Average Mental Health Therapist Salary in Bulgaria for 2024

In this article, we will look at the average Mental Health Therapist salary for 2024 in Bulgaria and how that compares to other countries and professions. We'll also look at interesting salary data points like median salary, 25th and 75th percentile salaries, salary amounts based on experience, bonus ranges and more!

The data in this article has been compiled using official government salary data, salary surveys, and other sources such as job postings which contain salary information.

All salary information is in the local currency, which is the Bulgarian lev. To keep things simple, we are using the BGN currency code instead of the currency symbol лв.

How Much Does a Mental Health Therapist Make in Bulgaria?

A Mental Health Therapist working in Bulgaria will typically earn around 47,400 BGN per year, and this can range from the lowest average salary of about 23,380 BGN to the highest average salary of 77,640 BGN.

Average Annual Salary
47,400 BGN
Average Monthly Salary
3,950 BGN

Lowest Annual Salary
23,380 BGN
Lowest Monthly Salary
1,948 BGN

Highest Annual Salary
77,640 BGN
Highest Monthly Salary
6,470 BGN

These are average salaries for a Mental Health Therapist in Bulgaria and include benefits such as housing and transport. It's also possible for a Mental Health Therapist to earn more or less than the average salaries shown above.

Mental Health Therapist salaries will vary a lot based on your experience, location, skills, and gender. Keep reading below to research more data on each of these areas.

Distribution of Mental Health Therapist Salaries in Bulgaria

So we've looked at the average salaries a Mental Health Therapist will earn in Bulgaria. The next interesting data point is the distribution of salaries.

Salary ranges

We already know that a Mental Health Therapist can earn between 23,380 BGN and 77,640 BGN on average in Bulgaria. This is known as the range in statistics.

The difference between the maximum and minimum values is a good indicator of variability in salaries, and can be used by employers to figure out how much they can expect to pay, and for employees to know how much they can earn.

Median salary

The median salary for a Mental Health Therapist in Bulgaria is 51,340 BGN. This is the middle value in the distribution of salaries.

What this means is that approximately 50% of the population earn less than 51,340 BGN, and 50% of the population earn more than 51,340 BGN.

If you are earning more than the median salary, that's a good indicator that you are being paid well.

If you're not earning more than the median salary, your objective should be to increase your earnings to be at least as high as the median salary (which you can do by asking for a pay rise, looking for a better paying job, etc).

Percentiles

Percentiles are similar to the median salary, but instead of looking at the middle value, they look at the values in the top and bottom half of the distribution.

For the average Mental Health Therapist salary in Bulgaria, 25% of the population are earning less than 34,160 BGN while 75% of the population earn more than 34,160 BGN.

75% of the population earn less than 70,940 BGN, and 25% of the population earn more than 70,940 BGN.

Like the median salary, the 25th and 75th percentile salaries can be used to determine which quartile you fall into so that you know whether you are being paid well enough compared to others in your profession and location.

The difference between a median and an average salary

The median and average salary are both indicators you can use to see if you are being paid fairly based on the overall population.

  • If your salary is higher than the average and the median salary, you are earning well compared to others.
  • If your salary is lower than the average and the median salary, it could indicate you are not being paid well enough.
  • If you are somewhere in between then it's tricky to determine if you are being paid well enough and you might need to research more closely.

Mental Health Therapist Salary by Experience Level in Bulgaria

The most important factor in determining your salary after the specific profession is the number of years experience you have. It stands to reason that more years of experience will result in a higher wage.

We have researched the average mental health therapist salary based on years of experience to give you an idea of how the average changes once you've worked for a certain amount of time.

  • 0 - 2 Years Experience. A Mental Health Therapist in Bulgaria that has less than two years of experience can expect to earn somewhere in the region of 25,680 BGN.
  • 2 - 5 Years Experience. With two to five years of experience the average Mental Health Therapist salary would increase to 34,980 BGN.
  • 5 - 10 Years Experience. From five to ten years of experience as a Mental Health Therapist, the average salary would be 48,760 BGN.
  • 10 - 15 Years Experience. Once you have more than ten years of experience the average salary reaches around 59,660 BGN.
  • 15 - 20 Years Experience. A Mental Health Therapist with 15 to 20 years of experience can earn an average of 67,560 BGN.
  • 20+ Years Experience. For a Mental Health Therapist with more than 20 years, the expected average salary increases to 72,780 BGN.

Average Salary by Experience Chart

0-2 Years
25,680 BGN
2-5 Years +34%
34,980 BGN
5-10 Years +48%
48,760 BGN
10-15 Years +22%
59,660 BGN
15-20 Years +9%
67,560 BGN
20+ Years +8%
72,780 BGN

Mental Health Therapist Salary by Education Level in Bulgaria

As well as experience in a job, your education plays a big role in how much you can earn. A lot of higher paying positions require a high level of education, but how much can a degree increase your salary?

In our research we have compared the salaries of employees in the same job and career level with different levels of education to see how much more you can earn at each education level.

The salary you can earn based on your education is very specific to both your location and the career path you choose.

In our research, we looked at the average salary for a Mental Health Therapist in Bulgaria based on the education level of the employees in order to find out whether a better education level would increase your salary.

  • Bachelor's Degree. A Mental Health Therapist in Bulgaria with a bachelor's degree education can earn an average salary of 27,480 BGN.

  • Master's Degree. A Mental Health Therapist in Bulgaria with a master's degree education can earn an average salary of 46,280 BGN.

  • PhD. A Mental Health Therapist in Bulgaria with a phd education can earn an average salary of 77,060 BGN.

Average Salary by Education Chart

Bachelor's Degree
27,480 BGN
Master's Degree +57%
46,280 BGN
PhD +68%
77,060 BGN

How Much is a Master's Degree or MBA Program?

The approximate cost of a master's degree or post-graduate program like an MBA in Bulgaria is around 16,500 to 49,500 BGN and takes two years to complete.

As you can see above, there are financial benefits from reaching master's degree level, but don't expect to see much of a salary increase until you have completed the degree.

It's common for people to pursue an MBA or other post-graduate program in order to switch to a a job that pays more. On average, you can expect to earn around 10% more when switching to a new company.

Whether you decide to pursue a master's degree depends on many factors. If you are able to afford it, the numbers suggest that the return on investment is worth it and you could recover the costs in a few years from the salary increase you would receive.

Mental Health Therapist Salary Compared by Gender

In the modern age, we know that there should never be a pay gap between men and women. Unfortunately, in many professions, there is still a significant difference between the salaries earned by men when compared to the salary of women in the same job.

In Bulgaria, a male mental health therapist will earn an average of 50,240 BGN, while a female mental health therapist will earn around 47,180 BGN.

This means that a male mental health therapist earns approximately 6% more than a female mental health therapist for performing the same job.

Average Salary by Gender Chart in Bulgaria

Male
50,240 BGN
Female -6%
47,180 BGN

Mental Health Therapist Average Pay Raise in Bulgaria

In many countries, an annual pay raise is often given to employees to reward their service with a salary increase.

From our research, we can see that the average pay raise for a Mental Health Therapist in Bulgaria is around 11% every 21 months.

The national average pay raise across all professions and industries in Bulgaria is around 7% every 20 months.

In this case, we can see that the number of months between the average pay raise is higher than the typical 12 months.

To make the data more meaningful, we can calculate what the approximate annual pay raise would be using a simple formula:

Annual Increase = ( Increase Rate ÷ Months ) × 12

So for this example, it would be:

Annual Increase = ( 11 ÷ 21 ) × 12  = 6%

What this means is that a Mental Health Therapist in Bulgaria can expect to receive an average pay raise of around 6% every 12 months.

Annual Pay Raise by Industry in Bulgaria for 2024

In the chart below, you can see the average annual pay raise percentages for each of the major industries in Bulgaria.

You will see that companies in bigger and more lucrative industries tend to have the higher annual pay raises.

Banking
6%
Energy
3%
Information Technology
9%
Healthcare
6%
Travel
3%
Construction
9%
Education
6%

Mental Health Therapist Bonus and Incentive Rates in Bulgaria

Another part of your overall compensation in a job is how much bonus you receive. Some job roles will be more likely to pay a bonus than others and also more likely to have higher bonus rates.

Generally speaking, jobs that are more involved with direct revenue generation will receive higher bonuses based on the performance towards revenue goals.

A Mental Health Therapist is a high bonus based job, with 82% of employees reporting at least one bonus in the last 12 months.

18% reported that they had not received any bonuses in the previous 12 months.

For the employees that did receive a bonus in the previous 12 months, the reported bonuses ranged from 5% to 9%.

Received Bonus
82%
No Bonus
18%

What are the Types of Bonus?

There are a number of difference types of bonus you can receive in a job. Including:

  • Individual performance bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to an individual employee for general performance in the job. It's the most common type of bonus.
  • Company performance bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to a company employees to share profit with the staff.
  • Goal based bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to an individual employee (or a team) for achieving specific goals, objectives, or milestones.
  • Holiday bonus - This type of bonus is usually paid around the holidays, often the end of the year, and is a token of appreciation for the hard work throughout the year.

Government vs Private Sector Salaries

Another commonly asked question is whether you get paid a higher salary working in the public (government) sector or the private sector.

Public sector employees in Bulgaria earn approximately 2% more than private sector employees in the same role.

Public Sector
40,040 BGN
Private Sector -2%
39,160 BGN

Salaries for Jobs Similar to a Mental Health Therapist

In the table below, we have salary information for jobs that are similar to a Mental Health Therapist in Bulgaria.

Job Title Category Salary
Adoption Services Director Counseling 55,220 BGN
Alcohol and Drug Counselor Counseling 41,480 BGN
Assistant Instructor Counseling 20,500 BGN
Career Counselor Counseling 49,200 BGN
Consultant Counseling 47,580 BGN
Director of Rehabilitation Services Counseling 62,420 BGN
Disability Consultant Counseling 41,700 BGN
Employment Counselor Counseling 48,920 BGN
Family Advocate Counseling 33,120 BGN
Family Services Specialist Counseling 37,620 BGN
Family Support Specialist Counseling 51,800 BGN
Family Youth Worker Counseling 15,300 BGN
Guidance Counselor Counseling 50,080 BGN
Guidance Director Counseling 61,460 BGN
Mental Health Counselor Counseling 51,120 BGN
Programs Coordinator Counseling 28,660 BGN
Psychologist Counseling 66,440 BGN
Supervising Counselor Counseling 52,300 BGN
Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor Counseling 50,560 BGN
Youth Advocate Counseling 26,280 BGN
Youth Care Counselor Counseling 50,520 BGN
Youth Care Specialist Counseling 27,560 BGN
Youth Development Manager Counseling 58,440 BGN

Salary Comparison by City

If you want to compare salaries with different cities in Bulgaria, you can use the links below to explore the data for each specific city we have researched.

City Average Salary
Burgas 46,840 BGN
Plovdiv 49,300 BGN
Rousse 48,340 BGN
Sofia 54,180 BGN
Stara Zagora 42,040 BGN
Varna 50,080 BGN

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