Community and Social Service Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Above-baseline growth SOC 21-1013

Marriage and Family Therapists

Projected +13% employment change leads this card; pay sits next to Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists, Rehabilitation Counselors, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers, Clergy.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Marriage and Family Therapists: Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists ($66K) , Rehabilitation Counselors ($47K) , Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers ($60K) , Clergy ($61K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Marriage and Family Therapists publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 21-1013 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Encourage individuals and family members to develop and use skills and strategies for confronting their problems in a constructive manner
  2. 2. Ask questions that will help clients identify their feelings and behaviors
  3. 3. Develop and implement individualized treatment plans addressing family relationship problems, destructive patterns of behavior, and other…
  4. 4. Maintain case files that include activities, progress notes, evaluations, and recommendations
  5. 5. Counsel clients on concerns, such as unsatisfactory relationships, divorce and separation, child rearing, home management, or financial d…
  6. 6. Collect information about clients, using techniques such as testing, interviewing, discussion, or observation
  7. 7. Confer with clients to develop plans for posttreatment activities
  8. 8. Confer with other counselors, doctors, and professionals to analyze individual cases and to coordinate counseling services
  9. 9. Determine whether clients should be counseled or referred to other specialists in such fields as medicine, psychiatry, or legal aid
  10. 10. Follow up on results of counseling programs and clients' adjustments to determine effectiveness of programs
  11. 11. Supervise other counselors, social service staff, and assistants
  12. 12. Provide instructions to clients on how to obtain help with legal, financial, and other personal issues

Marriage and Family Therapists: O*NET ranks Active Listening first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 21-1013 - lead skill Active Listening at 4.9 ; lead knowledge Therapy and Counseling. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Active Listening 4.9
  2. 2. Social Perceptiveness 4.4
  3. 3. Speaking 4.3
  4. 4. Reading Comprehension 4.0
  5. 5. Writing 4.0
  6. 6. Service Orientation 4.0
  7. 7. Complex Problem Solving 4.0
  8. 8. Judgment and Decision Making 4.0

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Therapy and Counseling 5.0
  2. 2. Psychology 4.9
  3. 3. Customer and Personal Service 4.0
  4. 4. Sociology and Anthropology 3.9
  5. 5. English Language 3.6
  6. 6. Administrative 3.4
Projected employment change 2024-2034
↑ +13%
much faster than average (3.1%)
National median $66,940/yr
$67K
National median
7,700
Annual openings
66,740
Estimated US jobs
Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists
Highest-pay peer · $66K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Master's degree

Top Paying States for Marriage and Family Therapists

1. Delaware $76,580
2. Connecticut $86,250
3. Maine $71,680
4. Oregon $91,520
5. Hawaii $141,960
6. Utah $84,980
7. Minnesota $72,470
8. Georgia $91,550
9. New Jersey $92,150
10. Virginia $79,900

Other Community and Social Service Occupations titles

  1. 1. Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists $66,270
  2. 2. Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers $60,280
  3. 3. Clergy $60,810
  4. 4. Health Education Specialists $64,070
  5. 5. Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors $59,350
  6. 6. Rehabilitation Counselors $46,850

BLS projects +13% employment change for Marriage and Family Therapists (2024-2034), much faster than average vs the all-occupations baseline of 3.1%. Published median pay is $66,940.

BLS assigns Master's degree as typical entry education. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal employer rules. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Delaware at $76,580. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists at $66,270. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Marriage and Family Therapists pay-rank #3 in Community and Social Service Occupations

Among 17 detailed Community and Social Service Occupations with a published OEWS median, Marriage and Family Therapists is pay-rank #3, the upper third of that major group. The order is ROW_NUMBER on national median (title as tiebreak), not a worker-level percentile.

Other upper-third titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

Projected change +12.6% puts Marriage and Family Therapists ahead of most peers. Open the state map or compare it directly against a slower-growing role.

Marriage and Family Therapists salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 21-1013

Delaware · top state for Marriage and Family Therapists

$77K published median

Connecticut · #2 state pay

$86K · behind Delaware

Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists

Highest-pay peer vs Marriage and Family Therapists · $66K

Rehabilitation Counselors

Lower-pay peer beside Marriage and Family Therapists · $47K

Compare Marriage and Family Therapists

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Marriage and Family Therapists with another occupation →

Growth and outlook next reads

Fastest-Growing Rankings

National projection leaders

Highest-Paying Careers

Where growth meets pay

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Community and Social Service Occupations titles sit near Marriage and Family Therapists at the top of the pay table? ▼
Marriage and Family Therapists is pay-rank #3 of 17 detailed Community and Social Service Occupations with an OEWS median, upper third. Nearest upper-third titles: Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists ($66K), Healthcare Social Workers ($68K), Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors ($64K), Health Education Specialists ($64K). Rank is ROW_NUMBER on national median.
What do marriage and family therapists do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Marriage and Family Therapists. Leading ones include: Encourage individuals and family members to develop and use skills and strategies for confronting their problems in a constructive manner; Ask questions that will help clients identify their feelings and behaviors; Develop and implement individualized treatment plans addressing family relationship problems, destructive patterns of behavior, and other…; Maintain case files that include activities, progress notes, evaluations, and recommendations. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for marriage and family therapists? ▼
For SOC 21-1013, O*NET importance scores lead with Active Listening (4.9), Social Perceptiveness (4.4), Speaking (4.3), Reading Comprehension (4.0). Knowledge areas emphasize Therapy and Counseling, Psychology, Customer and Personal Service. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
What is the OEWS national median for Marriage and Family Therapists? ▼
May 2025 OEWS reports $66,940 as the national median for Marriage and Family Therapists. The published 10th-90th range is $44,650 to $123,730. Beside Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists ($66,270), this is the occupation-level national figure, not a local offer.
How fast is Marriage and Family Therapists projected to grow? ▼
BLS Employment Projections put Marriage and Family Therapists at +13% change for 2024-2034, with about 7,700 annual openings. Versus the all-occupations baseline (3.1%): much faster than average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Marriage and Family Therapists? ▼
BLS assigns Master's degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Marriage and Family Therapists. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Marriage and Family Therapists? ▼
Delaware ($76,580), Connecticut ($86,250), Maine ($71,680) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Marriage and Family Therapists card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 21-1013. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Marriage and Family Therapists. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics