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Psychiatrists: Career Profile

Diagnose, treat, and help prevent mental disorders.

The Daily Work of Psychiatrists Perform?

The day-to-day responsibilities of psychiatrists span:

• Prescribe, direct, or administer psychotherapeutic treatments or medications to treat mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders.
• Gather and maintain patient information and records, including social or medical history obtained from patients, relatives, or other professionals.
• Design individualized care plans, using a variety of treatments.
• Collaborate with physicians, psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, or other professionals to discuss treatment plans and progress.
• Analyze and evaluate patient data or test findings to diagnose nature or extent of mental disorder.
• Examine or conduct laboratory or diagnostic tests on patients to provide information on general physical condition or mental disorder.
• Counsel outpatients or other patients during office visits.
• Advise or inform guardians, relatives, or significant others of patients' conditions or treatment.

Key Skills and Knowledge

Successful psychiatrists draw on a mix of skills and domain knowledge.

Top Skills

The competencies that matter most in this role, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Knowledge Areas

Other Psychiatrists Job Titles

This career also goes by job titles like:

• Addiction Psychiatrist
• Adult Inpatient Psychiatrist
• Adult Outpatient Psychiatrist
• Adult Psychiatrist
• Behavioral Analyst
• Behavioral Specialist
• Child Psychiatrist
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Physician

Job Outlook

There are about 1,741,236 psychiatrists working in the United States today. Employment is projected to decline by -3.1% over the projection horizon.

How Much Do Psychiatrists Make?

Statistic	Value
Annual median	$41,130
Hourly median	$19.77
10th percentile	$25,535
25th percentile	$33,333
75th percentile	$48,927
90th percentile	$56,725

Wages vary widely based on experience, location, and industry.

Pay by State

State	Annual median salary
Delaware	$236,740
Kentucky	$229,630
Nebraska	$229,240
Georgia	$229,190
New York	$228,580
Massachusetts	$221,160
New Hampshire	$211,370
Hawaii	$203,440
Nevada	$202,860
Arkansas	$195,430
Mississippi	$195,210
District of Columbia	$193,470
Tennessee	$166,470
Alaska	$140,650
South Carolina	$135,530
West Virginia	$65,790

Pay by U.S. Region

Earnings for psychiatrists shift depending on where you work. These regions lead on median pay:

Region	Median annual wage	Share of U.S. jobs	Location quotient
Middle Atlantic	$144,778	26.9%	2.00
New England	$129,268	9.3%	2.09
Southeast	$67,700	15.7%	0.74
Far Western US	$7,889	22.0%	1.39

Top Metro Areas

Metro area	State	Median annual wage	Employment
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	PA	$236,740	600
Lexington-Fayette, KY	KY	$235,770	50
Fresno, CA	CA	$235,650	110
Raleigh-Cary, NC	NC	$232,120	50
Bakersfield-Delano, CA	CA	$229,980	60
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	NY	$229,630	3,680
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	KY	$229,440	70
Omaha, NE-IA	NE	$229,230	90

Which Industries Hire Psychiatrists

Most psychiatrists work in these industries:

Industry	Employment	Median annual wage
Health Care and Social Assistance	20,580	n/a
Educational Services	1,190	$98,560
Management of Companies and Enterprises	60	n/a
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services	50	n/a

The table below shows some of the most common industries where those employed in this career field work.

Tech Stack

• Medical software: eClinicalWorks EHR software (hot technology)
• Medical software: Epic Systems (hot technology)
• Medical software: MEDITECH software (hot technology)
• Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel (hot technology)
• Office suite software: Microsoft Office software (hot technology)
• Electronic mail software: Microsoft Outlook (hot technology)
• Word processing software: Microsoft Word (hot technology)

The Day-to-Day Environment

The work environment for psychiatrists tends to involve the following characteristics:

• Indoors, Environmentally Controlled
• Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams
• Telephone Conversations
• Freedom to Make Decisions
• E-Mail

Education and Training

This occupation sits in Extensive Preparation Needed (Job Zone 5), indicating the level of preparation typically expected.

Similar Occupations

Similar Occupations

• Clinical and Counseling Psychologists (Primary-Long)
• Neuropsychologists (Primary-Long)
• Clinical Neuropsychologists (Primary-Long)
• Acute Care Nurses (Supplemental)
• Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses (Primary-Short)
• Clinical Nurse Specialists (Primary-Long)
• Nurse Practitioners (Supplemental)
• Cardiologists (Supplemental)

Top Programs to Study For This Career

Students preparing for psychiatrists commonly pursue programs in:

Health Professions and Related Programs

2 programs across 1 majors

• Medicine

About the Data

Statistics shown above are sourced from the following authoritative sources:

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for employment and wage data by state and industry.
• BLS Employment Projections for total employment and growth forecasts.
• O*NET (Occupational Information Network) for skills, knowledge, tasks, work activities, work context, technology, and education-zone data.

SOC code: 29-1223.00 (Psychiatrists).