Last updated: July 18, 2026

Health Psychologist Salary

Health psychologists earn a national median of $110,840, based on BLS wage data for "Psychologists, All Other." Below, that health psychologist salary breaks down by state, setting, degree, and board certification, caveats and all.

Taylor Rupe

Founder & Editor

B.A. in Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle

Health Psychologist salary guide

Key Takeaways

  • The national median health psychologist salary is $110,840 a year, or about $53.29 an hour, with the top 10% clearing $168,520 (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
  • BLS has no health-psychology-only code, so this comes from "Psychologists, All Other" (SOC 19-3039), a small catch-all of about 18,820 psychologists, which is why the state numbers are noisy (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
  • California pays the most in this category at a $157,540 median, while small-sample states like Kentucky ($149,990) and Nevada ($146,850) rank high on tiny employment bases (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
  • Private-practice health psychologists bill under Health and Behavior codes 96156 to 96171 instead of standard psychotherapy codes, and payer coverage for those codes swings take-home pay (APA Services).
  • Employment for psychologists overall is projected to grow 6% from 2024 to 2034, with about 12,900 openings a year (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook).

Health psychologists study how behavior, stress, and belief shape physical health, and they work inside hospitals, primary care teams, and academic medical centers to help patients manage chronic illness, pain, and recovery. If you're weighing this specialty, the health psychologist salary question comes down to one messy code and a lot of nuance.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn't track health psychologists on their own. It folds them into "Psychologists, All Other" (SOC 19-3039), a catch-all that also holds forensic, sports, and developmental psychologists. That median, $110,840, is the best national anchor we have, but the state numbers underneath it are small-sample and noisy, so read them as directional.

How Much Do Health Psychologists Make?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median health psychologist salary at $110,840 a year, based on its "Psychologists, All Other" category (SOC 19-3039). The bottom 10% earn about $54,990, the top 10% clear $168,520, and the middle half runs from $68,850 to $147,240. That category employs roughly 18,820 psychologists nationwide.

That spread is wide for a reason. A newly licensed health psychologist in a community clinic sits near the bottom quartile, while a board-certified psychologist leading a behavioral medicine service at an academic medical center sits near the top. Setting and certification move health psychologist salary more than geography does, which is why the state table below needs a caveat.

10th Percentile

$54,990

Median

$110,840

90th Percentile

$168,520

Health Psychologist Salary by State

State Median Salary Employment
California $157,540 1,600
Kentucky $149,990 300
Nevada $146,850 100
Oklahoma $141,290 90
Missouri $134,890 250
Florida $134,690 910
New Jersey $132,220 370
Ohio $132,060 410
Massachusetts $129,410 500
New York $128,320 680
Washington $128,230 370
North Carolina $126,440 570
Colorado $120,660 380
Minnesota $115,650 330
Maryland $109,970 840
Pennsylvania $95,650 780
Michigan $88,510 410
Oregon $86,680 840
Wisconsin $81,860 1,080
Illinois $69,810 1,120
West Virginia $46,350 230

Health Psychologist Salary by Experience Level

Experience Level Salary
Postdoctoral Fellow $50,000-$65,000
Newly Licensed (0-2 years) $68,000-$90,000
Early Career (3-5 years) $90,000-$115,000
Mid-Career (6-12 years) $110,000-$147,000
Senior (13+ years) $147,000-$168,000+
Board-Certified / Service Lead $160,000-$200,000+

Health Psychologist Salary by Employer Type

Employer Type Salary
Academic Medical Center $120,000-$175,000
Hospital & Health System $105,000-$150,000
VA & Federal Health Systems $100,000-$140,000
Private Group Practice $95,000-$160,000+
Primary Care & Integrated Behavioral Health $85,000-$120,000
Community & Public Health $80,000-$110,000
University Faculty & Research $75,000-$130,000

Health Psychologist Salary by Education Level

Education Level Salary
Master's (non-licensed health roles) $50,000-$70,000
PsyD in Clinical or Health Psychology $90,000-$125,000
PhD in Clinical or Health Psychology $100,000-$145,000
PhD or PsyD + ABPP Board Certification $125,000-$180,000+

How to Increase Your Health Psychologist Salary

The wide gap between the 10th and 90th percentiles, $54,990 to $168,520, is where the strategy lives. You raise a health psychologist salary the same way clinical health psychologists do: add a specialty credential, pick a higher-paying setting, and control how your work gets billed. The APA Society for Health Psychology is the field's professional home for those moves.

One note on the tables above. The state and national figures come straight from BLS, but the experience, employer, and education bands are estimates built from typical job postings and practice-setting pay ranges, not a single BLS series, so read them as directional. A few board-certified service leads do clear the $168,520 BLS top decile, but most senior pay lands under it.

  • Earn board certification in clinical health psychology through the ABPP, the credential hospitals and academic medical centers look for when they set senior pay.
  • Target academic medical centers and hospital health systems, where the top of the range ($120,000 to $175,000) sits, rather than community roles that cluster near the bottom quartile.
  • Learn to bill Health and Behavior codes 96156 to 96171 correctly, because payer coverage for these integrated-care codes directly shapes private-practice take-home.
  • Pass the EPPP and get licensed as early as you can, since independent licensure is the gate between the $50,000 postdoc band and six-figure staff pay.
  • Specialize in high-demand areas like chronic pain, oncology, cardiac, or transplant psychology, where behavioral medicine consult services compete for qualified psychologists.
  • Add clinical supervision, teaching, or research to a staff role, which academic medical centers fund and which pushes total pay toward the $168,520 top decile.

Related Pages

How to Become a Health Psychologist

The doctorate, internship, and clinical health psychology fellowship path into the field.

Clinical Psychologist Salary

Compare health psychology pay with the larger, more stable clinical and counseling category.

Clinical Psychologist Salary in California

A closer look at psychology pay in the top-employing, top-paying state.

How to Become a Clinical Psychologist

The doctorate, internship, and licensure path that health psychologists also follow.

Best Online Clinical Psychology Programs

Doctoral programs that can lead into clinical health psychology practice.

Frequently Asked Questions

The median health psychologist salary is $110,840 a year, and the mean is close behind at $111,210, based on BLS wage data for "Psychologists, All Other" (SOC 19-3039) from May 2025. Because BLS has no health-psychology-only code, treat this as the best available anchor, not a precise health-psychology figure. The middle half of the field earns between $68,850 and $147,240.
About $53.29 an hour at the median, which is the hourly equivalent of the $110,840 annual median. The lowest 10% earn near $26 an hour and the highest 10% clear roughly $81 an hour. Hourly rates run higher for private consulting and integrated-care contract work than for salaried hospital positions.
California, at a $157,540 median, and it also employs the most people in this category (about 1,600). After California, several small-sample states rank high: Kentucky ($149,990), Nevada ($146,850), and Oklahoma ($141,290). Those three sit on employment bases of 300 or fewer, so their averages swing year to year and should not be read as stable.
On paper, yes. The "Psychologists, All Other" median that captures health psychologists is $110,840, versus $100,580 for the larger clinical and counseling psychologist category (SOC 19-3033). But the health-psychology bucket is small and noisy, while the clinical category is a big, stable sample, so the gap is softer than it looks. Setting and certification matter more than the label.
It is the clearest post-license lever in this specialty. Board certification in clinical health psychology through the ABPP signals verified expertise to hospitals and academic medical centers, which is where the top of the range lives. It will not change an entry-level community salary overnight, but it opens senior behavioral medicine and service-lead roles that pay well above the $110,840 median.
Academic medical centers and large hospital health systems generally pay the most, with senior roles reaching $120,000 to $175,000. Private group practice can match or beat that, but it depends heavily on payer mix and how well you bill Health and Behavior codes. Primary-care integration and community health roles pay the least, often $80,000 to $120,000.
Employment for psychologists overall is projected to grow 6% from 2024 to 2034, faster than the average job, with about 12,900 openings a year, according to the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook. Demand for behavioral medicine inside primary care and chronic-disease management is a real tailwind, though the "all other" wage data is too noisy to show a clean year-over-year trend.
Expect roughly $68,000 to $90,000 in your first licensed years, landing near the BLS 25th percentile of $68,850. Postdoctoral fellowships themselves pay less, usually $50,000 to $65,000, because they are training positions. Pay climbs fastest right after independent licensure, once you can bill and supervise on your own.

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