Why Therapist Pay Transparency Project
Across the country, therapists and social workers are talking about the same thing — the pay gap between the emotional, clinical, and administrative load of the work we do and the compensation we receive for it.
At Cultivate Care, we believe sustainable mental-health care starts with sustainable therapist pay. That’s why we created the Therapist Pay Transparency Project 2025 — a short, anonymous survey designed to capture real data on what licensed clinicians are earning in different states and settings this year.
Why a Therapist Pay Survey Matters in 2025
Existing national reports on therapist and social-worker salaries often rely on outdated government data or limited sampling. They rarely capture how pay actually varies across private practice, community agencies, hospitals, group practices, and telehealth platforms — or how clinical hours and benefits shape the real value of a job.
This project aims to change that.
By collecting up-to-date information directly from working clinicians, we hope to highlight where compensation is fair and where it’s falling short — and use that knowledge to advocate for stronger, more sustainable roles across the field.
What the 2025 Therapist Pay Survey Measures
The survey takes under one minute to complete and gathers:
State of practice
Primary work setting (private practice, hospital, community agency, etc.)
License type (LPC, LCSW, LMFT, LMHC, etc.)
Employment classification (W-2, 1099, contractor)
Average client-facing hours per week
Annual gross pay range
Benefits offered in addition to pay
What respondents believe their role should be paid
All responses are anonymous unless participants choose to provide an email for survey results and future research opportunities.
You can participate here:
👉 Take the Therapist Pay Transparency Survey
How We’ll Use the Data
Once we reach a meaningful sample size across states, Cultivate Care will:
Publish a summary of 2025 therapist pay trends by setting and license.
Share aggregated data with participants and professional networks.
Use findings to inform integrated behavioral-health partnerships and advocacy for fair compensation models.
No individual data or identifying information will ever be shared — only aggregated results to strengthen transparency in the field.
Why This Project Fits the Heart of Cultivate Care
CultivateCare’s mission is to build integrated behavioral-health systems where clients have access and clinicians have stability.
Pay transparency is part of that foundation. When therapists have clear, current data on what’s typical and fair, they can negotiate confidently, choose settings that align with their needs, and help shift the system toward equity.
How You Can Help
If you’re a licensed clinician, counselor, or social worker, please take a minute to add your data point.
If you supervise or work with other clinicians, forward the link — every additional response strengthens the picture for all of us.
Take the 2025 Therapist Pay Transparency Survey
Together, we can make pay transparency part of the future of mental-health care.