Ok answering the question...
Psychiatry in one respect doesn't make less money. Several fields of medicine have higher salaries but they also expect more hours. In effect you're making the same amount per hour vs other fields, just that you get to sleep at night and work 40 hour weeks--if that's what you want. You could always choose to work say as many hours as a surgeon and probably make as much.
That said, this field, for the overwhelming majority, will not be on the order of certain fields of medicine, e.g. dermatology, ophthalmology,and those fields where you can usually bill mega bucks for just a few hours or less of work.
In a congested market (and these are rare in the field), expect to make less than 200K for 40 hours of work. I'd say expect around 175K.
In an underserved area, play your cards right, you could be making >250K.
With my current employer, I make the standard psychiatry clinical professor's salary, and I'm not going to be afraid to say it because it's standard for the dept, about 190K. With the benefits value it comes to about $230K. I don't have to pay malpractice and the benefits are darned good. E.g. they match retirement contributions, a flex-spending card, etc. If you bring more money into the department, they have a system where your pay goes up on top of the usual salary. Now this is where I'm going to intentionally keep mum, but I am in that exemplary area because I do Suboxone practice though the university. The university scoops up a heck of a lot of the money there, but I still make some money off of it. The profit rate I'm accomplishing seems to be more with me vs some other doctors. E.g. Most docs do 4 or less patients tops at PES in 4 hours, I can do about 6-8 if it's busy enough. I was told by the outpatient director that I'm in the top 1-2 people bringing in money via the outpatient clinic. By the time my paycheck comes in, I get a separate additional check for bringing in the extra money.
That and I get to do some darned interesting forensic cases with top people in the field acting as mentors where I can bill for several hundred dollars an hour. I just worked on a murder case and wrapped it up a few days ago. What a relief. Paid well too, and I'm working with colleagues that wouldn't tolerate one of us selling out. The opinion I gave on the murder case actually went against what the hiring lawyer wanted and had I sold out, I would've made much more. I'll be working on a psychological autopsy next.
Overall, I do make much more than most psychiatrists make, but a drawback is that I know I could make more if I worked on my own, and I know this for a fact because I was doing that before.
This is purely in terms of money. You have to consider several other factors. At the university, I get to work with top people, and two doctors rated in the top 100 have worked side-by-side with me to the degree where they're telling me about their fantasy football team or their little weekend band gig. Another is a phone call away and he's always been friendly and open to communicating with me especially if I asked him about an odd case. I got to have lunch with Paul Keck with him asking me to work for him. I needed that because I had to gauge myself and wanted to see who the Wizards of Oz were behind the curtain, and if I never took the job, I would always have wondered what if for the rest of my life.
When I was making more, before the university, I didn't respect my colleagues, was aghast with some of their practices (e.g. many of them giving out mega benzos, adderall, what have you), and kept thinking I wanted more of a challenge.
