2015 Salaries in Psychology

Executive Summary

This report uses data from the National Science Foundation's 2015 National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG) to analyze salaries for psychologists in the United States. The data are from a nationally representative sample of full-time psychologists – those who had doctorates or professional degrees in psychology as their highest degrees, and worked at least 35 hours per week. It describes psychologists' annual salaries by geographic region, degree field, type of position, sector, as well as demographic characteristics. Major findings include:

In 2015, the median annual salary for psychologists was $85,000. More than half (57 percent) of psychologists had salaries within the range of $60,000 to $120,000. Geographically, median salaries were highest in the Middle Atlantic Division ($108,000) and lowest in the East South Central Division ($59,000). By degree field, psychologists who were trained in industrial/ organizational psychology ($125,000) had the highest median salaries, whereas those who were trained in educational psychology had the lowest ($75,000).

Psychologists in professional service positions had a median salary of $85,000. Among those providing professional services, self-employed psychologists in non-incorporated businesses had the highest median salary at $120,000, followed by those working in the federal government at $86,000.

Psychologists in teaching positions had a median salary of $62,000. Post-secondary teachers earned a median salary of $63,000. Salary levels were higher in private educational institutions ($70,000) than public educational institutions ($60,000).

The median salary for psychologists in research positions was $95,000. Among research positions in educational institutions, those in university-affiliated research institutes had the highest median salary at $98,500. Across sectors, salaries for research positions were highest in the private sector ($130,000).

The median salary for psychologists in management positions was $110,000. Higher salaries were found for positions directly supervising 5-20 people ($110,000), or indirectly supervising (through subordinate supervisors) more than 20 people ($141,000).

As for salary differences by demographic characteristics, salaries were generally higher for male ($91,000) than female psychologists ($80,000), and for White ($88,000) than racial/ethnic minority psychologists ($71,000). In terms of age, median salaries were highest for psychologists ages 60-64 years. Salaries were also higher for psychologists with disabilities ($98,500) than those without disabilities ($84,000).

Introduction

The purpose of this report is to provide salary information for the United States psychology workforce. This report describes the median salaries for full-time psychologists by geographic region, degree field, type of position, sector, and demographic characteristics. The data analyzed in this report are from the 2015 National Survey of College Graduates conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau on behalf of the National Science Foundation's National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES).

The National Survey of College Graduates (NCSG) is a longitudinal biennial survey of the nation's college graduates, particularly the science and engineering workforce. It uses a selected sample from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, and includes U.S. residents under the age of 76 with at least a bachelor's degree. The 2015 NSCG has a sample size of 135,000 individuals.

The report focuses on salaries for full-time psychologists, who were operationally defined as individuals who (1) had a doctoral or professional degree in psychology as their highest degrees¹, and (2) worked at least 35 hours per week in their principal jobs (the jobs in which they worked the most hours) during the survey reference period (the week of Feb. 1, 2015). Salaries were based on basic annual salaries² of psychologists' principal jobs, presented in nominal dollar figures as they were reported during the survey reference period. Section 1 of this report provides an overview of salaries for full-time psychologists and examines the distribution of salaries and salaries by geographic divisions and degree types. As psychologists work in a variety of occupations, the subsequent sections investigate salaries by different types of positions: professional service positions (Section 2), teaching positions (Section 3), research positions (Section 4), and management positions (Section 5).³ Lastly, Section 6 examines salary levels by various demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, race/ethnicity and disability status of psychologists.

Limitations and strengths of the data presented in this report are discussed in the Conclusion. Appendix A (PDF, 317KB) contains technical documentation of methodology used in this report. Data supporting the figures in the report are provided in Appendix B (PDF, 224KB).

Section 1. Overview

According to the results based on a weighted sample of 135,000 full-time psychologists from the 2015 NSCG,⁴ psychologists had a median annual salary of $85,000. Figure 1 (PDF, 75KB) displays the distribution of salaries for psychologists in 2015. Although there was a wide range of salary levels, most psychologists (57.4 percent) had salaries within the range of $60,000 to $120,000. Approximately 20 percent of psychologists were paid less than $60,000, and 22.7 percent were paid more than $120,000.

Figure 1. Salary Distribution, 2015
Notes: For data underlying this figure, please refer to Table 15 in Appendix B (PDF, 224KB).
Source: 2015 National Survey of College Graduates, National Science Foundation.

Figure 2  (PDF, 168KB) presents the geographic variation ⁵ of psychologists' salaries. Salary levels were highest in the Middle Atlantic Division ($108,000), followed by the West North Central Division ($92,000) and the West South Central Division ($91,000). Salary levels were lowest in the East South Central Division ($59,000) and the Mountain Division ($60,000).

Figure 2. Median Salary by Geographic Division, 2015
Notes: For data underlying this figure, please refer to Table 16 in Appendix B (PDF, 224KB).
Source: 2015 National Survey of College Graduates, National Science Foundation.

Salaries by Degree

Psychologists with doctoral degrees, such as a PhD, had higher median salaries at $85,000 compared to those with professional degrees, such as a PsyD ($75,000). Table 1 (PDF, 74KB) presents summary statistics for psychologists by degree type.

Table 1. Salaries by Degree Type, 2015
Source: 2015 National Survey of College Graduates, National Science Foundation.

Figure 3 (PDF, 72KB) displays salaries by field of highest degree in psychology. The highest median salaries were found for industrial/ organizational psychology ($125,000) and experimental psychology ($92,000). Educational psychology and other psychology fields had lower median salaries.

Figure 3. Median Salaries by Field of Highest Degree, 2015
Notes: For data underlying this figure, please refer to Table 17 in Appendix B (PDF, 224KB)
Source: 2015 National Survey of College Graduates, National Science Foundation.

As psychologists work in a variety of positions, the following sections present salaries into four mutually exclusive types of positions (i.e., professional service, teaching, research, and management positions). Types of positions were determined based on the primary work activity (the activity in which the individual worked the most hours) at the principal job. Table 2 (PDF, 88B) provides a complete list of position types and their corresponding work activities.

Table 2. Definition of Position Types
Note: Total may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.
a. Professional service positions roughly represent psychologists providing health services, but may include positions that provide other services such as financial and legal services.
b. According to the state licensing board lists, there were approximately 106,000 licensed psychologists (compiled and estimated by the American Psychological Association, 2016). The estimated number of psychologists in professional service positions (as well as in other types of positions) was lower because the estimation in this report was based on psychologists' primary work activity in their full-time principal jobs. Psychologists often work in multiple positions and may choose to work part-time in their principal jobs. One position may also involve multiple work activities.
Source: 2015 National Survey of College Graduates, National Science Foundation.

Table 3 (PDF, 78KB) and Figure 4 (PDF, 69KB) presents salary levels by position type. In 2015, highest salaries were found for management positions ($110,000), followed by research positions ($95,000). Teaching positions had the lowest salary level ($62,000). Compared to median salaries in 2013, ⁶ professional service positions and research positions had a salary increase of 4.1 and 7.1 percent respectively. Salary decreased for teaching positions by 11.9 percent. ⁷ For management positions, median salary decreased for 2.0 percent.

Table 3. Salaries by Position Type, 2015
Source: 2015 National Survey of College Graduates, National Science Foundation.

Figure 4. Salaries by Position Type, 2013-15
Source: 2013-15 National Survey of College Graduates, National Science Foundation.

The following four sections analyze salary levels within the four position types respectively.

Section 2. Professional Service Positions

Table 4 (PDF, 91KB) summarizes salaries for professional service positions by sector. ⁸ Across all sectors, salary levels were highest for self-employed psychologists (non-incorporated), followed by those working in the federal government. In educational institutions, salary levels were higher in public institutions than in private institutions. In the private sector, those providing services in for-profit organizations had higher salary levels than those employed in non-profit organizations.

In terms of salary variation, Table 4 (PDF, 91KB) indicates that professional service positions in the government had a narrower range of salary levels (with the lowest standard deviations) compared to those in other sectors. Salaries for self-employed psychologists had the highest standard deviation, indicating high salary variations, especially for those working in incorporated businesses.

Table 4. Salaries for Professional Service Positions, by Sector, 2015
Source: 2015 National Survey of College Graduates, National Science Foundation.

Per availability of NSCG reported variables, the following sections examine salaries for professional service positions in the private sector (self-employment excluded) and in educational institutions.

1) Professional Service Positions in the Private Sector

Table 5  (PDF, 132KB) presents salaries by employer size in the private sector (self-employment excluded). For the for-profit sector, the highest median salary ($105,000) was found in companies or organizations with 100-999 employees. For the non-profit sector, salaries were highest in organizations with 1000 or more employees ($76,000).

Table 5. Salaries for Professional Service Positions in the Private Sector, by Employer Size, 2015
s = suppressed due to small cell size.
Source: 2015 National Survey of College Graduates, National Science Foundation.

2) Professional Service Positions in Educational Institutions

For psychologists providing services in educational institutions⁹ (Table 6 (PDF, 114KB)), the median salary was highest in pre-school/elementary/secondary schools ($91,000), followed by 4-year colleges ($70,200).

Table 6. Salaries for Professional Service Positions in Educational Institutions, by Type of Educational Institution, 2015
s = suppressed due to small cell size.
Source: 2015 National Survey of College Graduates, National Science Foundation.

Section 3. Teaching Positions

Compared to professional service positions, psychologists in teaching positions had a lower median salary at $62,000.¹⁰ Table 7 (PDF, 81KB) displays salary levels for psychologists in teaching positions. Of all teaching positions, salaries were lowest for precollege teachers, with a median salary of $55,500. Median salary for post-secondary teachers in the psychology discipline was $62,000.

Table 7. Salaries for Teaching Positions, by Occupation, 2015
s = suppressed due to small cell size.
Source: 2015 National Survey of College Graduates, National Science Foundation.

Most teaching positions (94.5 percent) were within educational institutions. Table 8 (PDF, 86KB) presents salaries in teaching positions by sector and type of educational institution. Psychologists employed in teaching positions at private educational institutions ($70,000) were paid more than those in public educational institutions ($60,000). Median salary was also higher for teachers in 4-year colleges ($63,000) than in pre-school/elementary/secondary schools ($55,500).

Table 8. Salaries for Teaching Positions, by Sector and Type of Educational Institution, 2015
s = suppressed due to small cell size.
Note: Teaching positions in non-educational institutions were not included in this table.
Source: 2015 National Survey of College Graduates, National Science Foundation.

Section 4. Research Positions

Median salaries for psychologists in research positions were generally higher ($95,000) compared to professional service and teaching positions. Table 9 (PDF, 111KB) displays salary levels for research positions broken down by type of research activity. Psychologists who conducted applied research activity had the highest median salary at $100,000.

Table 9. Salaries for Research Positions, by Type of Research Activity, 2015
s = suppressed due to small cell size.
Source: 2015 National Survey of College Graduates, National Science Foundation.

About half (47.7 percent) of research positions were within educational institutions, with salary levels presented in Table 10 (PDF, 113KB). The highest median salaries were found for university-affiliated research institutions ($98,500), followed by pre-school/elementary/secondary schools ($96,000).

Table 10. Salaries for Research Positions, by Type of Educational Institution, 2015
s = suppressed due to small cell size.
Note: Salaries for research positions in 2-year colleges were not included in this table as no observations were found for this category in the survey sample.
Source: 2015 National Survey of College Graduates, National Science Foundation.

Table 11 (PDF, 120KB) presents salaries for research positions by sector. The highest-paid research positions were in the private sector, especially in the for-profit sector at $132,000. For psychologists with research positions in educational institutions, those in public institutions had higher salary levels than those in private institutions.

Table 11. Salaries for Research Positions, by Sector, 2015
s = suppressed due to small cell size.
Note: Salaries for research positions in local government were not included in the table as no observation was found for this category in the survey sample.
Source: 2015 National Survey of College Graduates, National Science Foundation.

Section 5. Management Positions

Among all position types, management positions had the highest median salary at $110,000. Table 12 (PDF, 89KB) presents salary levels for management positions by sector. The highest salary levels were found in the private sector, especially within the private for-profit sector ($150,000). However, the large standard deviation (SD=140,914) suggests high salary variations within this sector.

Table 12. Salaries for Management Positions, by Sector, 2015
Source: 2015 National Survey of College Graduates, National Science Foundation.

Salary levels in management positions differed by the number of people under supervision (Table 13 (PDF, 101KB)). Higher salary levels were found for positions where respondents were responsible for directly supervising 5-20 people ($110,000), or indirectly supervising (through subordinate supervisors) more than 20 people ($141,000).

Table 13. Salaries for Management Positions, by Number of People under Supervision, 2015
Source: 2015 National Survey of College Graduates, National Science Foundation.

Section 6. Salaries by Demographic Characteristics

This section examines full-time psychologists' salaries by gender, race/ethnicity, age and disability status.¹¹

Figure 5 (PDF, 72KB) displays psychologists' salaries by gender and racial/ethnic groups. Median salaries were higher for male psychologists ($91,000) compared to female psychologists ($80,000), and for White psychologists ($88,000) compared to racial/ethnic minority psychologists ($71,000).

Figure 5. Median Salary by Gender and Racial/Ethnic Groups, 2015
Note: "Racial/ethnic minority" includes Asian, Black/African Americans, Hispanics, and other racial/ethnic groups. For data underlying this figure, please refer to Table 18 in Appendix B.
Source: 2015 National Survey of College Graduates, National Science Foundation.

Salaries were generally higher for older psychologists. Figure 6 displays psychologists' salaries by age group. Median salaries were highest for psychologists ages 60-64 ($105,000).

Figure 6. Median Salary by Age Group, 2015
Note: For data underlying this figure, please refer to Table 18 in Appendix B (PDF, 224KB).
Source: 2015 National Survey of College Graduates, National Science Foundation.

As for salaries by disability status, psychologists with disabilities had a median salary of $98,500, compared to psychologists with no disabilities¹² at $84,000. Among psychologists with disabilities (Table 14 (PDF, 80KB)), those with difficulty hearing had the highest median salary level at $102,000, followed by those with difficulty seeing at $98,500.

Table 14. Salaries by Type of Disability, 2015
Source: 2015 National Survey of College Graduates, National Science Foundation.

Conclusion

The report uses data from the National Science Foundation's 2015 National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG) to analyze salaries for psychologists. Psychologists' salary levels were highest in the Middle Atlantic Division and lowest in the East South Central Division. Psychologists in management positions had the highest median salary, followed by those in research, professional service, and teaching positions. Salary levels were generally higher for male than for female psychologists, for White than for racial/ethnic minority psychologists, and for older than for younger psychologists.

One limitation of the report is that, although the NSCG collects specific industry information about respondents' employers, that information is not included in the data files made available to the public. Having more detailed industry information about employers – within the domains of healthcare, social assistance, public administration, education, etc. – would enrich our understanding of the work settings of psychologists and the salaries associated with those settings.

In contrast, the strength of using NSCG data comes from its large and nationally representative sample drawn from the American Community Survey and its detailed breakdown of degree type and major field. These features make it possible to capture patterns in salaries for all individuals with doctoral-level degrees in psychology, including PsyD degrees. The NSCG is one of the most useful data sources for understanding the nation's psychology workforce.

Footnotes

1. NSCG categorizes degree type into four categories: bachelor's, master's, doctorate, and professional degrees. Although PhDs and PsyDs are both doctoral-level degrees, the NCSES codes psychology PhDs as "doctorates" and PsyDs as "professional degrees."  (NCSES, personal communications, May 12, 2016).  In this report, psychologists were defined on the basis of degree attainment, not on reported occupation. For detailed documentation on how full-time psychologists were defined, please refer to Appendix A (PDF, 317KB).
2. Basic annual salaries do not include bonuses, overtime, or additional compensation for summertime teaching or research. Different variables were used in the analysis of salaries per availability of NSCG reported variables, and as sample size allowed. Throughout the report, cells with sample sizes of less than four were suppressed.
3. Position types were determined by survey respondents' reported work activities. See detailed documentation on position types in Table 2.
4. According to the 2015 NSCG, there were approximately 207,000 individuals who had doctorates or professional degrees in psychology as their highest degrees. Approximately 34,000 were not working during the survey reference period: 3,000 were unemployed and 31,000 were not in labor force, e.g., retired, student, or did not want to work. Approximately 38,000 were working part-time (less than 35 hours per week) in their principal jobs.
5. Geographic Divisions were those used by the U.S. Census Bureau. See  Appendix A (PDF, 317KB) for detailed documentation.
6. Salaries for 2013 were adjusted for inflation using the BLS inflation calculator (http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm). For more information on 2013 salaries, please refer to the report Salaries in Psychology: Findings from the National Science Foundation's 2013 National Survey of College Graduates (American Psychological Association, 2017). Due to large standard deviation in salary, use caution when interpreting across-year comparisons between 2013 and 2015 salaries in specific settings (such as sectors, types of educational institutions).
7. The salary decrease in teaching positions is partly due to the younger sample: the median age for psychologists in teaching positions was 50 in 2013 and 48 in 2015. For more information on psychology faculty salaries, please refer to the report: 2015-16: Psychology Faculty Salaries (American Psychological Association, 2017).
8. Sector categories are mutually exclusive. Self-employment included those self-employed and business owners in incorporated or non-incorporated businesses, professional practices, or farms. For detailed documentation on sector, please refer to Appendix A (PDF, 317KB)
9. Educational institutions were coded into five categories as follows:  Pre-school/Elementary/Secondary, 2-year College, 4-year College, Medical School, and University-Affiliated Research Institution. See detailed documentation in Appendix A (PDF, 317KB)
10. For more information on psychology faculty salaries, please refer to the report: 2015-16: Psychology Faculty Salaries (American Psychological Association, 2017).
11. For detailed documentation on these demographic variables please refer to Appendix A (PDF, 317KB).
12. NSCG categorized disability into five types: seeing, hearing, walking, lifting, and cognitive disabilities. Please refer to Appendix A (PDF, 317KB) for detailed documentation on the disability variable.

American Psychological Association. (2017). Salaries in psychology: findings from the National Science Foundation's 2013 National Survey of College Graduates. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/workforce/publications/2013-salaries/index

American Psychological Association. (2016). County-Level Analysis of U.S. Licensed Psychologists and Health Indicators. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/workforce/publications/15-county-analysis/index

American Psychological Association (2015). Psychology faculty salaries for the 2015-2016 academic year: Results from the 2016 CUPA-HR survey for four-year colleges and universities. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/workforce/publications/16-faculty-salary/index

National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. (2015). National Survey of College Graduates Public Use Microdata File and Codebook.

• Appendix A: Technical Documentation (PDF, 317KB)
• Appendix B: Data underlying Figures (PDF, 224KB)

• Table 1: Salaries by Degree Type, 2015 (PDF, 74KB)
• Table 2: Definition of Position Types (PDF, 88B)
• Table 3: Salaries by Position Type, 2015 (PDF, 78KB)
• Table 4: Salaries for Professional Service Positions, by Sector, 2015 (PDF, 91KB)
• Table 5: Salaries for Professional Service Positions in the Private Sector, by Employer Size, 2015 (PDF, 132KB)
• Table 6: Salaries for Professional Service Positions in Educational Institutions, by Type of Educational Institution, 2015 (PDF, 114KB)
• Table 7: Salaries for Teaching Positions, by Occupation, 2015 (PDF, 81KB)
• Table 8: Salaries for Teaching Positions, by Sector and Type of Educational Institution, 2015 (PDF, 86KB)
• Table 9: Salaries for Research Positions, by Type of Research Activity, 2015 (PDF, 111KB)
• Table 10: Salaries for Research Positions, by Type of Educational Institution, 2015 (PDF, 113KB)
• Table 11: Salaries for Research Positions, by Sector, 2015 (PDF, 120KB)
• Table 12: Salaries for Management Positions, by Sector, 2015 (PDF, 89KB)
• Table 13: Salaries for Management Positions, by Number of People under Supervision, 2015 (PDF, 101KB)
• Table 14: Salaries by Type of Disability, 2015 (PDF, 80KB)

• Figure 1: Salaries Distribution, 2015 (PDF, 75KB)
• Figure 2: Median Salary by Geographic Division, 2015 (PDF, 168KB)
• Figure 3: Median Salary by Field of Degree, 2015 (interactive graphic)
• Figure 4: Salaries by Position Type, 2013-15 (PDF, 69KB)
• Figure 5: Median Salary by Gender and Racial/Ethnic Groups, 2015 (PDF, 72KB)
• Figure 6: Median Salary by Age Group, 2015 (PDF, 69KB)

Recommended citation: American Psychological Association. (2017). Salaries in psychology: findings from the National Science Foundation’s 2015 National Survey of College Graduates. Washington, DC: Author.

This report describes research and analysis conducted by staff members of the American Psychological Association’s Center for Workforce Studies. It does not constitute official policy of the American Psychological Association.

The use of data from the National Science Foundation does not imply NSF endorsement of the research, research methods or conclusions contained in this report.

The authors thank Howard Kurtzman and Jaime Diaz-Granados for valuable input on previous drafts of this report.