Calculating a therapist’s salary is an equation with many variables. One of the most important is your license type.
In general, the wider your scope of practice, the higher your salary. Psychiatrists, medical doctors who also prescribe medication, generally command the highest salaries in the mental health field. Next typically come psychologists, whose doctoral-level training allows them to offer services — like specialized clinical assessments — that other therapists can’t. Insurance payers often reimburse psychiatrists and psychologists at higher rates than master’s-level clinicians for psychotherapy, too.
For more specifics on how Missouri therapist salaries vary by license type, consult these salary ranges from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Remember, these are estimates, not guarantees. Data are current as of September 2026.
- Substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors: $37,650–$89,400
- Mental health social worker: $38,610–$72,800
- Licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT): $41,930–$109,200
- Clinical psychologist: $45,770–$141,810
- Psychiatrist: $122,240–$644,800
How much do therapists make per hour in Missouri?
The fee a therapist charges for a client session can be quite different from their true hourly earnings. Consider how much work a therapist does without direct compensation — billing, scheduling, documentation, and so on.
Still, hourly wages can be a helpful datapoint to consider. Maybe you’re thinking about working part-time and want to know how much you can realistically make on a reduced schedule, for example.
On average, non-prescriber therapists in Missouri can expect to make somewhere between roughly $25 and $50 per hour, according to the BLS. A psychiatrist could make considerably more — about $166 per hour, on average.
