Industrial-Organizational Psychologists Career, Salary and Skills
Industrial-Organizational Psychologists have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $193,950 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 790. Wage data is published for 2 locations.
Occupation description
Apply principles of psychology to human resources, administration, management, sales, and marketing problems. Activities may include policy planning; employee testing and selection, training, and development; and organizational development and analysis. May work with management to organize the work setting to improve worker productivity.
O*NET code
19-3032.00
Job zone
5
Typical education
Master's Degree
Experience
Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years
National salary and employment
Median annual
$193,950
Hourly median
$93.24
Employment
790
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Active Listening | 4.38 | 4.62 |
| Reading Comprehension | 4.38 | 4.75 |
| Writing | 4.25 | 4.88 |
| Critical Thinking | 4.12 | 4.50 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 4.12 | 4.00 |
| Speaking | 4.12 | 4.62 |
| Complex Problem Solving | 4.00 | 4.12 |
| Systems Evaluation | 4.00 | 4.50 |
| Monitoring | 3.88 | 4.25 |
| Active Learning | 3.88 | 4.12 |
Typical tasks
- Provide advice on best practices and implementation for selection.
- Develop and implement employee selection or placement programs.
- Counsel workers about job and career-related issues.
- Analyze data, using statistical methods and applications, to evaluate the outcomes and effectiveness of workplace programs.
- Develop interview techniques, rating scales, and psychological tests used to assess skills, abilities, and interests for the purpose of employee selection, placement, or promotion.
- Observe and interview workers to obtain information about the physical, mental, and educational requirements of jobs, as well as information about aspects such as job satisfaction.
- Facilitate organizational development and change.
- Review research literature to remain current on psychological science issues.
Technology
- Adobe Acrobat
- Assessment Systems Corporation XCALIBRE
- Google Sheets
- Human resource information system (HRIS)
- Hypertext markup language HTML
- IBM SPSS Statistics
- Learning management system LMS
- Mentimeter
- Microsoft Access
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Project
Industrial-Organizational Psychologists salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Industrial-Organizational Psychologists Salary in ORMedian $174,980 · Employment 60
- Industrial-Organizational Psychologists Salary in TXMedian $139,520 · Employment 40
Related careers
- Medical and Health Services ManagersNational median $123,860
- Education Administrators, PostsecondaryNational median $104,590
- Data ScientistsNational median $120,230
- Psychology Teachers, PostsecondaryNational median $80,340
- Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and TimekeepingNational median $50,610
- Social Work Teachers, PostsecondaryNational median $77,570
- School PsychologistsNational median $95,990
- Education Teachers, PostsecondaryNational median $75,350
Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.