Clinical and Counseling Psychologists vs School Psychologists: $101K vs $96K Median Pay

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists vs School Psychologists: what changes?

Consider Clinical and Counseling Psychologists if you want to assess, diagnose, and treat mental and emotional disorders of individuals through observation, interview, and psychological tests. Consider School Psychologists if you would rather diagnose and implement individual or schoolwide interventions or strategies to address educational, behavioral, or developmental issues that adversely impact educational functioning in a school. Entry credentials differ: Clinical and Counseling Psychologists, doctoral or professional degree; School Psychologists, master's degree.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Clinical and Counseling Psychologists and School Psychologists. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists

National median pay (2025): $100,580
Route into the job: Doctoral or professional degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.
Work to investigate: Conduct assessments of patients' risk for harm to self or others.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 4,100

Know before you choose

Training continues through internship/residency after the degree path.

See the full Clinical and Counseling Psychologists brief

School Psychologists

National median pay (2025): $95,990
Route into the job: Master's degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.
Work to investigate: Compile and interpret students' test results, along with information from teachers and parents, to diagnose conditions and to help assess eligibility for special services.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 3,400

Know before you choose

Training continues through internship/residency after the degree path.

See the full School Psychologists brief

How the national numbers differ

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists has the edge on projected growth

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists is at 11.7% projected growth, compared with 0.8% projected growth for School Psychologists.

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists has the edge on annual openings

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists is at 4,100 annual openings, compared with 3,400 annual openings for School Psychologists.

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists has the edge on median pay

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists is at $100,580, compared with $95,990 for School Psychologists.

64.2/ 100

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists

46.2/ 100

School Psychologists

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists vs School Psychologists

Dimension	Clinical and Counseling Psychologists	School Psychologists
Median pay (2025)	$100,580	$95,990
Pay percentile	83.3 percentile	79.7 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	11.7%	0.8%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	4,100	3,400
2025 employment	81,300	64,000
How you qualify	Doctoral or professional degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements	Master's degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 5	Job Zone 5
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.	Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Clinical and Counseling Psychologists brief Read School Psychologists brief

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists vs School Psychologists: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists

School Psychologists

How the national numbers differ

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists has the edge on projected growth

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists has the edge on annual openings

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists has the edge on median pay

Clinical and Counseling Psychologists vs School Psychologists

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