Psychologist salary in California: what each kind of psychologist earns.
There is no single psychologist wage. Here is the BLS median for each kind of psychologist in California, how many people do the work there, and how it compares with the national figure.
$116,000 – $157,540
Range of medians across the 3 psychologist occupations BLS publishes for California. No BLS figure combines them.
BLS publishes no single “psychologist” wage for California. Across the 3 psychologist occupations with a published May 2025 median in California, median annual pay ran from $116,000 (clinical and counseling psychologists) to $157,540 (“psychologists, all other”). Clinical and counseling psychologists, the largest of them in California (12,840 employed), earned a median of $116,000, compared with $100,580 nationally.
Psychologists in California at a glance
Clinical and counseling psychologists are the largest psychologist occupation with a published median in California, with 12,840 employed and a median annual wage of $116,000 in May 2025 (BLS).
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
Among the psychologist occupations with a published median in California, “psychologists, all other” had the highest: $157,540 (May 2025, BLS).
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
All of the 3 psychologist occupations with a published median in California were paid above their own national median in May 2025 (BLS).
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
Nationally, BLS publishes a median of $99,110 for its psychologists group; BLS publishes no state figure for that group, so this page shows each occupation separately.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
What each kind of psychologist earns in California
Data One row per BLS occupation with a published state median, sorted by median annual pay. Hourly pay is shown only where BLS publishes it.
| Occupation (BLS title) | Median annual pay, California | Median hourly | Employed in California | National median | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psychologists, All Other | $157,540 | $75.74 | 1,600 | $110,840 | +42% vs national |
| School Psychologists | $127,780 | $61.43 | 8,340 | $95,990 | +33% vs national |
| Clinical and Counseling Psychologists | $116,000 | $55.77 | 12,840 | $100,580 | +15% vs national |
Data The other 1 psychologist occupation on the national page, and what BLS publishes for California:
- no estimate in BLS's May 2025 file for California: Industrial-Organizational Psychologists.
How this page is built
Pay and employment are BLS OEWS state estimates for California, May 2025, for each BLS detailed occupation on the national Psychologists page. BLS publishes no psychologist-wide state figure; nothing on this page is averaged or combined by TryHired. “Difference” compares each occupation's state median with its own national median. Top-coded medians (BLS “#”) are shown as “$239,200 a year or more”, never as a number.
- Pay at a specific employer, hospital system, union contract or school district.
- Pay in a specific city: metro figures differ from the state median.
- Licensing rules in California.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).