Credit Counselors salary

SOC 13-2071 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$52,230

per year, nationally

Middle half

$45,720–$64,080

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

27,770

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+3.3%

2,200 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$38,350$80,440

10th: $38,350
25th: $45,720
Median: $52,230
75th: $64,080
90th: $80,440

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where credit counselors earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	California	$67,120	110.7	2,160	0.66×
2	Georgia	$64,080	96.3	460	0.53×
3	District of Columbia	$63,580	109.9	110	0.88×
4	Massachusetts	$63,240	105.8	770	1.19×
5	New York	$63,030	107.9	2,020	1.17×
6	Nebraska	$62,510	90.1	260	1.42×
7	Washington	$62,360	107.0	560	0.88×
8	Minnesota	$62,160	98.6	580	1.10×
9	Maryland	$60,450	105.0	350	0.72×
10	Oregon	$59,150	103.4	280	0.80×
11	New Hampshire	$58,830	104.2	170	1.43×
12	Rhode Island	$58,480	102.3	130	1.46×
13	Pennsylvania	$58,330	97.6	1,110	1.03×
14	New Jersey	$57,180	108.8	530	0.69×
15	Colorado	$57,130	103.1	360	0.70×
16	Maine	$55,490	97.0	170	1.50×
17	Nevada	$55,480	100.0	170	0.60×
18	Connecticut	$54,710	103.6	100	0.33×
19	South Carolina	$53,190	93.7	250	0.61×
20	Delaware	$52,840	99.8	40	0.45×
21	North Dakota	$52,220	89.0	30	0.39×
22	Michigan	$52,160	96.2	1,260	1.61×
23	Wisconsin	$52,140	94.1	770	1.47×
24	Illinois	$51,930	100.0	1,170	1.07×
25	Virginia	$51,550	101.1	760	1.04×
26	Arizona	$51,480	100.7	980	1.69×
27	Utah	$51,330	98.9	190	0.63×
28	Ohio	$51,160	92.8	890	0.90×
29	Idaho	$51,130	95.5	90	0.56×
30	New Mexico	$50,390	92.2	200	1.27×
31	South Dakota	$48,890	88.6	—	—
32	Texas	$48,220	97.1	3,950	1.57×
33	Indiana	$48,180	93.3	740	1.29×
34	Kentucky	$48,150	90.2	220	0.62×
35	Iowa	$48,130	87.8	440	1.59×
36	Alabama	$48,120	88.8	—	—
37	Louisiana	$47,250	88.2	130	0.38×
38	Oklahoma	$46,950	87.8	230	0.76×
39	Florida	$46,300	103.4	2,410	1.36×
40	North Carolina	$46,180	94.3	320	0.36×
41	Mississippi	$45,990	87.0	210	1.02×
42	West Virginia	$45,860	89.5	150	1.22×
43	Arkansas	$45,060	86.9	50	0.22×
44	Wyoming	$42,580	92.7	40	0.76×
45	Tennessee	$38,730	91.9	950	1.62×
46	Missouri	$30,580	90.8	—	—

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where credit counselors wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for credit counselors

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$82,570	115.6	210	0.50×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$80,680	110.4	120	0.57×
3	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$76,930	106.7	110	0.57×
4	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$67,120	111.9	200	0.72×
5	Fresno, CA	$66,660	102.2	60	0.76×
6	Boulder, CO	$65,540	105.2	40	1.12×
7	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$65,210	113.6	830	0.74×
8	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$64,750	106.4	190	0.63×
9	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$64,380	111.1	350	0.94×
10	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$64,080	100.1	380	0.74×
11	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$64,080	108.3	620	1.28×
12	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$63,170	112.6	1,610	0.95×
13	Ithaca, NY	$62,750	103.3	40	4.48×
14	Omaha, NE-IA	$62,520	91.9	190	2.12×
15	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$62,500	108.8	40	1.05×
16	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA	$62,340	98.7	40	0.59×
17	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$62,240	109.4	50	1.10×
18	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$62,080	100.9	110	0.73×
19	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$61,980	105.4	150	0.70×
20	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$61,930	108.9	440	0.78×
21	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$60,730	99.6	120	1.51×
22	Worcester, MA	$60,680	102.5	60	0.97×
23	Eugene-Springfield, OR	$60,600	101.6	30	1.16×
24	Memphis, TN-MS-AR	$60,210	92.2	90	0.84×
25	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$60,110	110.5	50	0.78×
26	Rochester, NY	$60,040	97.0	130	1.46×
27	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$59,750	104.8	350	1.00×
28	Ann Arbor, MI	$59,570	100.9	160	4.12×
29	Syracuse, NY	$59,160	95.7	80	1.56×
30	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$58,710	105.8	150	0.52×
31	Cleveland, OH	$58,570	93.9	110	0.60×
32	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$58,480	101.8	160	1.28×
33	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$58,480	96.3	110	0.58×
34	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$58,090	92.7	130	1.90×
35	Pittsburgh, PA	$58,090	94.7	230	1.18×
36	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$57,990	102.6	480	0.93×
37	Lancaster, PA	$57,550	98.3	40	0.84×
38	Madison, WI	$57,260	97.3	70	1.03×
39	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$57,240	95.8	130	1.36×
40	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$57,210	103.6	800	0.99×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where credit counselors wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Accountants and Auditors$83,680
Financial and Investment Analysts$102,740
Loan Officers$76,690
Personal Financial Advisors$105,070
Financial Specialists, All Other$81,100
Insurance Underwriters$81,370
Tax Preparers$54,920
Financial Examiners$94,160