Take a Seat
    People
    Search jobs
    A clinical supervisor listening to a supervisee across a break-room table.

    Salary / Clinical Director / Iowa

    Clinical Director salary in Iowa

    What Clinical Director roles are advertised at, and the Iowa factors that change the number.

    Iowa Clinical Director rolesGet matched
    Take a Seat People

    How much does a Clinical Director earn in Iowa?

    Federal wage data for Iowa puts the median for medical and health services managers at $101,940 a year, with the middle of the market between $75,080 and $171,760 and about 6,200 people employed in the state (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). Federal figures cover medical and health services managers across all of healthcare, not behavioural health alone. School-linked and Medicaid-funded work dominates. Roles are often the only opening in their county, so search is slower and retention matters more. Nationally, the Clinical Director roles we recruit are advertised at roughly $105k – $165k; the national Clinical Director salary guide sets out the entry, mid-career and senior figures behind that.

    Clinical Director advertised pay by experience

    Entry
    $105k
    First role after certification
    Mid-career
    $130k
    Two to five years, full caseload
    Senior
    $165k
    Supervisory scope or specialist skill

    Official Iowa wage data

    Federal wage data for Iowa puts the median for medical and health services managers at $101,940 a year, with the middle of the market between $75,080 and $171,760 and about 6,200 people employed in the state (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). Federal figures cover medical and health services managers across all of healthcare, not behavioural health alone.

    Median
    $101,940
    Mean
    $116,020
    10th percentile
    $75,080
    90th percentile
    $171,760

    Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. State wage tables

    What changes a Clinical Director offer in Iowa

    • LMHC, LMFT, LISW and LMSW are licensed by the Board of Behavioral Science.
    • Setting: Multi-site ABA providers, Community mental health organizations, Pediatric therapy groups price differently for the same credential.
    • Caseload cap and billable or productivity target, which decide whether a bonus is real.
    • Metro cost of living within the state; a city premium is not the same as a better offer.
    • Scarcity: Growing fast as private-equity-backed and multi-site providers professionalize. The hardest part is finding clinicians who can lead without losing clinical credibility.

    How to read the IA figures

    The federal estimates above are the official Iowa picture for medical and health services managers, published annually and lagging the market by about a year. What we publish alongside them is what we actually see advertised on roles we recruit today. Use the federal median as a floor for negotiation and the advertised range as the live signal.

    BLS state occupational wage data

    Last reviewed August 2026.

    Live Clinical Director roles in Iowa

    No live Clinical Director roles in Iowa right now. Tell us your license status and target setting and we will contact you when the next Iowa search opens.

    Join the talent network

    Open Clinical Director roles elsewhere in the US

    How to work as a Clinical Director in Iowa

    1. 1

      Confirm the credential

      Senior clinical licensure or certification (BCBA, LCSW, psychologist, SLP) plus leadership experience. This is the baseline every Iowa employer screens on before anything else.

    2. 2

      Check the IA requirement

      LMHC, LMFT, LISW and LMSW are licensed by the Board of Behavioral Science.

    3. 3

      Check the multi-state routes

      PSYPACT: confirm current status with the state board; Counseling Compact: enacted (privileges not yet live) Compact participation changes, so confirm the current position with the Iowa board rather than a secondary source.

    4. 4

      Build board processing into your start date

      Processing time, not eligibility, is the usual cause of a delayed start. Agree a start date with the licensing timeline already in it.

    5. 5

      Match the credential to open work

      Compare the advertised range for Clinical Director roles, roughly $105k – $165k, against the live Iowa vacancies on this page, or join the talent network to be contacted when the next Iowa search opens.

    Continue with Clinical Director in Iowa

    Clinical Director pay and licensure in Iowa: common questions

    Do you need a license to work as a Clinical Director in Iowa?
    LMHC, LMFT, LISW and LMSW are licensed by the Board of Behavioral Science. Confirm the current position with the Iowa board before you accept a start date, as processing time is the usual cause of a delayed start.
    What is the average Clinical Director salary in Iowa?
    Federal wage data for Iowa puts the median for medical and health services managers at $101,940 a year, with the middle of the market between $75,080 and $171,760 and about 6,200 people employed in the state (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). Federal figures cover medical and health services managers across all of healthcare, not behavioural health alone. Advertised pay on the Clinical Director roles we recruit nationally sits at roughly $105k – $165k, and offers land inside that band according to setting, caseload and metro cost of living.
    Does Clinical Director pay in Iowa differ from the rest of the US?
    We publish advertised pay on the roles we recruit, not a Iowa average. Across the US those Clinical Director roles are advertised at roughly $105k – $165k, and where a Iowa offer lands inside that band is driven by setting, caseload and metro cost of living. For an official comparison, Iowa median pay for medical and health services managers is $101,940; treat that as a negotiating floor.
    Where are the Clinical Director jobs in Iowa?
    School-linked and Medicaid-funded work dominates. Roles are often the only opening in their county, so search is slower and retention matters more. The live Clinical Director vacancies we hold in Iowa are listed on this page; when nothing is open there today, the national Clinical Director board carries every role we currently hold.
    Who employs Clinical Directors in Iowa?
    The employers hiring this credential are multi-site aba providers, community mental health organizations, pediatric therapy groups, residential programs. Which of those dominates in Iowa follows the local funding and provider mix rather than any national pattern, and it is the single biggest driver of what an offer looks like: the same Clinical Director is priced differently by a center-based provider, a school district and a hospital system.
    What do employers look for when hiring a Clinical Director in Iowa?
    First, the credential and the right to practise: senior clinical licensure or certification (bcba, lcsw, psychologist, slp) plus leadership experience. LMHC, LMFT, LISW and LMSW are licensed by the Board of Behavioral Science. After that, hiring managers screen on the specifics of the work — caseload size you have carried, the settings you have worked in, supervision responsibility, and documentation or payer experience. Availability matters too: a realistic start date that accounts for board processing usually beats a stronger resume that cannot start.
    What does the salary range on this page actually mean?
    Two different things, kept separate on purpose. $105k – $165k is what Clinical Director roles we recruit are advertised at across the US — a live market signal, not a survey. The federal figures are official Iowa estimates for medical and health services managers: $101,940 median, with $75,080 at the 10th percentile and $171,760 at the 90th. They cover the whole occupation in the state, are published annually and lag the market by roughly a year, so read the median as a negotiating floor rather than a target. Neither number is an offer; where you land inside a range is set by setting, caseload and metro cost of living.

    Clinical Director pay in other states

    A clinical director and a hiring lead shaking hands across a meeting-room table.

    Hiring Clinical Directors in Iowa

    Pay is the last thing that fixes a stalled search

    These are retained-style searches: small candidate pool, high confidentiality, and a real cost to getting it wrong.

    Join the Clinical Director talent networkHire a Clinical Director in Iowa
    Take a Seat People
    • Behavioral health only
    • Recruiting across all 50 states
    • Pay published on every role
    • Recruitment partnerships, not job spam