Interesting Facts About This Profession: Psychologists, Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Psychotherapists
According to the American Psychological Association (APA), over 188,000 psychologists, psychotherapists and mental health professionals practice in the United States. The most popular states to practice were California, New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. The metropolitan areas with the highest areas of employment were Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York City/Jersey City, Washington DC and Chicago. Psychologists tend to be female. For every active male psychologist, there were 2.1 female psychologists in the workforce in 2013. Over 83.6% of psychologists identified as White, while the remaining other top 3 identified as Asian (4.3%), Black/African American (5.3%) and Hispanic (5.0%).2 Students and new psychologists have a median debt load of $110,000 upon graduation, exclusive of undergraduate debt.1 The median first-year salary of a psychologist with any graduate degree is $60,000. A Training and Education in Professional Psychology study showed that the highest paying subfields for psychologists are clinical neuropsychology ($72,500), industrial/organizational ($65,000) and social psychology ($63,000). Most mental health professionals were self-employed (private practice) and provided individual and family services. In larger cities, such as New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Long Beach and Chicago, mental health professionals operated multiple offices, renting psychotherapy offices or leasing mental health office space in different areas. Rent for psychotherapy offices were highest in New York City and San Francisco, followed by Washington DC and Chicago.
