Missouri Clinical Psychologist Salary Outlook
Around 20% of U.S. adults deal with mental health issues, including serious mental illness, on a regular basis. Unfortunately, less than 15% of people receive treatment or clinical support to help dealing with their mental health issues, according to the most recent federal mental health data. In Missouri, the prevalence of both mental illness and treatment for mental illness is roughly the same as on the national level.
One of the key occupations within the mental healthcare landscape are licensed clinical psychologists, highly trained and compassionate individuals who are qualified to diagnose and treat mental illness as well as helping people cope with the day-to-day stress that everyone, even those without a mental illness diagnosis, deal with.
SEE ALSO: How to Become a Clinical Psychologist
Among all psychologists, those who have the title clinical psychologist tend to make lower wages, but they still earn far higher salaries than the typical American worker, and the same holds true in Missouri. Let’s take a look at what licensed clinical psychologists earn in the Show Me State and what employment options exist for such professionals here.
What’s On This Page
- How Much Do Clinical Psychologists Make in Missouri?
- Who’s Hiring for Clinical Psychologists in Missouri?
- Which Missouri Cities Are Best for Clinical Psychologists?
How Much Do Clinical Psychologists Make in Missouri?
The typical clinical psychologist in the U.S. earns a median of just under $77,000, but wages tend to be even lower here in Missouri, which has the third-lowest median wage for clinical psychologists in the Midwest.
Median annual clinical psychologist wage, Midwestern states
| Minnesota | $84,630 |
| North Dakota | $83,730 |
| Iowa | $78,810 |
| Wisconsin | $77,090 |
| Michigan | $75,340 |
| Ohio | $72,930 |
| Illinois | $71,340 |
| South Dakota | $68,780 |
| Nebraska | $67,060 |
| Missouri | $65,890 |
| Indiana | $63,540 |
| Kansas | $58,900 |
While it’s true that clinical psychologists in Missouri may earn lower wages than many of their counterparts across the country, these jobs tend to be among the more lucrative in the state when considering all jobs and even specific occupations that are common here in Missouri.
Median annual Missouri wage, select occupations
| All Occupations | $36,040 |
| Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians | $47,360 |
| Civil Engineering Technicians | $49,250 |
| Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychologists | $65,890 |
| Computer Programmers | $76,140 |
| Database Administrators | $84,610 |
| Editors | $47,460 |
| Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals | $28,080 |
| Gaming Managers | $72,430 |
| Health Educators | $42,240 |
| Industrial Machinery Mechanics | $52,570 |
| Lawyers | $99,990 |
| Machinists | $43,470 |
| Millwrights | $52,510 |
| Nursing Assistants | $24,350 |
| Order Clerks | $32,460 |
| Pest Control Workers | $32,090 |
| Radio Operators | $68,200 |
| Security Guards | $32,060 |
| Sheet Metal Workers | $66,540 |
| Statisticians | $65,380 |
| Technical Writers | $56,250 |
| Tire Builders | $32,410 |
| Travel Agents | $31,130 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | $19,080 |
While Missouri wages for clinical psychologists may not be among the nation’s most generous, growth of these jobs is projected to be quite high over the next decade, which could mean wages will creep up as more of these professionals will be needed to fill the demand.
States by projected long-term growth rate for clinical psychologist job openings
| Colorado | 33.5% |
| Utah | 30.8% |
| Arizona | 24.9% |
| Nevada | 21.7% |
| Washington | 21.5% |
| Texas | 20.0% |
| Florida | 19.9% |
| Virginia | 18.2% |
| Arkansas | 17.7% |
| Georgia | 17.4% |
| North Dakota | 17.2% |
| Missouri | 16.2% |
Note: long-term 2016-2026
Which Missouri Cities Are Best for Clinical Psychologists?
Major Missouri cities generally offer higher wages for many workers, including clinical psychologists, who earn the highest wages in Jefferson City, the state capital, as well as Kansas City. Both of those cities, in addition to Springfield and Columbia, offer higher median wages than the state as a whole.
Missouri cities by median annual clinical psychologist wage
| Jefferson City | $72,630 |
| Kansas City | $72,290 |
| Springfield | $71,700 |
| Columbia | $69,190 |
| St. Louis | $63,860 |
| Joplin | $56,270 |
| Cape Girardeau | $50,190 |
Nationally, jobs for clinical psychologists tend to be lower in Missouri than in other states. In fact, Missouri ranks in the bottom 10 for the number of clinical psychologists employed with just 0.476 per 1,000 jobs, but some Missouri cities outperform the state when it comes to the prevalence of these jobs.
Missouri cities by clinical psychologist employment per 1,000 jobs
| Jefferson City | 0.91 |
| Joplin | 0.717 |
| Kansas City | 0.626 |
| St. Louis | 0.515 |
| Columbia | 0.48 |
| Springfield | 0.457 |
Who’s Hiring for Clinical Psychologists in Missouri?
While many people who become licensed clinical psychologists will go into practice for themselves and work directly with the clients they choose to take on, many others will seek more traditional employment situations, and a wide range of options is available both in the public and private sector as well as jobs that serve a range of populations.
New openings are posted all the time, but here’s a look at some Missouri businesses and organizations that were seeking to hire clinical psychologists in the fall of 2019:
- Family Care Health Centers
- Eustasis
- Ability KC
- FamilyForward
- Compass Health Network
- Corizon Health
- Federal Bureau of Prisons
- S. Department of Veterans Affairs
- University of Missouri-St. Louis
- Louis Learning Disabilities Association
- S. Army
- State of Missouri Department of Mental Health
- MidAmericare
- Spectrum Health Resources
- Louis University
- Jordan Valley Community Health Center
- S. Air Force
- Arc of the Ozarks
- Cox Health
- Saint Luke’s Health System
Conclusion
While it’s true that Missouri clinical psychologists tend to earn lower wages than their peers in other states, for those who feel called to this type of work, the financial compensation is not usually their primary concern. Still, either way, Missouri clinical psychologists earn salaries that are relatively high compared with other workers in the state, so their quality of life is likely to be high.
SEE ALSO: Best Missouri Psychology Doctorate Programs
Additional References
- Information on clinical psychologist job openings in Missouri was gathered from listings posted in October 2019 on Indeed.com and Glassdoor.com
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2016-2017 NSDUH State Prevalence Estimates. (Undated). Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2016-2017-nsduh-state-prevalence-estimates
- Projections Managing Partnership, Projections Central, Long Term Occupational Projections. (Undated). Accessed from https://projectionscentral.com/Projections/LongTerm
- U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Psychologists. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/psychologists.htm#tab-5
- U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics Query System. (2019). Accessed from https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/home