Average Psychologist Salary in Karnataka, India for 2026

In this article, we will look at the average Psychologist salary for 2026 in Karnataka 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 Indian rupee. To keep things simple, we are using the INR currency code instead of the currency symbol .

How Much Does a Psychologist Make in Karnataka?

A Psychologist working in Karnataka will typically earn around 731,700 INR per year, and this can range from the lowest average salary of about 339,100 INR to the highest average salary of 1,162,300 INR.

Average Annual Salary731,700 INR
Average Monthly Salary60,975 INR
Average Lowest Salary339,100 INR
Lowest Monthly Salary28,258 INR
Average Highest Salary1,162,300 INR
Highest Monthly Salary96,858 INR

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

Psychologist 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 Psychologist Salaries in Karnataka

So we've looked at the average salaries a Psychologist will earn in Karnataka. The next interesting data point is the distribution of salaries.

Salary ranges

We already know that a Psychologist can earn between 339,100 INR and 1,162,300 INR on average in Karnataka. 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 Psychologist in Karnataka is 791,200 INR. This is the middle value in the distribution of salaries.

What this means is that approximately 50% of the population earn less than 791,200 INR, and 50% of the population earn more than 791,200 INR.

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 Psychologist salary in Karnataka, 25% of the population are earning less than 507,300 INR while 75% of the population earn more than 507,300 INR.

75% of the population earn less than 1,057,100 INR, and 25% of the population earn more than 1,057,100 INR.

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.

Psychologist Salary by Experience Level in Karnataka

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 Psychologist 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 Psychologist in Karnataka that has less than two years of experience can expect to earn somewhere in the region of 384,200 INR.
  • 2 - 5 Years Experience. With two to five years of experience the average Psychologist salary would increase to 510,200 INR.
  • 5 - 10 Years Experience. From five to ten years of experience as a Psychologist, the average salary would be 754,900 INR.
  • 10 - 15 Years Experience. Once you have more than ten years of experience the average salary reaches around 918,600 INR.
  • 15 - 20 Years Experience. A Psychologist with 15 to 20 years of experience can earn an average of 1,004,400 INR.
  • 20+ Years Experience. For a Psychologist with more than 20 years, the expected average salary increases to 1,087,500 INR.

Average Salary by Experience Chart

0-2 Years-
384,200 INR
2-5 Years+34%
510,200 INR
5-10 Years+48%
754,900 INR
10-15 Years+22%
918,600 INR
15-20 Years+9%
1,004,400 INR
20+ Years+8%
1,087,500 INR

Psychologist Salary by Education Level in Karnataka

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.

The data we have below is combined across all professions. To view the most accurate data possible, you can select a specific job from the list below.

Employees that have earned a certificate or diploma from a post-secondary program can expect to earn approximately 17% more than those who only completed high school level.

If you have a bachelor's degree, you can expect to earn approximately 25% more than those who only completed to a certificate or diploma level.

For professionals reaching the master's degree level, your salary would be around 30% higher than those with a bachelor's degree.

If you are able to achieve a PhD, you can expect to earn approximately 22% more than those with a master's degree for the same job role.

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 India is around 160,000 to 479,000 INR 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.

Psychologist 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 Karnataka, a male psychologist will earn an average of 653,200 INR, while a female psychologist will earn around 583,000 INR.

This means that a male psychologist earns approximately 12% more than a female psychologist for performing the same job.

Average Salary by Gender Chart in Karnataka

Male-
653,200 INR
Female-12%
583,000 INR

Psychologist Average Pay Raise in Karnataka

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 Psychologist in Karnataka is around 14% every 18 months.

The national average pay raise across all professions and industries in India is around 9% every 16 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 = ( 14 ÷ 18 ) × 12  = 9%

What this means is that a Psychologist in Karnataka can expect to receive an average pay raise of around 9% every 12 months.

Annual Pay Raise by Industry in Karnataka for 2026

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

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

Banking-
1%
Energy-
2%
Information Technology-
3%
Healthcare-
4%
Travel-
5%
Construction-
6%
Education-
7%

Psychologist Bonus and Incentive Rates in Karnataka

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 Psychologist is a high bonus based job, with 83% of employees reporting at least one bonus in the last 12 months.

17% 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-
83%
No Bonus-
17%

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 India earn approximately 6% more than private sector employees in the same role.

Public Sector-
392,300 INR
Private Sector-6%
371,100 INR

Salaries for Jobs Similar to a Psychologist

In the table below, we have salary information for jobs that are similar to a Psychologist in Karnataka.

Job TitleCategorySalary
Adoption Services DirectorCounseling539,700 INR
Alcohol and Drug CounselorCounseling417,200 INR
Assistant InstructorCounseling185,100 INR
Career CounselorCounseling454,900 INR
ConsultantCounseling451,000 INR
Director of Rehabilitation ServicesCounseling597,800 INR
Disability ConsultantCounseling369,300 INR
Employment CounselorCounseling454,900 INR
Family AdvocateCounseling314,500 INR
Family Services SpecialistCounseling341,400 INR
Family Support SpecialistCounseling485,300 INR
Family Youth WorkerCounseling152,300 INR
Guidance CounselorCounseling466,300 INR
Guidance DirectorCounseling539,700 INR
Mental Health CounselorCounseling514,300 INR
Mental Health TherapistCounseling454,900 INR
Programs CoordinatorCounseling258,400 INR
Supervising CounselorCounseling491,000 INR
Vocational Rehabilitation CounselorCounseling472,000 INR
Youth AdvocateCounseling258,400 INR
Youth Care CounselorCounseling478,000 INR
Youth Care SpecialistCounseling283,700 INR
Youth Development ManagerCounseling568,500 INR

Salary Comparison by City

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

CityAverage Salary
Ahmadabad707,600 INR
Bangalore736,700 INR
Bhopal658,300 INR
Chennai719,100 INR
Coimbatore598,600 INR
Delhi718,000 INR
Ghaziabad610,100 INR
Hyderabad706,200 INR
Indore639,100 INR
Jaipur670,600 INR
Kanpur627,900 INR
Kolkata714,300 INR
Lucknow663,200 INR
Ludhiana571,300 INR
Madurai585,900 INR
Mumbai719,100 INR
Nagpur627,900 INR
Patna598,600 INR
Pimpri-Chinchwad650,800 INR
Pune695,200 INR
Surat648,200 INR
Vadodara582,700 INR
Visakhapatnam603,400 INR
agra605,700 INR

Salary Comparison by State

The table below includes links to the average salary for each state in India.

StateAverage Salary
Andaman & Nicobar Islands525,700 INR
Andhra Pradesh707,700 INR
Arunachal Pradesh620,300 INR
Assam670,600 INR
Bihar778,900 INR
Chandigarh548,500 INR
Chhatisgarh671,000 INR
Dadra & Nagar Haveli581,000 INR
Daman & Diu535,800 INR
Delhi665,300 INR
Goa572,200 INR
Gujarat722,100 INR
Haryana623,200 INR
Himachal Pradesh623,700 INR
Jammu & Kashmir663,100 INR
Jharkhand677,100 INR
Kerala658,300 INR
Lakshadweep535,800 INR
Madhya Pradesh768,900 INR
Maharashtra739,500 INR
Manipur628,000 INR
Meghalaya585,900 INR
Mizoram576,500 INR
Nagaland627,900 INR
Orissa691,200 INR
Pondicherry596,800 INR
Punjab652,200 INR
Rajasthan741,500 INR
Sikkim533,000 INR
Tamil Nadu721,600 INR
Tripura641,900 INR
Uttar Pradesh778,500 INR
Uttaranchal615,300 INR
West Bengal714,600 INR

Cite This Resource

Use the tool below to generate a reference for this page in common citation styles.

  • <a href="https://worldsalaries.com/average-psychologist-salary-in-karnataka/india/">Average Psychologist Salary in Karnataka, India for 2026</a>

  • "Average Psychologist Salary in Karnataka, India for 2026." World Salaries. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://worldsalaries.com/average-psychologist-salary-in-karnataka/india/.

  • "Average Psychologist Salary in Karnataka, India for 2026." World Salaries, https://worldsalaries.com/average-psychologist-salary-in-karnataka/india/. Accessed 5 January, 2026.

  • Average Psychologist Salary in Karnataka, India for 2026. World Salaries. Retrieved from https://worldsalaries.com/average-psychologist-salary-in-karnataka/india/.