Marriage and Family Therapists Career, Salary and Skills
Marriage and Family Therapists have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $66,940 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 66,740. Wage data is published for 176 locations.
Occupation description
Diagnose and treat mental and emotional disorders, whether cognitive, affective, or behavioral, within the context of marriage and family systems. Apply psychotherapeutic and family systems theories and techniques in the delivery of services to individuals, couples, and families for the purpose of treating such diagnosed nervous and mental disorders.
O*NET code
21-1013.00
Job zone
5
Typical education
Not recorded
Experience
Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years
National salary and employment
Median annual
$66,940
Hourly median
$32.18
Employment
66,740
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Active Listening | 4.75 | 4.88 |
| Social Perceptiveness | 4.38 | 5.62 |
| Speaking | 4.25 | 4.12 |
| Service Orientation | 4.12 | 4.25 |
| Reading Comprehension | 4.00 | 4.25 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 4.00 | 4.12 |
| Complex Problem Solving | 4.00 | 4.12 |
| Critical Thinking | 3.88 | 4.12 |
| Monitoring | 3.88 | 4.00 |
| Active Learning | 3.88 | 4.12 |
Typical tasks
- Encourage individuals and family members to develop and use skills and strategies for confronting their problems in a constructive manner.
- Develop and implement individualized treatment plans addressing family relationship problems, destructive patterns of behavior, and other personal issues.
- Maintain case files that include activities, progress notes, evaluations, and recommendations.
- Counsel clients on concerns, such as unsatisfactory relationships, divorce and separation, child rearing, home management, or financial difficulties.
- Determine whether clients should be counseled or referred to other specialists in such fields as medicine, psychiatry, or legal aid.
- Supervise other counselors, social service staff, and assistants.
- Confer with other counselors, doctors, and professionals to analyze individual cases and to coordinate counseling services.
- Ask questions that will help clients identify their feelings and behaviors.
Technology
- Advantage Software Psych Advantage
- American Medical Billing Software PMA
- Anasazi Software Client Data System
- Beaver Creek Software The THERAPIST
- Blueberry Harbor Software Clinical Record Keeper
- Care Paths eRecord
- Casamba Smart
- Cornucopia Software Practice MAGIC
- DocuTrac QuicDoc
- eMDs Medisoft
- EZ2Bill Confidant
- EZClaim medical billing software
- Google Meet
- Hypertext preprocessor PHP
Marriage and Family Therapists salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Marriage and Family Therapists Salary in CAMedian $67,300 · Employment 34,970
- Marriage and Family Therapists Salary in Los Angeles, CAMedian $71,110 · Employment 13,200
- Marriage and Family Therapists Salary in San Diego, CAMedian $49,610 · Employment 5,350
- Marriage and Family Therapists Salary in MNMedian $72,470 · Employment 4,870
- Marriage and Family Therapists Salary in NJMedian $92,150 · Employment 4,040
- Marriage and Family Therapists Salary in New York, NYMedian $91,130 · Employment 2,800
- Marriage and Family Therapists Salary in UTMedian $84,980 · Employment 2,390
- Marriage and Family Therapists Salary in PAMedian $66,040 · Employment 2,350
- Marriage and Family Therapists Salary in Philadelphia, PAMedian $78,640 · Employment 2,110
- Marriage and Family Therapists Salary in TNMedian $46,700 · Employment 1,440
- Marriage and Family Therapists Salary in NCMedian $48,100 · Employment 1,400
- Marriage and Family Therapists Salary in Sacramento, CAMedian $75,030 · Employment 1,380
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- Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and AdvisorsNational median $64,330
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.