Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors
SOC 21-1012 · 2024-2034
Advise and assist students and provide educational and vocational guidance services.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $88,921per year
- Projected openings
- 40,270
- Projected change
- +5.5%
- Usually needs
- Master's degree
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Active Listening
- Social Perceptiveness
- Speaking
- Service Orientation
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| El Centro MSA (Imperial County) | $138,484 | 170 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $105,740 | 2,570 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $104,906 | 600 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $102,738 | 380 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $102,276 | 2,240 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $102,245 | 3,250 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $101,886 | 1,060 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $101,485 | 2,710 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $100,951 | 400 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $100,850 | 2,170 |
| Salinas MSA (Monterey County) | $100,448 | 440 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $99,381 | 220 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $98,886 | 720 |
| Hanford-Corcoran MSA (Kings County) | $98,373 | 90 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $98,137 | 300 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $97,613 | 560 |
| Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties) | $97,315 | 130 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $96,442 | 270 |
| Napa MSA (Napa County) | $95,004 | 90 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $91,860 | 2,850 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $86,967 | 11,700 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $86,961 | 650 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $86,036 | 390 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $85,564 | 440 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $85,081 | 3,260 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $84,074 | 210 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $82,000 | 240 |
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties) | $80,562 | 130 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $78,127 | 320 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $78,127 | 460 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $64,270 | 240 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $53,343
- A quarter earn under
- $65,699
- Half earn under
- $88,921
- Three quarters earn under
- $123,143
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $140,486
A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rehabilitation Counselors | $45,725 | 17,450 | +14.8% |
| School Psychologists | $131,357 | 4,920 | +2.4% |
| Social and Human Service Assistants | $52,520 | 73,580 | +16.1% |
| Child, Family, and School Social Workers | $67,025 | 60,640 | +14.1% |
| Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers | $81,211 | 22,620 | +20.1% |
Programs that train for this job — 2
Educational Therapy
UCSC Silicon Valley Extension · Santa Clara · $7,370
Career Advising-Online
UCSD Division of Extended Studies · La Jolla · $2,810