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Employment of Psychologists

By Kendra Van Wagner, About.com


How many psychologists are there? Where do these professional work? Learn more about the employment of psychologists in these statistics from the Occupational Outlook Handbook.

Employment Statistics

  • Psychologists held about 179,000 jobs in 2004.
  • About 4 out of 10 psychologists were self-employed in 2004, compared with less than 1 out of 10 among all professional workers.

Who Employs Psychologists?

  • Educational institutions employed about 1 out of 4 psychologists in positions other than teaching, such as counseling, testing, research, and administration.
  • Almost 2 out of 10 were employed in health care, primarily in offices of mental health practitioners, physicians, outpatient mental health and substance abuse centers, and private hospitals.
  • Government agencies at the State and local levels employed psychologists in public hospitals, clinics, correctional facilities, and other settings.
  • After several years of experience, some psychologists--usually those with doctoral degrees--enter private practice or set up private research or consulting firms.
  • In addition to the previously mentioned jobs, many psychologists held faculty positions at colleges and universities and as high school psychology teachers.
Psychologists are also employed in a number of other areas not specifically mentioned in the Occupational Outlook Handbook. A number of psychologists work in research positions in various subfields of psychology. Some additional areas of employment include positions in industrial-organizational psychology and human-factors psychology. Other psychologists work in business as managers, consultants, and marketing research. Religious organizations also employ some psychologists.

Further Reading

Subfields of Psychology
Areas of Psychology - Divisions of the APA
Career Options with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology
Career Options with a Graduate Degree in Psychology


Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2006-07 Edition, Psychologists, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos056.htm

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