majority of students who are on the clinical track end up pursuing a fairly straightforward path, according to Hardaway. Lucky for these students, employment of marriage and family therapists, a common clinical concentration, is projected to grow 16% from 2020 to 2030, faster than the average for all occupations.
Other clinical paths include professional clinical counselors, clinical social workers, and educational psychologists. These occupations pay salaries averaging about $50,000 to $60,000, according to Payscale, with the potential to earn more depending on where and how you practice, as well as further education.
Some graduates with a master’s degree in psychology will consider pursuing a doctorate. “That’s a higher earning potential,” says Hardaway. She offers the following example of how a Ph.D. can open up career opportunities: “Say I’m a psychologist, I might be more likely to be hired at a research institution as a faculty, whereas a licensed therapist, they might only be hired as an adjunct.”
An advanced degree can also offer a level of prestige for those people who are practicing in a clinical setting or private practice and who are trying to attract clientele.
Of course, there are many other ways that a master’s degree in psychology is an asset even in non–psychology-related jobs, which is why the salary band for this degree is so wide. Students in the online master’s degree program in the 2020–21 class at Pepperdine University reported postgraduation salaries ranging from $30,000 to $200,000—and they landed a variety of jobs, including those directly related to psychology (counselors and behavioral therapists) to roles working in the corporate sector.
The highest-paying psychology jobs on the market
While clinical counseling and other psychologists are among the highest-paying jobs for grads of a master’s degree program in psychology, there’s possibly an even higher paying career path: industrial organizational (IO) psychology. These psychologists focus on the intersection of business and psychology, and apply psychological principles and research methods to improve the overall work environment, including performance, communication, professional satisfaction, and safety, according to the American Psychological Association.
“They look at the behavior of people within organizations,” Hardaway says. “IO psychologists will most likely fall under the umbrella of learning and development in human resources.”
Industrial organizational psychology roles often work on issues such as employee retention, diversity and inclusion, leadership development, and workplace safety. And these jobs clearly pay well, regardless of location. The national median salary for industrial psychologists is $113,320, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Emerging career trends for 2022 psych grads
The pandemic and recent move to a more remote workforce is contributing to a changing, yet exciting, time for people pursuing psychology careers. And recent graduates of top-ranked psychology programs are pursuing some new types of careers, as Hardaway told Fortune.
“I’m seeing increasing interest in the intersection of technology and mental health because of apps like Calm and Talkspace,” she says. “I also would say there’s an increase in students who are interested in diversity, equity, and inclusion, or belonging, and perhaps providing consulting or training on inclusivity in the workplace.”
In 2022, organizations have a bigger focus than ever on the mental health of their employees, which has led to an increase in a need for stress-reduction training. “There are more resources in organizations going towards supporting the mental health and well-being of employees,” says Hardaway.
According to Hardaway, meditation is another area that students have shown interest in. “I’ve seen an increase in mindfulness and more holistic practices, because they’re being seen as valuable, accepted, and encouraged within the corporate sector. And so, our psychology students are seeing other spaces outside of the traditional community of mental health where they can apply their knowledge and training.”
In addition to some new career areas of interest, students today are also facing new methods of working in psychology. “Today’s world of work promotes freelance independent contractors. Because of that, today’s employees are more likely to have hybrid careers,” says Hardaway.
Instead of working at one organization, graduates are choosing to cobble together work in all different areas simultaneously. This might include working in community mental health; having a private practice a couple of days a week; teaching as an adjunct at a university; and consulting for organizations around well-being and stress reduction. It’s not uncommon for today’s mental health employees to have their hands in different areas of work.
It’s also not uncommon for recent or soon-to-be graduates to be interested in telehealth or providing therapy remotely. “What I’m hearing is that a lot of students like having the flexibility. Of course, there are still students that prefer to be in person, and there are some organizations or clientele that may require it,” says Hardaway.
“But many people are feeling more confident in their ability to provide a high level of service online, which I don’t think was necessarily the sentiment in the past,” says Hardaway. “I think we’ve just realized that both those realities exist.”
Click To List Schools Offering Online Psychology Degrees
Getting a master’s degree in psychology is a critical step if you want to get a more senior position in industry or education, or if you have a longer-term goal of getting a doctoral degree to become a practicing psychologist. However, it can be complicated figuring out exactly what type of job you’ll qualify for with a psychology master’s degree in the area where you live, because licensure and certification rules vary a great deal from one state to the next.
In almost every state, a person with an MA or MS in psychology can work in private business as an industrial or organizational psychologist, a career path that can provide good earnings over the long run even if you never receive a Ph.D. There are also a few states where a psychology MS degree will qualify you to work as a psychotherapist or a counselor for social agencies, schools or other organizations. Almost everywhere, however, a full Ph.D. is required to practice as an independent psychologist, a professional title you must be certified for by your state board of psychology.
Picking Your Psychology Specialization
MS degree programs can focus on generally psychology or very specific subsets of the specialty. The degree generally requires two years of full-time study, involving a mix of core and elective courses. Typical core courses cover basic topics like developmental psychology, social and emotional development, cognitive development and research techniques.
In choosing a psychology master’s degree program, you want to be clear about whether you are aiming to work after you get the degree or continue your education and get a psychology Ph.D. Some master’s programs in this field are very research oriented, and are designed entirely to get you ready for doctoral level study rather than a job.
Your choice of the more specialized elective courses will depend on which type of psychology graduate degree you are pursing, and on your career goals. They can include subjects like:
- Clinical & Social Work
- Marriage Family and Child Counseling
- Addiction Studies
- Human Sexuality
- School Psychology
- Cognitive Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Aging and Long-Term Care
- Ethics and Multicultural Issues in Psychology
- General or Advanced Statistics
- Arts Therapy
- Family, Group and Individual Therapy
- History and Systems of Psychology
- Advanced Biological Psychology
How long will getting a Master’s Degree take?
A master’s degree in psychology typically takes two years of full-time study, though it can obviously take longer if you going to school and work at the same time. Schools tend to have rather confusing ways to quantify the course load, but either 60 “semester hours” or 36 “semester hours” – which amount to the same thing – are usually required. Most psychology master’s degrees also require you to pass an oral exam for completion.
How Much Can You Make With a Masters in Psychology
How much does a masters in psychology make? The median income in this overall job category was $79,010. in 2018 according to USBLS. But professional psychologists work in many, many different settings in healthcare, criminal justice, marketing, business management, government and education. Below are some of the most popular careers and salaries open to you with a masters in psychology.
Salary ranking estimates are based on information from many different sources. Most jobs have wide pay ranges that depend to a large extent on whether you are working in a private company setting for a government agency, what part of the country you are working in and how long you have been practicing in the specialty. These are all new estimates in 2020.
1. Forensic Psychologist
Estimated Salary Range: $28,500 – $144,000
Average: $105,116
Forensic psychology is a unique specialty for professionals who have a background in both psychology and criminal justice. The forensic psychologist (not to be confused with a forensic scientist who analyzes physical evidence in criminal cases) is often called on to help a judge determine whether or not a defendant is insane. He or she may also work on everything from design of correctional facilities to helping the police improve their methods of interrogation.
Salary estimate: Ziprecruiter
2. Clinical Psychologist
Clinical Psychology Salary Range: $38,385 – $179,000
Average: $91,841
This specialty attracts the largest number of master’s degree holders, and it can involve working in many different settings. Clinical psychologists can work with people who are truly mentally ill, assessing, diagnosing and treating them in hospital and mental health clinic settings. But many others work with people who are coping with a psychological crisis – bereavement over the loss of a loved one, alcoholism– or a learning disability. Company counseling centers, schools, nursing homes, research centers, government social services and even law enforcement organizations all employ clinical psychologists. You need a license to open a private office as a clinical psychologist, and in most states you will need a Ph.D. to get that license. A few states, however, will give you a license with only a master’s degree. Most clinical psychologists cannot prescribe medicines.
3. Industrial/Organization Psychologist
Industrial/Organization Psychologist Salary Range: $82,723 – $159,451
Average: $126,112
Industrial psychologists (sometimes called “organizational” psychologists) focus on addressing the problems that arise around the employee behavior in the workplace. Practitioners sometimes work for a company’s human resources department. In this job you may conduct employee seminars on sexual harassment, and spend a good deal of time counseling individual employees on issues that affect both their work and private lives. Other duties include assessing job applicants, designing training programs for new hires, or reorganizing the physical workplace or various procedures to make employees more efficient. Large companies, in particular, have taken to hiring more industrial psychologists over the years, as concerns about avoiding lawsuits by employees for discrimination of various types has grown. There are also considerable opportunities to work as an independent consultant in this field.
4. School Psychologist
Salary Range: $59,000 – 102,000
Average: $82,180
School psychologists help children at all grade levels deal with emotional, social and academic issues. This job shares certain characteristics with that of a vocational counselor, but a school psychologist is generally more focused on dealing with mental health issues that create learning and social problems in school, and a bit less focused on directing students’ career path. Demand for school psychologists has grown in recent years, as laws such as “No Child Left Behind” have required schools to come up with ways to help students with a variety of disabilities. This job generally requires you to have a master’s degree with some additional training in education an internship in the field and certification from either a state psychology board or the National School Psychology Certification Board (NSPCB). In some large universities, psychology master’s degrees are actually awarded by the School of Education with specialties like applied educational development, mental health counseling and early childhood educational psychology.
5. Engineering Psychologist
Salary Range: $27,500 – $181,500
Average Salary: $98,887
Engineering psychology is an unusual specialty that can allow you to combine your psychology background with an interest in product design. It involves using testing techniques to help companies design everything from scissors to software programs that are ergonomic and easy to use. It’s all about assessing how people interact with machines and technology. Specialists in this field conduct focus groups and interviews to find out how a product should be created to serve a particular market, and to understand how customers perceive its usefulness. A relatively small number of schools offer master’s degree programs in engineering psychology. FYI, doctorate degree holders in this specialty can earn over $175,000. per year.
Salary estimate: Verywell Mind
6. Counselor or Counseling Psychiatrist
National Salary Range: $21,500 – $159,000
Average: $86,938
Counselors work in all sorts of different private and government settings, and specialize in handling many different types of problems. State, city and local governments employ many counselors to work on health-related or social welfare issues. As a counselor, you may specialize in dealing with emotional, family, substance abuse or educational issues, or you may work in a position where you deal patients or “clients” who have multiple needs.
Marriage and family specialists are sometimes referred to as counselors and sometimes as therapists. Being licensed as a marriage and family therapist requires master’s degree in clinical psychology and a specified number of hours practicing family therapy under supervision in virtually every state. This is a job where you can work everywhere, from an upscale suburb to a poor city neighborhood, and where your work may seem, at time, to go beyond dealing with family problems. Some difficult patients who should be handled by a clinical psychologist or even a psychiatrist are sometimes handled by a marriage and family specialist, partly because insurance companies would prefer to avoid treatment by the more expensive types of practitioners. Some schools offer a master’s degree in counseling psychology specifically for this career track. Most counselors work with patients who do not have mental problems as severe as those to who to clinical psychologists.
7. Vocational or Career Counselor
National Range In Salary: $31,000 – $42,000
Average: $43,399
Vocational or career counselors work most often in school environments to help people make career decisions. The work involves assessing each individual’s personality, talents, interests and other attributes to map out the best possible education path towards a career goal (this job is often described as simply being an employment counselor). Vocational counselors can work with students who have unique social or academic challenges. A state certification is required to get this job in almost any school setting. A board of examiners made up of professional counselors sets each state’s testing and certification requirements.
Salary estimate: Payscale
Other Jobs and Salaries in Psychology
Psychiatrist
Salary Range: $190,000 – $290,000
Psychiatry is generally the highest paid specialty in the field of mental health. However, you need to complete an MD degree and residency – becoming a full-fledged doctor – to work as a psychiatrist. This is a far longer study path than what it takes to become a psychologist. Medical school admission is extremely competitive, and takes a full four years to complete. The residency can then take anywhere from three to seven years more, meaning that you can wind up in school for up to 10 years before getting out into practice. It can be a lucrative career, but it takes a tremendously high degree of commitment to get there. Additionally, you should be aware that the role of the psychiatrist has changed in recent years. Because they generally prescribe drugs, psychiatrists are often work in practices where most patients are covering their care with health insurance. That can mean that as a psychiatrist you face pressure to do all the reporting and see a high volume of patients every day, an issue that has caused problems for many other types of MDs. Estimate: Payscale.
Sports Psychologist
Salary Range: $21,000 – $400,000
Sports psychology is a relative newcomer as a specialty. Over the past 20 years, the tremendous growth in the important of sports at the professional, college and even high school levels has created demand for specialists who can provide help with the unique mental aspects of athletic performance. Sports psychologists work with athletes on improving performance, controlling stress and maximizing recovery from injuries. Jobs in this area range from relatively low paying, sometimes part-time work at the high school level to very lucrative work with elite professional athletes.
Is a Psychology Masters Worth It?
From the standpoint of job growth, psychology has a positive outlook. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the growth in demand for trained psych specialists is projected to grow 14% from 2018 to 2028. According to the bureau, that increase in job opportunities will be “much faster than average” for American professions overall. The bureau notes that for some jobs in psychology, a doctoral degree is required.
Salary estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Ziprecruiter, Salary.com, American Psychological Association and Payscale.
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