Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors: salary, outlook & degrees
Advise and assist students and provide educational and vocational guidance services.
Middle half $51,270–$82,870. 353,310 jobs.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
88% hold a bachelor's or higher. Those with one: $55,839.
Census ACS 2020-2024 microdata, workers with at least a high school diploma; EducationGuide calculation
About 27,800 openings a year, including replacements.
BLS Employment Projections 2025-35
Extensive preparation (usually a graduate degree).
BLS; O*NET 31.0 job zone
Degrees that lead to this career
What workers ages 25-34 in this job studied, among those with a bachelor's or higher. This is what people actually did, not a requirement.
| Field of bachelor's degree | Share | Degree pages |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 23% | Psychology |
| Communications | 4% | Communications · Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs, Other |
| General Education | 4% | Education |
| English Language And Literature | 4% | English |
| Social Work | 3% | Social Work |
| Sociology | 3% | Sociology |
| Business Management And Administration | 3% | Business Administration |
| Family And Consumer Sciences | 3% | Human Development and Family Studies · Foods, Nutrition, and Related Services |
| History | 2% | History |
| Counseling Psychology | 2% | — |
Census ACS 2020-2024 microdata (ages 25-34, employed, bachelor's or higher; top 10 fields); EducationGuide calculation.
Education workers say the job requires
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers (“required level of education”); small samples, so treat shares as approximate.
Pay by state and metro
| State | Median wage |
|---|---|
| California | $86,500 |
| Alaska | $82,900 |
| Washington | $82,670 |
| District of Columbia | $80,470 |
| Massachusetts | $79,930 |
| New Jersey | $77,910 |
| New Mexico | $77,880 |
| Maryland | $75,820 |
| Rhode Island | $75,000 |
| Delaware | $74,070 |
| Connecticut | $73,910 |
| New York | $71,610 |
| New Hampshire | $71,080 |
| Texas | $67,900 |
| Virginia | $67,660 |
| Nevada | $66,710 |
| Oregon | $66,690 |
| Colorado | $64,780 |
| Minnesota | $64,600 |
| Vermont | $64,570 |
| Kentucky | $64,350 |
| Georgia | $63,720 |
| Wyoming | $63,430 |
| Wisconsin | $62,690 |
| Nebraska | $62,500 |
| VI | $62,470 |
| Illinois | $62,420 |
| Louisiana | $61,870 |
| Ohio | $61,760 |
| Hawaii | $61,730 |
| Utah | $61,320 |
| Pennsylvania | $60,880 |
| South Carolina | $60,340 |
| Idaho | $60,320 |
| Tennessee | $59,960 |
| Arkansas | $59,770 |
| Alabama | $59,570 |
| Michigan | $59,440 |
| Indiana | $59,260 |
| North Dakota | $58,960 |
| Mississippi | $58,710 |
| Maine | $58,630 |
| Arizona | $58,250 |
| Missouri | $58,040 |
| Montana | $57,900 |
| North Carolina | $57,630 |
| Kansas | $56,590 |
| Iowa | $56,540 |
| West Virginia | $55,520 |
| Florida | $53,140 |
| PR | $53,000 |
| Oklahoma | $52,040 |
| South Dakota | $51,830 |
Florida metro areas
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach$57,110
- Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford$48,840
- Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater$56,060
- Gainesville$47,600
- Jacksonville$55,520
- Tallahassee$46,900
- Lakeland-Winter Haven$58,320
- North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota$61,670
Virginia metro areas
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria$77,420
- Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk$69,840
- Richmond$67,620
- Charlottesville$63,330
- Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford$61,580
- Roanoke$61,270
- Lynchburg$58,990
- Harrisonburg$60,010
California metro areas
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim$79,000
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont$94,600
- San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad$83,520
- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario$96,780
- Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom$100,930
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara$95,390
- Fresno$101,280
- Bakersfield-Delano$97,700
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: median annual wage, all workers in the job. Metro areas: the largest by employment.
What the work takes
Top skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
Knowledge used
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Therapy and Counseling
- Education and Training
- Psychology
Work styles
- Empathy
- Cooperation
- Dependability
- Optimism
- Social Orientation
People in this job tend to have Social (helping), Conventional (organizing), Enterprising (leading) interests.
O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0): skills and knowledge by importance; work styles; interest high points.
Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors: questions
How much do educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors make?
Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors earn a U.S. median $64,330 a year; the middle half earn $51,270 to $82,870 (BLS, May 2025). Workers ages 25-34 in this job earn a median $54,824 (Census ACS 2020-2024).
Is educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors a growing field?
BLS projects growth of 2.9% from 2025 to 2035, with about 27,800 openings a year, including replacements.
What degree do you need to be an educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisor?
BLS lists the typical entry education as master's degree. In O*NET's survey, 97% of workers say a bachelor's or higher is required. Among workers ages 25-34 with a bachelor's, the most common field of degree is psychology (23%).
How much do educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors make in Florida?
The median in Florida is $53,140 a year (BLS, May 2025), compared with $64,330 nationally.
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2025-35); O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0); U.S. Census Bureau ACS microdata. SOC 21-1012. Method
Data: JSON · Markdown · all careers
Cite this: “Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors: salary, outlook and degrees,” EducationGuide.com, https://educationguide.com/careers/educational-guidance-and-career-counselors-and-advisors.