Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors salary in Iowa
SOC 21-1018 · BLS OEWS May 2025
How local pay compares
After local prices: the $60,880 median has purchasing power comparable to about $69,369 nationally. Iowa's BEA regional price parity is 87.8 (2024).
What the local range looks like
The wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the darker section is the middle half, and the tick is the median for Iowa.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter
- Master's degree
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Internship/residency
Narrow to a metro in Iowa
Every linked area below has a published estimate for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors. Missing areas were withheld by BLS rather than measured at zero.
The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.
| # | Metro area | Median | Cost of living | Employed | Concentrationvs. national |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ames, IA | $69,750 | 88.8 | 130 | 0.75× |
| 2 | Iowa City, IA | $66,810 | 91.5 | 290 | 0.98× |
| 3 | Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA | $63,230 | 87.1 | 130 | 0.50× |
| 4 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | $61,320 | 91.7 | 920 | 0.72× |
| 5 | Omaha, NE-IA | $60,650 | 91.9 | 1,140 | 0.72× |
| 6 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL | $60,430 | 89.1 | 600 | 1.06× |
| 7 | Sioux City, IA-NE-SD | $60,240 | 86.5 | 200 | 0.84× |
| 8 | Cedar Rapids, IA | $59,990 | 89.0 | 410 | 0.94× |
| 9 | Dubuque, IA | $57,530 | 87.3 | 90 | 0.48× |
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 substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.
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