With mental disorders being recognized more often, few professions, such as psychologists and psychiatrists, have gained greater importance, as it can be easily seen in cities with the highest demand for psychologists.
It is the job of a psychologist to evaluate the mental health and behavior of their client. According to the American Psychological Association, psychologists should be able to both research and practice as well. In the country, a person must either be able to boast a state license or hold a doctorate in order to be able to call himself a psychologist. Of course, there is an exception to this. School psychologists do not require either a doctorate or a state license as they can simply attain the required accreditation from the relevant educational board instead.
While traditionally psychologists have only been able to analyze patients through therapy, they are now fighting for the right to be able to prescribe psychiatric medicine as well. This has led to the states of New Mexico, Illinois and Louisiana allowing psychologists who pursue further education by taking a psycho-pharmacology course allowing such professionals to prescribe psychiatric medication as well. Speaking about pharmacy, don’t forget to check our article about cities with the highest demand for pharmacists, too.
Due to the number of psychologists being relatively low (around 100,000 psychologists) to other professions such as personal trainers (around 250,000) in the country and the level of education and dedication required, psychologists generally earn handsome salaries.
We’ve tried to determine the cities with the highest demand for psychologists. To determine our rankings, we initially considered the cities that pay the highest salaries to psychologists as high salaries are an indicator of high demand. We also considered the cities that had the most number of jobs for psychologists as the greater the number of jobs, the greater the demand for the profession. All of our data was obtained from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
9. Tacoma, WA Metropolitan Division
Average annual salary in the city: $98,960
Ranking according to salary in the city: 11
Number of jobs in the city: 140
Ranking according to number of jobs in the city: 19
Overall score: 5
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9. Dayton, OH
Average annual salary in the city: $100,590
Ranking according to salary in the city: 8
Number of jobs in the city: 100
Ranking according to number of jobs in the city: 22
Overall score: 5
9. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
Average annual salary in the city: $88,110
Ranking according to salary in the city: 28
Number of jobs in the city: 410
Ranking according to number of jobs in the city: 2
Overall score: 5
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8. Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA Metropolitan Division
Average annual salary in the city: $107,060
Ranking according to salary in the city: 5
Number of jobs in the city: 100
Ranking according to number of jobs in the city: 22
Overall score: 6.5
6. Baltimore-Towson, MD
Average annual salary in the city: $91,560
Ranking according to salary in the city: 16
Number of jobs in the city: 210
Ranking according to number of jobs in the city: 10
Overall score: 7
6. San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA
Average annual salary in the city: $90,530
Ranking according to salary in the city: 18
Number of jobs in the city: 240
Ranking according to number of jobs in the city: 8
Overall score: 7
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4. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA Metropolitan Division
Average annual salary in the city: $97,440
Ranking according to salary in the city: 13
Number of jobs in the city: 210
Ranking according to number of jobs in the city: 10
Overall score: 8.5
4. Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL Metropolitan Division
Average annual salary in the city: $100,460
Ranking according to salary in the city: 19
Number of jobs in the city: 160
Ranking according to number of jobs in the city: 14
Overall score: 8.5
3. Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, MD Metropolitan Division
Average annual salary in the city: $108,720
Ranking according to salary in the city: 3
Number of jobs in the city: 200
Ranking according to number of jobs in the city: 12
Overall score: 12.5
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2. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Division
Average annual salary in the city: $100,340
Ranking according to salary in the city: 10
Number of jobs in the city: 330
Ranking according to number of jobs in the city: 3
Overall score: 13.5
1. New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ Metropolitan Division
Average annual salary in the city: $113,070
Ranking according to salary in the city: 2
Number of jobs in the city: 320
Ranking according to number of jobs in the city: 4
Overall score: 17
New York-White Plains-Wayne is the best city for various professions and unsurprisingly also tops the list of the 11 cities with the highest demand for psychologists.
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