Industrial-Organizational Psychologist: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.
The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.
10% of industrial-organizational psychologists earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $79,010
- Hourly
- $37.99
- Source
- BLS May 2025
25% of industrial-organizational psychologists earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $107,310
- Hourly
- $51.59
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Half of industrial-organizational psychologists earn more than this and half earn less.
- Annual
- $193,950
- Hourly
- $93.24
- Source
- BLS May 2025
75% of industrial-organizational psychologists earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $222,280
- Hourly
- $106.86
- Source
- BLS May 2025
90% of industrial-organizational psychologists earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $247,220
- Hourly
- $118.86
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Industrial-Organizational Psychologists apply principles of psychology to human resources, administration, management, sales, and marketing problems. The median pay is $193,950 a year ($93.24 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a master's degree (58% of workers surveyed by O*NET).
- Median pay
- $193,950
- BLS May 2025
- Employed in the U.S.
- 790
- BLS May 2025
- Preparation
- Job Zone 5 of 5
- extensive preparation
- Most common education
- Master's Degree
- 58% of workers
Industrial-Organizational Psychologists at a glance
Industrial-organizational psychologists in the United States earned a median annual wage of $193,950 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a master's degree as the typical entry-level education for industrial-organizational psychologists in the United States.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS projects employment of industrial-organizational psychologists in the United States to grow 6.5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 300 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS estimated that 790 people were employed as industrial-organizational psychologists in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
Every page for Industrial-Organizational Psychologists
What industrial-organizational psychologists do day to day
Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).
- Provide advice on best practices and implementation for selection.
- Develop and implement employee selection or placement programs.
- Analyze data, using statistical methods and applications, to evaluate the outcomes and effectiveness of workplace programs.
- Develop interview techniques, rating scales, and psychological tests used to assess skills, abilities, and interests for the purpose of employee selection, placement, or promotion.
- Observe and interview workers to obtain information about the physical, mental, and educational requirements of jobs, as well as information about aspects such as job satisfaction.
- Facilitate organizational development and change.
- Analyze job requirements and content to establish criteria for classification, selection, training, and other related personnel functions.
- Advise management concerning personnel, managerial, and marketing policies and practices and their potential effects on organizational effectiveness and efficiency.
Ranked by importance to the job
Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.
Knowledge areas: Personnel and Human Resources, Psychology, Education and Training, Administration and Management, Mathematics, English Language.
Software industrial-organizational psychologists use
Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.
- IBM SPSS StatisticsAnalytical or scientific softwareHot technology
- Microsoft VisioProcess mapping and design softwareHot technology
- SASAnalytical or scientific softwareHot technology
- Assessment Systems Corporation XCALIBREAnalytical or scientific software
- Human resource information system (HRIS)Human resources software
- Learning management system LMSComputer based training software
- Muthen & Muthen MplusAnalytical or scientific software
- PadletComputer based training software
- Psychometric testing softwareAnalytical or scientific software
- Scientific Software International BILOG-MGAnalytical or scientific software
- Scientific Software International HLMAnalytical or scientific software
- Scientific Software International LISRELAnalytical or scientific software
Also called: Industrial Organizational Psychologist, Consulting Psychologist, I-O Practitioner (Industrial-Organizational Practitioner), I-O Psychologist (Industrial-Organizational Psychologist), Industrial Psychologist, Management Consultant, Organizational Consultant.
How this page is built
Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- How a specific employer defines the job.
- Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
- Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.