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Role hub · Psychiatrists

Psychiatrist: 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 Oct 24, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of psychiatrists earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$281,870
Hourly
$135.51
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Psychiatrists diagnose, treat, and help prevent mental disorders. The median pay is $281,870 a year ($135.51 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is post-doctoral training (59% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$281,870
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
27,980
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 5 of 5
extensive preparation
Most common education
Post-Doctoral Training
59% of workers
Explore the role

Every page for Psychiatrists

SalaryPsychiatrist salary

Pay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.

Open →How to becomePsychiatrist how to become

Education, training and the skills to build first.

Open →Career changePsychiatrist career change

Where these skills transfer, with skill match and pay change.

Open →Free toolCheck your resume

Parsed text, evidence per bullet, fixes first.

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The work

What psychiatrists do day to day

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

  1. Prescribe, direct, or administer psychotherapeutic treatments or medications to treat mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders.
  2. Gather and maintain patient information and records, including social or medical history obtained from patients, relatives, or other professionals.
  3. Collaborate with physicians, psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, or other professionals to discuss treatment plans and progress.
  4. Counsel outpatients or other patients during office visits.
  5. Analyze and evaluate patient data or test findings to diagnose nature or extent of mental disorder.
  6. Examine or conduct laboratory or diagnostic tests on patients to provide information on general physical condition or mental disorder.
  7. Design individualized care plans, using a variety of treatments.
  8. Advise or inform guardians, relatives, or significant others of patients' conditions or treatment.
Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

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

Active ListeningcoreSocial PerceptivenesscoreCritical ThinkingcoreSpeakingService OrientationJudgment and Decision MakingReading ComprehensionWritingMonitoring

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

Tools and technology

Software psychiatrists use

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

  • Epic SystemsMedical softwareHot technology
  • MEDITECH softwareMedical softwareHot technology
  • eClinicalWorks EHR softwareMedical softwareHot technology
  • ADL Data Systems OptimumClinicals Electronic Health RecordMedical software
  • Advantage Software Psych AdvantageMedical software
  • Allscripts SunriseMedical software
  • Blumenthal Software PBSW24Time accounting software
  • Cerner ProFileMedical software
  • Computer Assisted Diagnostic Interview CADI softwareMedical software
  • Electronic medical record EMR softwareMedical software
  • Epic EpicCare Inpatient Clinical SystemMedical software
  • FifthWalk BillingTracker ProBilling and invoicing software

Also called: Adolescent Psychiatrist, Adult Psychiatrist, Attending Psychiatrist, Board Certified Psychiatrist, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Child Psychiatrist.

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 correlation between the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level, subtract the average across all occupations, and correlate the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 or below means unrelated. 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).