How Much Do Sex Therapists Make?

Sex therapists are professionals who commit to earning the knowledge, therapeutic skills, and interpersonal skills required to help clients navigate successfully through the wild world of human sexuality. The healing, empowerment, and self-actualization that a sex therapist can catalyze are as broad as the field of human sexuality itself.

Sex therapists can help clients heal from the pain and trauma caused by violence to their sexual body, identity, or spirit. They can also help perpetrators of sexual violence to come into peaceful wholeness. Sex therapists can help clients build the emotional and physical bridge between the bodies their clients were born and the bodies their clients know deep down are their true bodies. They can help clients heal physical and emotional rifts within themselves or between partners when the origins of the rift lie in sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, differences in background, and more.

Sex therapists can also help families navigate the generational differences in how people view, experience, and express sexuality. Sex therapists can also help those in marginalized groups to overcome the sexually limiting narratives internalized from the injustice of an inequitable cultural and historical legacy. This list is by no means exhaustive.

Choosing sex therapy is not currently a straightforward path through the education system. One can come to it from various backgrounds, including social work, nursing, psychotherapy, counseling, the clergy, marriage and family therapy, and more. Some sex therapists will come to their path through sex-therapy-focused master’s, doctoral, or post-doctoral programs, while others will come to their practice through experience, time, need, and self-study.

Certification to practice sex therapy is not currently required, but some sex therapists will pursue certification from the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT). Doing so helps to anchor a culturally misunderstood therapeutic practice within the legitimacy of neutral third-party standards for quality. To become a certified sex therapist (as opposed to a certified sex educator or sex counselor), a candidate for professional certification must have a master’s degree or higher in a clinical specialty that includes psychotherapy training.

In a time where sexuality is becoming more openly diverse and complex, sex therapists can be hugely important in helping people find peace in an aspect of human existence that can be mysterious, confusing, or cloaked in fear. Keep reading to learn more about how much sex therapists have the potential to earn.

Widener University
Walden University
University of Wisconsin - Superior
Lamar University

Sex Therapy Salary Guide

How much a sex therapist makes will vary depending on years of experience, geographic location, sex therapy niche, client base, and more. At the time of this writing, sex therapy salaries are not commonly studied. PayScale.com (2025) reports that the annual wage for sex therapists is $61,599 per year, but this self-reported rate is based only on 20 salaries and therefore does not hold statistical significance.

Because there isn’t solid data on sex therapy salaries specifically, this article will focus on salaries for “stepping-stone occupations.” Stepping-stone occupations are those jobs that can lead a professional to a career in sex therapy or serve as the baseline career for a sex therapy specialization.

For the purpose of this analysis, salary information was acquired from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2024) and PayScale.com (2025)—the latest data available as of June 2025. The BLS collects its data through field visits and interviews. PayScale.com collects its data through self-reporting.

Annual Average Salaries in Occupations Related to Sex Therapy

The following table explains the average annual salary of a person employed in a stepping-stone occupation. While those practicing sex therapy in these baseline occupations may earn more based on their expertise, these numbers may also translate directly into what a sex therapist has the potential to earn.

Stepping-Stone OccupationBLS (May 2024), AveragesPayScale.Com (2025), Averages
Marriage and Family Therapist$72,720$64,071 (Based on 472 salaries)
Clinical and Counseling Psychologist$106,850$95,558 (1,007 salaries)
Mental Health & Substance Abuse Social Worker$68,290$56,376 (3,930 salaries)
Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder & Mental Health Counselor$65,100$53,838 (1,670 salaries)
(Psychiatric) Nurse Practitioner$132,000$124,113 (1,545 salaries)
Clergy$67,160$59,564 (58 salaries)

Average Annual Salaries of Sex Therapists by Percentile and Experience

While the averages give a general sense of how much Sex Therapists have the potential to make, the range of what someone in this occupation can vary widely. To paint a more detailed picture of the earning potential for sex therapists, the following chart details the range that professionals in the stepping-stone occupations make at different earning levels (BLS) and experience levels (PayScale.com).

Stepping-Stone Occupation with employment according to the BLS (May 2024)By Percentile (BLS May 2024)Years of Experience (# of Salaries Reported)
(PayScale.com 2025)

Marriage and Family Therapist (65,870 employed nationwide)
  • 10% –
$42,610
  • 25% –
$48,600
  • 50% (Median) –
$63,780
  • 75% –
$85,020
  • 90% –
 $111,610
  • 0 – 1  Years – $56,363 (96 salaries)

  • 1 – 4  Years – $60,808 (269 salaries)

  • 5 – 9  Years – $70,525 (154 salaries)

  • 10 – 19  Years – $71,382 (89 salaries)

  • 20+  Years – $75,621 (35 salaries)

Clinical and Counseling Psychologist (72,190 employed nationwide)
  • 10% –
$50,470
  • 25% –
$67,470
  • 50% (Median) – $95,830

  • 75% –
$131,510
  • 90% –
$170,150
  • 0 – 1  Years – $81,789 (165 salaries)

  • 1 – 4  Years – $90,542 (495 salaries)

  • 5 – 9  Years – $96,887 (295 salaries)

  • 10 – 19  Years – $104,907 (258 salaries)

  • 20+  Years – $115,840 (153 salaries)

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers (125,910 employed nationwide)
  • 10% –
$39,620
  • 25% –
$46,550
  • 50% (Median) –
$60,060
  • 75% –
$78,980
  • 90% –
$104,130
  • 0 – 1  Years – $49,656 (790 salaries)

  • 1 – 4  Years – $52,540 (1,951 salaries)

  • 5 – 9  Years – $59,395 (1,101 salaries)

  • 10 – 19  Years – $63,494 (883 salaries)

  • 20+ Years – $64,526 (515 salaries)

Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors (440,380 employed nationwide)
  • 10% – $39,090

  • 25% – $47,170

  • 50% (Median) – $59,190

  • 75% – $76,230

  • 90% – $98,210
  • 0 – 1  Years – $49,049 (427 salaries)

  • 1 – 4  Years – $50,912 (970 salaries)

  • 5 – 9  Years – $58,437 (429 salaries)

  • 10 – 19  Years – $62,129 (291 salaries)

  • 20+ Years – $67,075 (133 salaries)

Nurse Practitioner (307,390 employed nationwide)
  • 10% – $97,960

  • 25% – $109,940

  • 50% (Median) – $129,210

  • 75% – $149,570

  • 90% – $169,950
  • 0 – 1  Years – $116,084 (486 salaries)

  • 1 – 4  Years –  $124,190 (836 salaries)

  • 5 – 9  Years – $127,633 (402 salaries)

  • 10 – 19  Years – $130,637 (250 salaries)

  • 20+ Years – $136,502 (119 salaries)

Clergy (58,080 employed nationwide)
  • 10% – $37,140

  • 25% – $47,220

  • 50% (Median) – $60,820

  • 75% – $76,340

  • 90% – $99,720
  • 0 – 1  Years: No Data

  • 1 – 4  Years – $50,168 (18 salaries)

  • 5 – 9  Years – $53,720 (16 salaries)

  • 10 – 19  Years – $55,012 (25 salaries)

  • 20+ Years – $61,553 (24 salaries)

Highest Regional Annual Salaries – By State

The following table breaks down where each stepping-stone-to-sex therapy occupation has the highest average yearly salaries. This May 2024 data was acquired from the BLS—the latest figures available as of May 2025.

When considering salaries from a regional perspective, it can be important to consider the cost of living in that region. For example, California is among the top-paying states for many of these stepping-stone occupations. According to the Missouri Economic Information and Resource Center (MERIC 2025), California is also the third-most expensive state in the country, with particularly high housing costs. This means that the dollar in California doesn’t stretch as far as it might in other regions and necessitates a higher salary. While not universally the case, salaries often reflect how much it costs to live in a certain area.

Stepping-Stone OccupationTop Paying States – Average Yearly Wages
Marriage and Family Therapist
  • Hawaii – $145,360

  • Connecticut – $94,830

  • Oregon – $94,520

  • New Jersey – $91,980

  • Utah – $85,550
Clinical and Counseling Psychologist
  • Oregon – $129,110

  • New Jersey – $128,400

  • Kentucky – $126,740

  • Washington – $125,270

  • California – $124,720
Social Worker (Mental Health and Abuse)
  • New York – $96,240

  • California – $83,110

  • District of Columbia – $81,300

  • Minnesota – $77,190

  • Rhode Island – $75,200
Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors
  • Alaska – $88,870

  • New Jersey – $75,900

  • Hawaii – $75,610

  • Oregon – $72,860

  • California – $72,530
Nurse Practitioners
  • California – $173,190

  • New York – $148,410

  • Oregon – $148,030

  • Massachusetts – $145,140

  • Washington – $143,620
Clergy
  • California – $86,900

  • Washington – $79,460

  • Connecticut – $77,960

  • Nevada – $77,440

  • New York – $75,130
Becca Brewer, MEd

Becca Brewer, MEd

Writer

Becca Brewer is building a better future on a thriving earth by healing herself into wholeness, divesting from separation, and walking the path of the loving heart. Previously to her journey as an adventurer for a just, meaningful, and regenerative world, Becca was a formally trained sexuality educator with a master of education.