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Role hub · Psychiatric Technicians

Psychiatric Technician: 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.

Maid DizdarevicCareer coach · 8x LinkedIn Top Voice
Updated Nov 2, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
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Median percentile pay

Half of psychiatric technicians earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$45,130
Hourly
$21.70
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Psychiatric Technicians care for individuals with mental or emotional conditions or disabilities, following the instructions of physicians or other health practitioners. The median pay is $45,130 a year ($21.70 an hour) (BLS, May 2025).

Median pay
$45,130
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
156,960
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 3 of 5
medium preparation
Key facts

Psychiatric Technicians at a glance

  • Psychiatric technicians in the United States earned a median annual wage of $45,130 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 postsecondary nondegree award as the typical entry-level education for psychiatric technicians in the United States.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS projects employment of psychiatric technicians in the United States to grow 22.3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 17,000 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS estimated that 156,960 people were employed as psychiatric technicians in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

Explore the role

Every page for Psychiatric Technicians

SalaryPsychiatric Technician salary

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The work

What psychiatric technicians do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Provide nursing, psychiatric, or personal care to patients with cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities.
  2. Encourage patients to develop work skills and to participate in social, recreational, or other therapeutic activities that enhance interpersonal skills or develop social relationships.
  3. Restrain violent, potentially violent, or suicidal patients by verbal or physical means as required.
  4. Lead prescribed individual or group therapy sessions as part of specific therapeutic procedures.
  5. Monitor patients' physical and emotional well-being and report unusual behavior or physical ailments to medical staff.
  6. Take and record measures of patients' physical condition, using devices such as thermometers or blood pressure gauges.
  7. Observe and influence patients' behavior, communicating and interacting with them and teaching, counseling, or befriending them.
  8. Aid patients in performing tasks, such as bathing or keeping beds, clothing, or living areas clean.
Where this career works

Industries that employ it

Data Share of all psychiatric technician jobs in each industry, 2025 (BLS Employment Matrix).

  1. Ambulatory healthcare services35.1% of all jobs in this occupation · +40.6% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $46,400
  2. Hospitals; state, local, and private32.5% of all jobs in this occupation · +9.4% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $46,970
  3. Social assistance11.7% of all jobs in this occupation · +14.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $46,490
  4. Nursing and residential care facilities11.6% of all jobs in this occupation · +27.2% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $41,090
  5. Government, excluding state and local education and hospitals4.6% of all jobs in this occupation · +2.5% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $56,950
  6. Educational services; state, local, and private3.2% of all jobs in this occupation · +1.9% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $51,540

Sources: BLS 2025–35 National Employment Matrix (share of the occupation's jobs, projected change) and BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates (mean wage). Different industry estimates are not a pay forecast for any person.

Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

Social PerceptivenesscoreActive ListeningcoreMonitoringcoreCoordinationSpeakingReading ComprehensionService OrientationCritical ThinkingInstructing

Knowledge areas: Psychology, Therapy and Counseling, English Language, Customer and Personal Service, Medicine and Dentistry, Education and Training.

Tools and technology

Software psychiatric technicians use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • ADL Data Systems OptimumClinicals Electronic Health RecordMedical software
  • Allscripts SunriseMedical software
  • Cerner ProFileMedical software
  • Epic EpicCare Inpatient Clinical SystemMedical software
  • GE Healthcare Centricity EMRMedical software
  • ICANotesMedical software
  • InfoLogix HealthTrax EngineInventory management software
  • MEDITECH Behavioral Health ClinicalsMedical software
  • Netsmart Technologies Avatar Clinical Workstation CWSMedical software
  • Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft Office softwareOffice suite softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft OutlookElectronic mail softwareHot technology

Also called: BHT (Behavioral Health Technician), Health Care Technician (Health Care Tech), LPT (Licensed Psychiatric Technician), Mental Health Associate, Mental Health Specialist, Mental Health Technician (MHT).

Method

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.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. 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.
  2. 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.