Marriage and Family Therapists
Also called: Family Therapist, LMFT (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist), Marriage and Family Counselor, TherapistDiagnose 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.
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What the data says: AI could halve the time on 6 of its 16 rated tasks, and jobs are projected to grow 13.5% by 2035. How to think about this →
About this projection
BLS builds AI into its projections where the research supports it: “BLS generally applies adjustments based on this research conservatively, where there is convincing evidence for a change.”
It also notes a limit: “BLS projection methods are not designed to capture extremely rapid technological change.”
On its AI exposure groups, BLS says exposure “does not imply job loss.”
Recent conditions
- In 2024, 1.6% of people in this work were unemployed, against 3.8% across all occupations Census ACS 2024
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 5.0 hires for every 10 job openings in health care and social assistance, which employs about 90% of people in this work, against 7.3 across all industries BLS JOLTS
One box per opening, filled for each hire; hires beyond the openings are added in a lighter shade. Higher can mean openings get filled, or that people leave often; lower, that jobs go unfilled, or hiring is slow.5.0 this industry7.3 all industries
Median pay by state BLS OEWS May 2025, state estimates
Tap a state for its figures.
Median pay in every state
| State | Median | Middle half earn | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $49,990 | $45,340 to $62,340 | 190 |
| Alaska | $60,010 | $46,690 to $74,000 | 60 |
| Arizona | $65,290 | $54,250 to $100,720 | not published |
| Arkansas | $64,340 | $57,440 to $75,230 | 80 |
| California | $67,300 | $49,680 to $98,450 | 34,970 |
| Colorado | $60,700 | $54,460 to $74,070 | 900 |
| Connecticut | $86,250 | $58,990 to $164,740 | 260 |
| Delaware | $76,580 | $66,730 to $82,510 | 400 |
| Florida | $56,400 | $45,800 to $75,020 | 930 |
| Georgia | $91,550 | $67,320 to $101,460 | not published |
| Hawaii | $141,960 | $59,220 to $166,400 | 220 |
| Idaho | $62,700 | $62,700 to $63,020 | 140 |
| Illinois | $60,970 | $55,420 to $78,070 | 860 |
| Indiana | $56,810 | $48,340 to $71,680 | 510 |
| Iowa | $67,180 | $49,970 to $78,560 | 240 |
| Kansas | $68,710 | $51,120 to $99,700 | 190 |
| Kentucky | $52,420 | $49,140 to $59,660 | 330 |
| Maine | $71,680 | $69,120 to $74,990 | 180 |
| Maryland | $69,900 | $60,760 to $78,330 | 460 |
| Massachusetts | $67,370 | $61,050 to $90,980 | 600 |
| Michigan | $52,270 | $40,750 to $64,710 | 590 |
| Minnesota | $72,470 | $61,060 to $83,720 | 4,870 |
| Mississippi | $51,440 | $49,900 to $54,320 | 140 |
| Missouri | $60,440 | $43,710 to $74,360 | 390 |
| Montana | $46,960 | $38,130 to $65,190 | 100 |
| Nebraska | $62,610 | $49,560 to $77,290 | 260 |
| New Hampshire | $60,030 | $51,330 to $81,380 | 70 |
| New Jersey | $92,150 | $74,070 to $101,090 | 4,040 |
| New Mexico | $70,630 | $58,950 to $80,950 | 160 |
| New York | $64,430 | $57,550 to $76,600 | 770 |
| North Carolina | $48,100 | $37,160 to $62,310 | 1,400 |
| Ohio | $70,240 | $41,840 to $146,210 | 460 |
| Oklahoma | $57,670 | $40,900 to $73,980 | not published |
| Oregon | $91,520 | $69,140 to $138,320 | 850 |
| Pennsylvania | $66,040 | $56,120 to $80,200 | 2,350 |
| South Carolina | $55,430 | $45,660 to $68,260 | 380 |
| South Dakota | $44,870 | $41,840 to $51,810 | 80 |
| Tennessee | $46,700 | $40,350 to $52,120 | 1,440 |
| Texas | $46,300 | $38,250 to $72,820 | 1,380 |
| Utah | $84,980 | $59,390 to $116,600 | 2,390 |
| Vermont | $62,780 | $56,160 to $75,620 | not published |
| Virginia | $79,900 | $52,000 to $91,250 | 930 |
| Washington | $60,000 | $59,350 to $69,040 | not published |
| West Virginia | $55,700 | $43,830 to $76,150 | 90 |
| Wisconsin | $37,870 | $34,980 to $54,870 | 180 |
Nationally: $66,940. Shades run from the lowest state median to the highest; a territory below that range takes the lightest. How to read this
How AI touches the work
What AI could speed up, task by task, and where people already use it.
AI could halve the time on 6 of its 16 rated tasks
| AI rating | Its main tasks | Share of Claude conversations May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| AI alone | Ask questions that will help clients identify their feelings and behaviors. | 0.21% |
| Not much | Encourage individuals and family members to develop and use skills and strategies for confronting their problems in a constructive manner. | under 0.01% |
| Not much | Develop and implement individualized treatment plans addressing family relationship problems, destructive patterns of behavior, and other personal issues. | under 0.01% |
| Not much | Counsel clients on concerns, such as unsatisfactory relationships, divorce and separation, child rearing, home management, or financial difficulties. | 0.28% |
| AI + software | Maintain case files that include activities, progress notes, evaluations, and recommendations. | under 0.01% |
| Not much | Determine whether clients should be counseled or referred to other specialists in such fields as medicine, psychiatry, or legal aid. | Not published |
See all 17 tasks
| AI + software | Confer with clients to develop plans for posttreatment activities. | Not published |
| Not much | Collect information about clients, using techniques such as testing, interviewing, discussion, or observation. | 0.03% |
| Not rated | Diagnose mental and emotional disorders in clients. | Not published |
| Not much | Confer with other counselors, doctors, and professionals to analyze individual cases and to coordinate counseling services. | Not published |
| Not much | Supervise other counselors, social service staff, and assistants. | Not published |
| Not much | Provide public education and consultation to other professionals or groups regarding counseling services, issues, and methods. | Not published |
| AI alone | Provide instructions to clients on how to obtain help with legal, financial, and other personal issues. | under 0.01% |
| AI + software | Gather information from doctors, schools, social workers, juvenile counselors, law enforcement personnel, and others to make recommendations to courts for resolution of child custody or visitation disputes. | Not published |
| Not much | Follow up on results of counseling programs and clients' adjustments to determine effectiveness of programs. | Not published |
| AI alone | Write evaluations of parents and children for use by courts deciding divorce and custody cases, testifying in court if necessary. | Not published |
| Not much | Provide family counseling and treatment services to inmates participating in substance abuse programs. | Not published |
Ordered by how important O*NET's respondents rate each task (1 to 5) times the share who say it is part of their job. The ordering is ours. 7 of the 17 have a published share of Claude conversations; “not published” means too few conversations for Anthropic to publish a figure.
Where people already use AI
The tasks above say what AI could speed up. This shows what people are using it for. Its 17 tasks fall under 18 work activities that many occupations share, and Microsoft counted how often each one came up in 200,000 conversations with its Copilot assistant in 2024.
- #5 Provide information or assistance to the public
- #20 Present research or technical information
- #24 Assist others to access additional services or resources
| Work activity | This occupation's tasks under it | People asked AI for help in 10,000 conversations |
AI did it for them in 10,000 conversations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Counsel others about personal matters | |||
| Collect information about patients or clients | |||
| Assist others to access additional services or resources | |||
| Confer with healthcare or other professionals about patient care | |||
| Provide information or assistance to the public | |||
| Present research or technical information | |||
| Teach academic or vocational subjects | |||
| Evaluate programs, practices, or processes |
Show all 18 activities
| Advise others on educational or vocational matters | |||
| Explain medical information to patients or family members | |||
| Assess living, work, or social needs or status of individuals or communities | |||
| Teach life skills | |||
| Interview people to obtain information | |||
| Monitor health conditions of humans or animals | |||
| Develop patient or client care or treatment plans | |||
| Diagnose health conditions or disorders | |||
| Supervise personnel activities | |||
| Maintain health or medical records |
How people in this work use Claude
What people in this work made with Claude % of conversations
- Advice or a recommendation49%
- An email or message13%
- An explanation or answer8%
- An analysis or summary7%
- A document or report5%
How they worked with Claude
5% of these conversations were about work. Anthropic Economic Index, May 2026.
How to read this
Work activities come from O*NET, which links every task to the broader activities it involves. Microsoft's figures are for the activity across everyone who used Copilot, not for marriage and family therapists specifically. Copilot is a general chat assistant; dedicated coding tools are not included, so programming help is under-counted here. Activities are listed by how many of this occupation's tasks fall under them.
The task ratings say whether AI could halve the time a task takes: on its own (“AI alone”), or with software built on it (“AI + software”). They were made by people in 2023 (Eloundou et al.). Claude's share is the task's share of all Claude.ai conversations in May 2026; Anthropic doesn't publish a task with too few conversations. None of these add up to the BLS exposure group, which combines five research measures.
More in the Guide: task ratings · task order · work activities · Copilot figures · Claude
High exposure doesn't mean fewer jobs
BLS projects most occupations in its two most exposed groups to grow: 141 of 206 rated Very high and 165 of 206 rated High. Each dot is one of the 831 occupations BLS rates.
Career moves into and out of this occupation
From moves between occupations found in online resumes, 2002–2016. Career changes only: a first job after school isn't a move.
Where people moved next
of 41,053 moves out
- 1 Mental Health Counselors 9%
- 2 Medical and Health Services Managers High +24.2% 8%
- 3 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 6%
- 4 Registered Nurses High +5.6% 5%
- 5 Postsecondary Teachers, All Other Very high +2.0% 4%
Where people moved in from
of 50,900 moves in
- 1 Mental Health Counselors 9%
- 2 Office Clerks, General Very high -6.0% 5%
- 3 Medical and Health Services Managers High +24.2% 5%
- 4 Registered Nurses High +5.6% 5%
- 5 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 4%
Resumes over-represent younger, white-collar job-seekers and moves into management. Schubert, Stansbury and Taska (resume data).
Education and training for the occupation
Census survey (American Community Survey)
- 2% less than high school
- 2% high school
- 4% some college
- 1% associate's
- 15% bachelor's
- 70% master's
- 2% professional degree
- 4% doctorate
Census ACS 2024, all workers in this occupation · 431 people surveyed.
Median pay by highest degree full-time, year-round · Census ACS 2024, all workers in this occupation
5 programs, such as Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling and Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling.
See all
- Social Work
- Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling
- Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling
- Infant/Toddler Mental Health Services
- Medical Family Therapy/Therapist
Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023
BLS publishes no credential figures for this occupation.
Look up certifications, training and licenses U.S. Department of Labor
- Certification Finder ↗ certifications CareerOneStop lists for this occupation
- Training Finder ↗ schools and programs, nationwide; narrow the place there
- License Finder ↗ licenses by state
- Apprenticeships: DOL's list of apprenticeable occupations doesn't include this one.
These open in a new tab and send only the occupation's public code. More in the Guide
BLS AI exposure categories (Aug 2026) · BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 · O*NET 31.0 · Task ratings: Eloundou et al., Science (2024) · Microsoft "Working with AI" v1.1 · Anthropic Economic Index (2026-06-26) · Schubert, Stansbury and Taska · NCES CIP–SOC · Census ACS 2024 · BLS JOLTS
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