Counselors, All Other
SOC 21-1019 · 2024-2034
All counselors not listed separately.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $50,217per year
- Projected openings
- 25,900
- Projected change
- +28.1%
- Usually needs
- Master's degree
Bright Outlook — a U.S. Department of Labor designation
Rapid Growth
The Department's own designation, made from its national projections. It is not this project's assessment and it is not California's: every other figure on this page comes from California's projection, which can point the other way and for some occupations does.
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $93,905 | 210 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $68,285 | 200 |
| Salinas MSA (Monterey County) | $64,096 | 250 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $61,168 | 210 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $60,655 | 1,340 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $57,584 | 100 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $56,495 | 230 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $54,966 | 1,810 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $54,785 | 1,220 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $53,619 | 80 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $53,208 | 350 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $50,496 | 400 |
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties) | $49,520 | 50 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $49,448 | 2,160 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $48,288 | 690 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $48,205 | 1,870 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $47,733 | 200 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $47,640 | 2,300 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $47,260 | 210 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $47,214 | 8,290 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $47,030 | 2,750 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $45,894 | 890 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $43,871 | 350 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $43,378 | 330 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $40,236
- A quarter earn under
- $46,753
- Half earn under
- $50,217
- Three quarters earn under
- $63,345
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $102,553
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors | $60,909 | 86,370 | +26.1% |
| 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% |
| Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers | $81,211 | 22,620 | +20.1% |
Programs that train for this job — 2
Peer Specialist For Veterans
Loyola Marymount University - LMU Extension · Los Angeles · $2,700
Medical Assistant
Health Care Integrated School Based Health · Chula Vista · $12,729