Sex Therapist Salary Statistics
By Bedbible Research Center / August 21, 2023
Sex therapy is a specialized field that focuses on helping individuals and couples overcome sexual and intimacy issues. While it is a relatively small field, many people are curious about the salary range for sex therapists. In this article, we will explore the average salaries of sex therapists in the US, based on data from various sources. We will also delve into the factors that affect the earnings of sex therapists, such as experience level, type of practice, and location.
Key insights
- The average US sex therapist earns $72,589 annually.
- The median US sex therapists’ salary is $70,523 annually.
- A US sex therapist’s salary on average range from $54,871 to $163,198 annually.
- The highest sex therapist salary recorded was $390,000, and the lowest sex therapist salary was $11,546.
A US sex coach, or sexologist fall in the same category as a sex therapist, and the above estimates therefore also apply. In other words a sex coach or sexologist will on average earn somewhere from $70,523 to $72,589 annually. With their salary ranging all the way from as little as $11,546 all the way up to almost $400,000 annually. Most sexologists or sex coaches will earn between $54,900 to $163,200 annually.
Below are the transparent overview of the data used to provide accurate estimates of a sex therapists salary:
| Source | Average salary estimate | Salary range |
|---|---|---|
| ABC | $144,000 | $70,200 – $390,000 |
| Comparably | $56,010 | $11,546 – $306,379 |
| Zippia | $54,488 | $37,000 – $78,000 |
| Counselingschools | $70,547 | $66,783 – $74,310 |
| Payscale | $70,500 | $66,000 – $75,000 |
| Somaticainstitute | $59,500 | $50,000 – $225,000 |
| Mymajors | $60,590 | N/A |
| Bestaccreditedcolleges | $75,486 | $68,000 – $83,000 |
| Gitnux | $80,000 | $40,000 – $120,000 |
| Careersinpsychology | $29,000 | N/A |
| Salary.com | $98,366 | $84,312 – $117,092 |
| Average (Median) | $72,589 ($70,523) | $54,871 – $163,198 ($58,000 – $100,046) |
ABC
Therapists commonly charge anywhere from $90 to $250 or more
The average session is 50 minutes — which is really an hour for the therapist. They will spend 50 minutes with you and 10 minutes making notes afterwards.
Let’s assume that a sex therapist will be able to work on average 35-45 hours per week, and therefore 150 to 200 hours per month.
This would equate to 150-200 sessions per month (35-45 clients/sessions per week) if they managed to get clients for all available hours. However, a lot of work go into administrative work, time between sessions, lunch breaks, marketing and promotion and similar tasks related to being a sex therapist. More fair estimates is that a sex therapist is able to have 15-20 sessions per week maybe up to 30 sessions. Taken 15, 20 and 30 sessions per week equates to 65, 90, or 130 sessions per month.
| Sessions per month | $90/session | $150/session | $250/session |
|---|---|---|---|
| 65 sessions per month | $5,850/mo ~ $70,200/yr | $9,750/mo ~ $117,000/yr | $16,250/mo ~ $195,000/yr |
| 90 sessions per month | $8,100/mo ~ $97,200/yr | $13,500/mo ~ $162,000/yr | $22,500/mo ~ $270,000/yr |
| 130 sessions per month | $11,700/mo ~ $140,400/yr | $19,500/mo ~ $234,000/yr | $32,500/mo ~ $390,000/yr |
To gain a most realistic image of a precise estimate based on those numbers in the above table we could estimate that a session is $150/hr, and the average sex therapist or sexologist would be able to have 80 sessions per month.
Therefore the estimate for the average annual salary of a sex therapist is $144,000.
Reference: https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/what-its-like-seeing-a-sex-therapist/12331682
Counseling Schools
Based on the numbers from Counselingschools we can calculate that there estimate for an average salary for a sex therapist or sexologist would be $70,546 annually.
They did so, with the salary levels of comparable professions such as Marriage and Family Therapists, Clinical and Counseling Psychologists, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers and counselors, as well as Clergies and psychiatric nurse practitioners:
| Related Occupation | Source 1 | Source 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Marriage and Family Therapist | $59,660 | $51,407 |
| Clinical and Counseling Psychologist | $99,640 | $82,234 |
| Mental Health & Substance Abuse Social Worker | $57,800 | $50,161 |
| Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder & Mental Health Counselor | $53,490 | $45,114 |
| (Psychiatric) Nurse Practitioner | $118,040 | $118,058 |
| Clergy | $57,230 | $53,721 |
| Average | $74,310 | $66,783 |
A fair range estimate would be between $66,783 and $74,310
The lowest estimate would be a salary similar to a health counselor getting as low as $45,114 annually.
The highest estimate would be similar to that of a psychiatric nurse practitioner getting up to $118,058 annually.
Pay Scale
The average salary for a sex therapist with 1-4 years of experience is $66,000 per year. While the average salary for a sex therapist with 5-9 years of experience get an average salary of $75,000 per year.
Reference: https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Sex_Therapist/Salary
Somatica Institute
The Somatica Institute estimate that a sexologist, sex coach, or sex therapist can make between $50,000 to $69,000 per year.
The Somatica Institute also claimed that the yearly income for a Somatica sexologist would fall between $112,500 and $225,000. However, as the last example provided seemed a lot more to be an estimate made to sell an education this was ignored in the treatment of the final data.
Reference: https://www.somaticainstitute.com/blog/sexologist-salaries-how-much-can-you-make/
Indeed
Indeed estimated that sexologsit or sex coach earn an average of $57,930 per year when they work in outpatient care centers and $77,960 when they work for state government agencies as a marriage and family therapist (MFT).
However, when they looked into specific roles related to sex therapy they found that the current average salary is closer to $49,880 per year.
Reference: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/how-to-become-sex-therapist
Salary.com
Salary.com gather self-reported data on salary levels from a lot of different occupations. Based on their own data a sex therapist will make $98,366/year as average base pay.
Mind you, self-reported data like this have a high likelihood of being falsely inflated due to human biases and self-selection based on pay. In other words, it is likely to think that sex therapists with higher salaries are more likely to self-select into a survey on how much they earned, compared to sex therapists with lower salaries. Thereby, skewing the data towards a higher average base pay salary for sex therapists.
It is also likely that respondents in their surveys simply overestimate or directly choose to lie about their annual salary.
Here are the full list of numbers.
- Low pay $84,312 (average of lowest 20%)
- Average pay $98,366
- High pay $117,092 (average of highest 20%)
Reference: https://www.salary.com/research/salary/position/sex-therapist-salary?pg=6
My Majors
| Median Annual Wage | $60,590 |
| Median Hourly Wage | $29.13 |
| Total Employed Nationally | 11,320 |
Reference: https://www.mymajors.com/career/sex-therapist/skills/
Comparably
Salaries of Sex Therapists in the US range from $11,546 to $306,379, with a median salary of $56,010
The middle 57% of Sex Therapists makes between $56,010 and $139,349
Reference: https://www.comparably.com/salaries/salaries-for-sex-therapist-in-corpus-christi-tx
Zippia
Average Sex Therapist Salary: $54,488 Yearly — $26.2 hourly
Median 10%: $37,000
Median 20%: $42,125
Median 30%: $47,250
Median 40%: $54,000
Median 50%: $57,500
Median 60%: $62,625
Median 70%: $67,750
Median 80%: $72,875
Median 90%: $78,000
Reference: https://www.zippia.com/sex-therapist-jobs/
Best Accredited Colleges
Sex therapists made an average of $75,486 in April 2021.
On the site they claim that salaries range on average from $68,000 to $83,000 annually
Reference: https://bestaccreditedcolleges.org/articles/careers-and-education/how-much-does-a-sex-therapist-make.html
Gitnux
Salary Range: $40,000 – $120,000. No other estimate of salaries were provided.
Reference: https://blog.gitnux.com/job-profile/sex-therapist/
Careersinpsychology.org
Although it is not very uplifting, one of the lowest estimates of the annual salary of sex therapists came from an organisation that promotes psychology-related educations.
They estimated that a sex coach or sexologist working as a sex therapist earn an average of roughly $29,000 a year.
Reference: https://careersinpsychology.org/sex-therapy-careers/
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