School Psychologists salary

SOC 19-3034 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$95,990

per year, nationally

Middle half

$77,470–$120,310

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

63,940

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+0.7%

3,800 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$63,070$142,330

10th: $63,070
25th: $77,470
Median: $95,990
75th: $120,310
90th: $142,330

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Master's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Internship/residency

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where school psychologists earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	California	$127,780	110.7	8,340	1.11×
2	Colorado	$124,770	103.1	1,380	1.17×
3	New Mexico	$110,360	92.2	630	1.76×
4	Maryland	$109,700	105.0	1,520	1.34×
5	Washington	$108,780	107.0	1,420	0.97×
6	District of Columbia	$107,500	109.9	250	0.87×
7	New York	$106,550	107.9	9,070	2.28×
8	Oregon	$106,070	103.4	570	0.71×
9	Connecticut	$100,600	103.6	1,140	1.64×
10	Georgia	$99,110	96.3	1,650	0.82×
11	Massachusetts	$98,670	105.8	3,300	2.21×
12	Delaware	$95,990	99.8	280	1.41×
13	New Jersey	$95,160	108.8	2,130	1.21×
14	Rhode Island	$94,900	102.3	210	1.03×
15	Alaska	$94,460	102.4	120	0.92×
16	Nevada	$93,680	100.0	290	0.46×
17	Arizona	$92,380	100.7	1,100	0.83×
18	Ohio	$91,010	92.8	2,050	0.90×
19	Nebraska	$88,980	90.1	440	1.04×
20	Virginia	$85,670	101.1	1,200	0.71×
21	Minnesota	$85,190	98.6	1,060	0.88×
22	Florida	$84,760	103.4	2,020	0.49×
23	Illinois	$84,690	100.0	3,590	1.43×
24	Michigan	$83,960	96.2	1,480	0.82×
25	Wyoming	$83,740	92.7	120	1.08×
26	Texas	$83,690	97.1	4,250	0.74×
27	Wisconsin	$83,330	94.1	1,180	0.97×
28	Vermont	$82,820	98.0	180	1.41×
29	Pennsylvania	$82,190	97.6	2,600	1.04×
30	Hawaii	$82,110	110.0	90	0.33×
31	Maine	$81,650	97.0	120	0.46×
32	Montana	$80,010	94.6	170	0.79×
33	South Dakota	$78,370	88.6	110	0.56×
34	Utah	$77,820	98.9	490	0.69×
35	Indiana	$77,640	93.3	710	0.54×
36	Tennessee	$76,850	91.9	900	0.66×
37	South Carolina	$76,720	93.7	720	0.76×
38	Kentucky	$75,370	90.2	590	0.72×
39	West Virginia	$75,220	89.5	250	0.88×
40	Alabama	$75,060	88.8	370	0.43×
41	Iowa	$74,410	87.8	400	0.62×
42	New Hampshire	$73,490	104.2	360	1.29×
43	North Carolina	$73,220	94.3	1,540	0.76×
44	Kansas	$73,020	90.1	630	1.07×
45	Idaho	$71,700	95.5	310	0.89×
46	Missouri	$70,290	90.8	520	0.43×
47	Louisiana	$69,020	88.2	670	0.84×
48	North Dakota	$68,960	89.0	90	0.49×
49	Oklahoma	$64,930	87.8	510	0.73×
50	Arkansas	$64,030	86.9	440	0.82×
51	Mississippi	$61,070	87.0	—	—

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where school psychologists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for school psychologists

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	El Centro, CA	$145,400	95.2	50	2.01×
2	Boulder, CO	$143,020	105.2	110	1.40×
3	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$139,400	106.4	760	1.07×
4	Merced, CA	$133,230	98.3	90	2.75×
5	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$131,920	106.7	460	1.04×
6	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$131,070	111.9	850	1.34×
7	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$130,540	115.6	680	0.70×
8	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$130,520	110.4	260	0.55×
9	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$129,610	110.5	220	1.66×
10	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$129,340	105.8	770	1.17×
11	Modesto, CA	$128,750	104.1	100	1.30×
12	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$128,630	105.1	200	1.72×
13	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$128,110	108.8	110	1.34×
14	Visalia, CA	$128,020	99.8	170	2.36×
15	Reno, NV	$127,740	101.0	60	0.54×
16	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$126,710	107.8	70	0.78×
17	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$126,430	100.9	170	1.21×
18	Yuba City, CA	$125,860	104.2	40	1.69×
19	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$125,810	105.6	60	1.51×
20	Chico, CA	$124,980	101.2	50	1.64×
21	Fresno, CA	$123,920	102.2	400	2.06×
22	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$122,450	108.6	30	0.67×
23	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$122,390	113.6	3,060	1.19×
24	Vallejo, CA	$121,340	108.5	80	1.31×
25	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$117,540	112.6	7,890	2.02×
26	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$115,650	100.1	50	0.98×
27	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$115,570	111.1	750	0.88×
28	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$114,520	104.5	570	1.01×
29	Colorado Springs, CO	$114,380	100.7	190	1.46×
30	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$113,950	105.4	360	0.72×
31	Las Cruces, NM	$110,360	90.2	80	2.57×
32	Albuquerque, NM	$109,930	95.5	340	2.04×
33	Greeley, CO	$107,790	100.2	60	1.29×
34	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$107,700	100.3	110	1.06×
35	Yakima, WA	$107,130	95.5	60	1.39×
36	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$106,550	108.9	1,590	1.23×
37	Medford, OR	$106,410	101.4	40	1.19×
38	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$105,810	103.7	80	1.41×
39	Farmington, NM	$104,740	87.7	50	2.32×
40	Bellingham, WA	$104,250	103.3	30	0.92×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where school psychologists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists$100,580
Urban and Regional Planners$89,320
Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other$101,110
Psychologists, All Other$110,840
Economists$124,720
Anthropologists and Archeologists$70,770
Survey Researchers$69,460
Political Scientists$142,080