Marriage and Family Therapist Salary: What the Federal Data Shows
Marriage and family therapists earn a median of $66,940 a year, according to the most recent federal wage data (BLS, May 2025 estimates, released May 2026). The middle 80 percent earn between $44,650 and $123,730, a wide spread that reflects a long private-practice tail at the top of the field. State medians run from $37,870 in Wisconsin to an outlier $141,960 in Hawaii.
This page covers the state numbers, the gap between what the typical LMFT earns and what the top of the field earns, and the licensure and setting factors that move pay. Everything is sourced to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and refreshed each spring.
National snapshot
The mean sitting nearly $10,000 above the median is the number to notice. It signals a right-skewed field: a large group of salaried, agency-based LMFTs around the median, and a smaller group of established private-practice clinicians pulling the average up. Where you sit on that curve is mostly about setting and practice ownership, covered below.
Highest-paying states
| Rank | State | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | $141,960 |
| 2 | New Jersey | $92,150 |
| 3 | Georgia | $91,550 |
| 4 | Oregon | $91,520 |
| 5 | Connecticut | $86,250 |
Hawaii’s median is a real figure but rests on a small sample (about 220 therapists), so treat it as an outlier rather than a relocation plan. The more useful signal is the cluster just below it: New Jersey, Georgia, Oregon, and Connecticut all clearing $86,000, well above the national median, on healthier sample sizes. LMFT pay is unusually state-dependent because the profession’s licensing and insurance recognition vary more by state than most behavioral health roles.
Marriage and family therapist salary by state
| State | Employment | 10th pctile | Median | 90th pctile | Mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 190 | $40,250 | $49,990 | $75,100 | $54,170 |
| Alaska | 60 | $46,680 | $60,010 | $113,710 | $69,880 |
| Arizona | n/a | $50,270 | $65,290 | $100,720 | $74,150 |
| Arkansas | 80 | $47,520 | $64,340 | $90,900 | $68,730 |
| California | 34,970 | $46,350 | $67,300 | $130,340 | $79,440 |
| Colorado | 900 | $47,030 | $60,700 | $128,400 | $80,100 |
| Connecticut | 260 | $47,500 | $86,250 | $168,750 | $103,870 |
| Delaware | 400 | $53,730 | $76,580 | $91,140 | $74,480 |
| Florida | 930 | $39,460 | $56,400 | $102,280 | $64,890 |
| Georgia | n/a | $42,430 | $91,550 | $102,320 | $83,300 |
| Hawaii | 220 | $48,950 | $141,960 | $166,400 | $127,570 |
| Idaho | 140 | $59,330 | $62,700 | $74,680 | $65,510 |
| Illinois | 860 | $51,420 | $60,970 | $104,900 | $68,510 |
| Indiana | 510 | $46,730 | $56,810 | $82,430 | $62,490 |
| Iowa | 240 | $42,680 | $67,180 | $127,720 | $72,120 |
| Kansas | 190 | $46,930 | $68,710 | $101,750 | $71,920 |
| Kentucky | 330 | $41,180 | $52,420 | $74,690 | $56,560 |
| Maine | 180 | $64,990 | $71,680 | $91,350 | $73,910 |
| Maryland | 460 | $50,230 | $69,900 | $115,330 | $77,890 |
| Massachusetts | 600 | $49,070 | $67,370 | $128,490 | $80,880 |
| Michigan | 590 | $39,110 | $52,270 | $78,740 | $56,220 |
| Minnesota | 4,870 | $54,430 | $72,470 | $99,920 | $73,980 |
| Mississippi | 140 | $47,790 | $51,440 | $59,690 | $53,520 |
| Missouri | 390 | $41,930 | $60,440 | $109,200 | $66,250 |
| Montana | 100 | $32,170 | $46,960 | $75,310 | $54,580 |
| Nebraska | 260 | $38,490 | $62,610 | $95,590 | $65,640 |
| New Hampshire | 70 | $48,200 | $60,030 | $82,490 | $67,210 |
| New Jersey | 4,040 | $62,150 | $92,150 | $110,990 | $90,310 |
| New Mexico | 160 | $52,680 | $70,630 | $92,210 | $71,940 |
| New York | 770 | $50,380 | $64,430 | $83,050 | $67,260 |
| North Carolina | 1,400 | $27,860 | $48,100 | $109,200 | $57,090 |
| Ohio | 460 | $41,200 | $70,240 | $157,860 | $86,810 |
| Oklahoma | n/a | $28,540 | $57,670 | $94,140 | $60,130 |
| Oregon | 850 | $60,060 | $91,520 | $165,190 | $102,390 |
| Pennsylvania | 2,350 | $47,050 | $66,040 | $91,980 | $67,890 |
| South Carolina | 380 | $44,280 | $55,430 | $91,220 | $61,000 |
| South Dakota | 80 | $37,060 | $44,870 | $53,420 | $46,380 |
| Tennessee | 1,440 | $34,690 | $46,700 | $63,540 | $49,050 |
| Texas | 1,380 | $36,700 | $46,300 | $93,500 | $59,350 |
| Utah | 2,390 | $39,800 | $84,980 | $151,840 | $93,610 |
| Vermont | n/a | $41,460 | $62,780 | $90,110 | $67,470 |
| Virginia | 930 | $49,720 | $79,900 | $103,330 | $74,850 |
| Washington | n/a | $55,690 | $60,000 | $103,740 | $68,080 |
| West Virginia | 90 | $31,760 | $55,700 | $115,950 | $60,720 |
| Wisconsin | 180 | $34,980 | $37,870 | $69,570 | $45,960 |
Two reading notes. California employs more than half the country’s marriage and family therapists (34,970 of 66,740), a legacy of the state building its licensure around the MFT credential earlier and more heavily than most, so California’s numbers anchor the national figure. And the median-to-90th spread is enormous in states like Oregon ($91,520 to 165, 190)andOhio(70,240 to $157,860), which is the private-practice ceiling showing through on top of a salaried median.
What moves LMFT pay: licensure, then ownership
The base credential is the LMFT license: a master’s in marriage and family therapy or a related field, roughly 2,000 to 4,000 supervised clinical hours depending on the state, and a national MFT exam. As with the other therapy licenses, the jump to full independent licensure is the first real raise, because it enables independent billing.
The bigger divergence is practice ownership. The gap between the median and the 90th percentile in this field is mostly the difference between a salaried LMFT at an agency and an LMFT who owns or shares a private practice, sets fees, and keeps the margin. That is the single largest earning lever in the profession, more than geography for most therapists.
One structural constraint worth naming: LMFTs have less licensure portability than their peers. Counselors have the Counseling Compact and clinical social workers have a compact on the way, but there is no equivalent operational multistate compact for marriage and family therapists yet. That makes cross-state telehealth practice harder for LMFTs than for LPCs or LCSWs, and it caps the “serve multiple state markets” pay lever that benefits other remote clinicians. Our remote therapist jobs guide covers how that portability translates into income for the licenses that do have it, and the role comparison guide explains where the MFT scope differs from counseling and social work.
What the hiring market looks like
Demand is strong and growing faster than most fields. BLS projects marriage and family therapist employment to grow 13 percent from 2024 to 2034, much faster than the 3 percent all-occupation average, with about 7,700 openings a year. The growth is driven by wider insurance recognition of family and couples therapy and by demand for clinicians trained in systemic, relationship-based care that individual-focused modalities do not cover.
For employers, the recruiting reality is that the strongest LMFTs can and do move into private practice, where the pay ceiling is highest. Agencies that want to keep them compete on caseload quality, supervision, and transparent pay. Comparable licensed roles sit nearby: see the mental health counselor salary page and the clinical social worker salary page for how LMFT pay lines up against the LPC and LCSW tracks, and the psychologist salary page for the doctoral tier above.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a marriage and family therapist make?
The national median is $66,940 a year (BLS, May 2025 estimates), with most earning between $44,650 and $123,730. State medians range from $37,870 to $141,960, though the top figure (Hawaii) rests on a small sample.
Which states pay marriage and family therapists the most?
By median wage: Hawaii (141, 960, smallsample), NewJersey(92,150), Georgia (92,150), Georgia (91, 550), Oregon(91,520), and Connecticut ($86,250), per BLS May 2025 estimates.91,520), and Connecticut ($86,250), per BLS May 2025 estimates.
Why is the gap between average and median pay so large?
Because the field is right-skewed. Most LMFTs are salaried at agencies near the median, while a smaller group of private-practice owners earns well above it, pulling the mean up. Practice ownership is the largest earning lever in the profession.
Is marriage and family therapy a growing field?
Yes. BLS projects 13 percent employment growth from 2024 to 2034, much faster than average, with about 7,700 openings a year, driven by broader insurance recognition of couples and family therapy.
Where these numbers come from
Wage figures are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 estimates (occupation code 21-1013, Marriage and Family Therapists), released May 2026 and the most recent federal data available. Growth and openings projections are from the BLS Employment Projections program (2024 to 2034). OEWS reports wages for employees; independent contractor and private-practice owner earnings are not included, which matters in this field given its private-practice tail. Figures marked n/a are suppressed in the source data. All figures are estimates and marked as such. We refresh this page when BLS publishes new estimates each spring.
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