Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors
SOC 21-1018 · 2024-2034
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $60,909per year
- Projected openings
- 86,370
- Projected change
- +26.1%
- Usually needs
- Master's degree
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| Hanford-Corcoran MSA (Kings County) | $78,312 | 200 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $77,866 | 5,040 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $76,699 | 3,130 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $76,227 | 680 |
| Napa MSA (Napa County) | $75,970 | 210 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $74,347 | 920 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $71,399 | 4,570 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $69,540 | 1,170 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $69,371 | 4,080 |
| El Centro MSA (Imperial County) | $67,301 | 200 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $66,319 | 620 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $65,493 | 560 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $64,979 | 1,210 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $64,846 | 740 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $64,548 | 650 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $64,116 | 380 |
| Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties) | $63,346 | 290 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $63,182 | 510 |
| Salinas MSA (Monterey County) | $63,017 | 640 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $62,514 | 5,800 |
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties) | $62,370 | 220 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $62,288 | 2,250 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $62,033 | 20,320 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $61,620 | 560 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $61,466 | 320 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $61,466 | 940 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $61,138 | 1,890 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $60,285 | 6,110 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $59,895 | 520 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $56,916 | 370 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $53,413 | 7,220 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $45,890
- A quarter earn under
- $48,974
- Half earn under
- $60,909
- Three quarters earn under
- $82,825
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $114,189
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.
Related work
Occupations in the same family as this one, ordered by projected openings. Related by how the job classification groups them, not by a claim that the skills transfer.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social and Human Service Assistants | $52,520 | 73,580 | +16.1% |
| Child, Family, and School Social Workers | $67,025 | 60,640 | +14.1% |
| Marriage and Family Therapists | $69,184 | 46,570 | +30.7% |
| Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors | $88,921 | 40,270 | +5.5% |
| Counselors, All Other | $50,217 | 25,900 | +28.1% |
| Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers | $81,211 | 22,620 | +20.1% |