Two thirds of the American Psychological Association's $143 million is licensing; member dues are 6 percent
The psychologists' association's audited 2024 statements report $143.0 million in revenue: $93.5 million in licensing, royalties and rights, $23.7 million in publications, $8.7 million in member dues, and $18.9 million in building rent.
We have not finished checking this source. No judgement either way. how we score evidence
Caveat on this rating: The licensing line is not broken out by product in the statements; the identification of it with the PsycINFO family rests on the notes' description of annual licences of electronic products and the association's own product listings, not on a figure in the audit. An audited statement is the organization's account of itself, checked by an auditor it pays.
Significant findings
The American Psychological Association's consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, audited by BDO USA with an opinion dated July 23, 2025, consolidate the association, APA Services Inc., and two Delaware LLCs that own Washington office buildings of about 370,000 and 263,700 square feet.
Revenues for 2024, verbatim line labels: "Licensing, royalties and rights" $93,463,967; "Publications and journal subscriptions" $23,679,934; "Member dues and fees" $8,676,163; "Service and application fees" $5,808,718; "Conference fees" $3,460,450; "Advertising and other revenue" $2,909,977; "Grants and contracts" $5,004,315. Total revenues $143,003,524. Total expenses $143,963,432. Other income includes "Rental income from buildings" $18,929,513 against "Cost of building operations" of $20,726,286 and interest expense of $4,222,639; long-term debt, net, is $105,262,818. Net assets at year end $54,519,564.
Our arithmetic: licensing is about 65 percent of revenue, publications 17 percent, dues 6 percent. The notes say licensing receivables for "annual licenses of electronic products" were about 73 percent of receivables at year end. The notes' own summary: "APA's operations are supported primarily by membership dues, subscriptions, and publication revenue." Membership dues are allocated 60 percent to APA Services, which "focuses on advocating for the entire discipline and profession of psychology" and operates a federal political action committee, and 40 percent to APA.
Worth asking
Nothing in these statements is drug company money. The point is a different one: the literature a clinician searches when deciding what works is sold, as database licences and journal subscriptions, by a membership body whose two largest lines are the sale of that literature, and whose members' dues are six cents on the dollar.
Source
American Psychological Association and Subsidiaries: Audited Consolidated Financial Statements, years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 — American Psychological Association; BDO USA, P.C. (independent auditor) (2025)
Read the source: https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/audited-financial-statement-2024.pdf
How this was scored
- Study design
- not recorded
- Funding
- not recorded
- Published in
- not recorded
- Sample size
- not recorded
- Preregistered
- not recorded
- Conflicts disclosed
- not recorded
- Independent of proponent
- not recorded
- Retracted
- No
We have not finished checking this source, so there is no scoring to show yet. “We have not checked this yet” and “this is disputed” are different statements, so no scored band is shown rather than a low one.
Read the full scoring rubric, including what it can't tell you.
Published September 21, 2026.
Questions
How strong is the evidence behind this?
veisund rates this source "not yet assessed". We have not finished checking this source. No judgement either way. One caveat travels with that badge: The licensing line is not broken out by product in the statements; the identification of it with the PsycINFO family rests on the notes' description of annual licences of electronic products and the association's own product listings, not on a figure in the audit. An audited statement is the organization's account of itself, checked by an auditor it pays. The score is calculated from recorded facts about the source — study design, funding, publication venue, sample size, preregistration — not typed in by an editor.
What is the source for this?
American Psychological Association and Subsidiaries: Audited Consolidated Financial Statements, years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 — American Psychological Association; BDO USA, P.C. (independent auditor) (2025). The full source is linked on this page so you can read it yourself.
Is this medical advice?
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.