Psychologist Salary in the District of Columbia

The psychologist salary in the District of Columbia is a range, not one number. Half of the clinical and counseling psychologists BLS counted in the District of Columbia earned more than $107,000 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 the District of Columbia is 128 percent of the national $55,170, the median 106 percent of $100,580, and the 90th percentile 180 percent of $180,960.

Within the psychologist salary in the District of Columbia, the band between the 25th and 75th percentile spans $46,490, 75 percent of the $61,990 national band. The mean annual wage of $127,690 is 119 percent of the median, and the hourly median is $51.44. The 25th percentile wage ranks tenth of 48 jurisdictions, the 75th percentile wage sixteenth and the mean annual wage fourth.

BLS publishes one metropolitan area for clinical and counseling psychologists (SOC 19-3033) in the District of Columbia: Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, with a median annual wage of $101,670 in May 2025, 95 percent of the districtwide median and about 1,550 employed.

BLS defines a metropolitan area by county, so an area that crosses a state line has one figure for the whole area.

School psychologists (SOC 19-3034) in the District of Columbia earned a median annual wage of $107,500 in May 2025, 112 percent of the U.S. median of $95,990. That median ranks sixth of 51 jurisdictions. It is 100 percent of the $107,000 median for clinical and counseling psychologists in the District of Columbia.

BLS counted about 250 school psychologists and about 220 clinical and counseling psychologists in the District of Columbia, 1.1 school psychologists for every one of the others.

The school psychologist 10th percentile wage ranks fifth of 51 jurisdictions and the 90th percentile wage second, and the occupation ranks twenty-fifth by concentration, 0.36 for every 1,000 jobs.

BLS publishes one area for school psychologists in the District of Columbia: Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, with a median annual wage of $106,550 and about 1,590 employed.

BLS also publishes psychologists, all other (SOC 19-3039) for the District of Columbia: a median annual wage of $125,110 in May 2025, with about 230 employed, 117 percent of the $107,000 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.

The District of Columbia has 2 ranked PsyD programs, led by George Washington University in Washington, DC (ranked thirty-fifth of 117), then The Chicago School, Washington, D.C. Campus in Washington, DC (ranked seventy-eighth of 117).

The District’s board has asked applicants by examination since January 1, 2022 to pass both parts of the EPPP, the knowledge exam and the skills exam. The licensing board is the District of Columbia Board of Psychology, read October 21, 2026. PsyD programs in the District of Columbia ranks all two 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 the District of Columbia’s own rules in a table of every state, are in the licensing guide that covers the District of Columbia.