Counselors, All Other salary

SOC 21-1019 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$50,860

per year, nationally

Middle half

$43,680–$66,520

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

28,580

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+12.6%

7,400 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.

$36,240$91,940

10th: $36,240
25th: $43,680
Median: $50,860
75th: $66,520
90th: $91,940

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Master's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

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

Where counselors, all other 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	District of Columbia	$93,720	109.9	90	0.69×
2	Utah	$93,530	98.9	150	0.48×
3	Georgia	$79,490	96.3	760	0.84×
4	Oregon	$78,750	103.4	120	0.33×
5	Virginia	$76,450	101.1	470	0.62×
6	New Jersey	$73,360	108.8	810	1.02×
7	Wisconsin	$71,390	94.1	440	0.82×
8	North Dakota	$69,860	89.0	80	1.02×
9	Washington	$69,530	107.0	120	0.19×
10	Colorado	$66,680	103.1	370	0.70×
11	Hawaii	$65,470	110.0	70	0.61×
12	Maine	$62,190	97.0	60	0.47×
13	Iowa	$61,080	87.8	90	0.31×
14	Arizona	$59,910	100.7	110	0.19×
15	Pennsylvania	$59,160	97.6	1,330	1.19×
16	New York	$58,500	107.9	470	0.26×
17	Massachusetts	$58,240	105.8	140	0.21×
18	Vermont	$56,220	98.0	150	2.72×
19	South Carolina	$55,140	93.7	60	0.15×
20	Texas	$54,450	97.1	2,550	0.99×
21	Mississippi	$54,090	87.0	40	0.19×
22	Connecticut	$53,310	103.6	60	0.21×
23	North Carolina	$52,280	94.3	—	—
24	Tennessee	$51,900	91.9	740	1.23×
25	Illinois	$49,360	100.0	760	0.68×
26	Arkansas	$49,310	86.9	110	0.47×
27	Delaware	$48,990	99.8	—	—
28	California	$48,850	110.7	10,770	3.22×
29	Louisiana	$47,830	88.2	1,510	4.25×
30	New Hampshire	$47,770	104.2	100	0.82×
31	Minnesota	$47,740	98.6	650	1.20×
32	Alabama	$47,580	88.8	120	0.31×
33	Maryland	$46,840	105.0	1,750	3.44×
34	Florida	$45,880	103.4	1,230	0.67×
35	Ohio	$45,840	92.8	330	0.33×
36	Nevada	$45,440	100.0	280	0.97×
37	Indiana	$45,360	93.3	70	0.12×
38	Alaska	$45,060	102.4	70	1.21×
39	West Virginia	$44,810	89.5	220	1.70×
40	Missouri	$43,680	90.8	130	0.23×
41	Nebraska	$40,530	90.1	—	—
42	Kentucky	$40,230	90.2	70	0.18×
43	Montana	$39,260	94.6	110	1.15×
44	Michigan	$37,390	96.2	470	0.58×

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 counselors, all other wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for counselors, all other

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	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$107,330	103.2	130	2.88×
2	Richmond, VA	$98,850	97.9	—	—
3	Ogden, UT	$93,180	100.3	40	0.81×
4	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$91,940	108.6	100	4.60×
5	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$83,930	110.4	550	2.64×
6	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$79,490	100.1	440	0.84×
7	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$78,740	105.4	70	0.30×
8	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$77,000	105.8	140	0.47×
9	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	$73,380	91.7	30	0.42×
10	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA	$71,970	98.7	110	1.71×
11	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$71,650	111.1	50	0.14×
12	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$70,610	108.9	540	0.93×
13	Madison, WI	$70,300	97.3	90	1.16×
14	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$69,780	100.9	50	0.31×
15	Colorado Springs, CO	$66,910	100.7	50	0.84×
16	Portland-South Portland, ME	$66,140	101.9	—	—
17	Columbus, GA-AL	$65,540	89.3	40	2.00×
18	Lubbock, TX	$65,520	91.3	40	1.21×
19	Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA	$64,500	93.6	70	1.39×
20	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$64,280	100.9	90	3.86×
21	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$63,300	112.6	820	0.47×
22	Midland, TX	$62,990	95.8	40	1.70×
23	Kansas City, MO-KS	$62,170	92.5	40	0.18×
24	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$61,620	108.8	110	2.92×
25	Lexington Park, MD	$60,350	100.8	40	2.84×
26	Vallejo, CA	$60,280	108.5	90	3.44×
27	Tyler, TX	$60,180	92.2	40	2.10×
28	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$60,010	97.9	150	1.05×
29	Syracuse, NY	$59,990	95.7	—	—
30	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$59,430	94.7	210	1.02×
31	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$58,250	108.3	110	0.22×
32	Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV	$57,470	94.2	60	2.85×
33	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$57,030	97.6	—	—
34	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$56,690	103.3	90	0.21×
35	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$56,350	97.3	—	—
36	Shreveport-Bossier City, LA	$55,970	84.8	100	3.28×
37	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$55,120	107.8	180	4.67×
38	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$54,820	115.6	1,260	2.89×
39	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$54,770	96.9	90	0.57×
40	Lafayette, LA	$54,570	87.2	40	1.36×

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 counselors, all other wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors$59,350
Social and Human Service Assistants$45,930
Child, Family, and School Social Workers$59,550
Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors$64,330
Healthcare Social Workers$67,880
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers$60,280
Community and Social Service Specialists, All Other$56,730
Rehabilitation Counselors$46,850