Psychologist Salary in California

The psychologist salary in California is a range, not one number. Half of the clinical and counseling psychologists BLS counted in California earned more than $116,000 a year in May 2025 and half earned less. Percentiles mark places in the pay distribution; they are not experience levels. Set beside the U.S. figures for the same occupation, the 10th percentile wage in California is 114 percent of the national $55,170, the median 115 percent of $100,580, and the 90th percentile 104 percent of $180,960.

Within the psychologist salary in California, the 90th percentile wage is 3 times the 10th, against 3.3 times across the country. The band between the 25th and 75th percentile spans $85,310, 138 percent of the $61,990 national band. The mean annual wage of $123,570 is 107 percent of the median, and the hourly median is $55.77. The 25th percentile wage ranks seventeenth of 48 jurisdictions, the 75th percentile wage third and the mean annual wage eighth.

The psychologist salary in California also changes from one metropolitan area to the next. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA has the highest median annual wage among the metropolitan areas BLS publishes for clinical and counseling psychologists (SOC 19-3033) in California: $166,400 in May 2025, 143 percent of the statewide median.

San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA has the lowest, $72,090, 62 percent of the statewide median. Eleven of the nineteen areas sit above the statewide median of $116,000.

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA has the most clinical and counseling psychologists of the areas listed, about 4,790, with a median of $99,250, 86 percent of the statewide median.

School psychologists (SOC 19-3034) in California earned a median annual wage of $127,780 in May 2025, 133 percent of the U.S. median of $95,990. That median ranks first of 51 jurisdictions. It is 110 percent of the $116,000 median for clinical and counseling psychologists in California.

BLS counted about 8,340 school psychologists and about 12,840 clinical and counseling psychologists in California, 0.6 school psychologists for every one of the others.

The school psychologist 10th percentile wage ranks first of 51 jurisdictions and the 90th percentile wage fourth, and the occupation ranks twelfth by concentration, 0.46 for every 1,000 jobs.

El Centro, CA has the highest median annual wage among the areas BLS publishes for school psychologists in California: $145,400, with about 50 employed. North Valley-Northern Mountains Region of California nonmetropolitan area has the lowest, $114,110. BLS publishes twenty-two such areas in all.

BLS also publishes psychologists, all other (SOC 19-3039) for California: a median annual wage of $157,540 in May 2025, with about 1,600 employed, 136 percent of the $116,000 median for clinical and counseling psychologists there. The group holds the psychologists BLS does not list separately, so it is not a wage for any one specialty.

California has 18 ranked PsyD programs, led by Palo Alto University in Palo Alto, CA (ranked fifth of 117), then The Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA (ranked thirteenth of 117) and Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, CA (ranked twentieth of 117).

California’s degree rule turns on the degree field and the school’s regional accreditation, not on APA accreditation, and the board decides whether each degree qualifies. The licensing board is the California Board of Psychology, read October 14, 2026. PsyD programs in California ranks all eighteen with the state’s licensing rules.

BLS puts the licensing rule this way: “In most states, practicing psychology or using the title of ‘psychologist’ requires licensure.” (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, read October 14, 2026). The steps from a doctorate to a license, with California’s own rules in a table of every state, are in the licensing guide that covers California.