Rehabilitation Counselors
Also called: CRC (Certified Rehabilitation Counselor), Job Coach, Vocational Placement Specialist, VRC (Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor)Counsel individuals to maximize the independence and employability of persons coping with personal, social, and vocational difficulties that result from birth defects, illness, disease, accidents, aging, or the stress of daily life. Coordinate activities for residents of care and treatment facilities. Assess client needs and design and implement rehabilitation programs that may include personal and vocational counseling, training, and job placement.
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What the data says: AI could halve the time on 11 of its 17 tasks, yet jobs are projected to grow 2.2% by 2035. How to think about this →
About this projection
BLS builds AI into its projections where the research supports it: “BLS generally applies adjustments based on this research conservatively, where there is convincing evidence for a change.”
It also notes a limit: “BLS projection methods are not designed to capture extremely rapid technological change.”
On its AI exposure groups, BLS says exposure “does not imply job loss.”
Recent conditions
- In 2024, 5.5% of people in this work were unemployed, against 3.8% across all occupations Census ACS 2024
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 5.0 hires for every 10 job openings in health care and social assistance, which employs about 75% of people in this work, against 7.3 across all industries BLS JOLTS
One box per opening, filled for each hire; hires beyond the openings are added in a lighter shade. Higher can mean openings get filled, or that people leave often; lower, that jobs go unfilled, or hiring is slow.5.0 this industry7.3 all industries
Median pay by state BLS OEWS May 2025, state estimates
Tap a state for its figures.
Median pay in every state
| State | Median | Middle half earn | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $54,040 | $41,260 to $72,490 | 540 |
| Alaska | $61,590 | $47,820 to $90,240 | 130 |
| Arizona | $48,330 | $41,960 to $54,230 | 1,750 |
| Arkansas | $35,210 | $27,650 to $47,430 | 600 |
| California | $44,480 | $37,560 to $51,420 | 13,690 |
| Colorado | $47,840 | $39,180 to $64,080 | 980 |
| Connecticut | $56,340 | $44,290 to $79,380 | 2,410 |
| Delaware | $48,840 | $41,060 to $56,450 | 340 |
| District of Columbia | $49,680 | $49,670 to $81,550 | not published |
| Florida | $45,990 | $36,920 to $54,150 | 3,110 |
| Georgia | $55,000 | $45,010 to $62,980 | 740 |
| Hawaii | $48,720 | $44,790 to $60,430 | 150 |
| Idaho | $54,550 | $44,260 to $69,120 | 820 |
| Illinois | $49,350 | $44,620 to $59,820 | 4,140 |
| Indiana | $44,390 | $35,310 to $52,620 | 2,030 |
| Iowa | $39,630 | $35,660 to $47,540 | 2,170 |
| Kansas | $41,980 | $36,050 to $47,830 | 1,370 |
| Kentucky | $58,540 | $40,050 to $70,380 | 790 |
| Louisiana | $47,990 | $40,900 to $71,940 | 280 |
| Maine | $51,150 | $38,550 to $62,580 | 330 |
| Maryland | $40,860 | $36,590 to $50,260 | 3,300 |
| Massachusetts | $47,320 | $43,330 to $73,190 | 5,760 |
| Michigan | $44,580 | $36,160 to $55,750 | 3,340 |
| Minnesota | $48,010 | $43,680 to $62,310 | 3,020 |
| Mississippi | $41,500 | $32,990 to $50,110 | 470 |
| Missouri | $45,180 | $40,220 to $56,330 | 2,020 |
| Montana | $45,240 | $39,080 to $58,000 | 330 |
| Nebraska | $47,050 | $39,250 to $59,830 | 480 |
| Nevada | $40,120 | $34,410 to $46,300 | 570 |
| New Hampshire | $42,600 | $38,760 to $48,310 | 430 |
| New Jersey | $49,730 | $45,050 to $69,740 | 1,630 |
| New Mexico | $48,240 | $38,670 to $67,430 | 210 |
| New York | $47,960 | $42,030 to $59,210 | 3,810 |
| North Carolina | $45,890 | $35,980 to $50,460 | 3,820 |
| North Dakota | $63,050 | $60,640 to $70,690 | 210 |
| Ohio | $42,620 | $37,170 to $58,300 | 3,690 |
| Oklahoma | $38,260 | $29,330 to $48,410 | 1,570 |
| Oregon | $54,970 | $45,990 to $67,170 | 1,630 |
| Pennsylvania | $48,650 | $39,560 to $60,050 | 4,130 |
| Puerto Rico | $53,180 | $37,270 to $53,180 | 290 |
| Rhode Island | $47,020 | $47,010 to $76,750 | 420 |
| South Carolina | $35,990 | $34,230 to $44,320 | 980 |
| South Dakota | $49,350 | $46,010 to $60,580 | 370 |
| Tennessee | $46,060 | $37,500 to $53,310 | 1,590 |
| Texas | $49,990 | $36,870 to $61,150 | 1,840 |
| Utah | $43,900 | $36,990 to $63,490 | 650 |
| Vermont | $50,030 | $42,960 to $63,560 | 310 |
| Virginia | $47,530 | $35,220 to $73,100 | 2,890 |
| Washington | $58,050 | $48,910 to $66,560 | 5,440 |
| West Virginia | $48,050 | $34,740 to $57,610 | 470 |
| Wisconsin | $46,530 | $37,050 to $57,730 | 2,390 |
| Wyoming | $67,640 | $45,080 to $67,640 | 70 |
Nationally: $46,850. Shades run from the lowest state median to the highest; a territory below that range takes the lightest. How to read this
How AI touches the work
What AI could speed up, task by task, and where people already use it.
AI could halve the time on 11 of its 17 tasks
| AI rating | Its main tasks | Share of Claude conversations May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| AI + software | Confer with clients to discuss their options and goals so that rehabilitation programs and plans for accessing needed services can be developed. | Not published |
| AI + software | Develop rehabilitation plans that fit clients' aptitudes, education levels, physical abilities, and career goals. | under 0.01% |
| AI + software | Locate barriers to client employment, such as inaccessible work sites, inflexible schedules, or transportation problems, and work with clients to develop strategies for overcoming these barriers. | Not published |
| AI + software | Analyze information from interviews, educational and medical records, consultation with other professionals, and diagnostic evaluations to assess clients' abilities, needs, and eligibility for services. | under 0.01% |
| AI + software | Prepare and maintain records and case files, including documentation, such as clients' personal and eligibility information, services provided, narratives of client contacts, or relevant correspondence. | under 0.01% |
| AI + software | Monitor and record clients' progress to ensure that goals and objectives are met. | under 0.01% |
See all 17 tasks
| Not much | Develop and maintain relationships with community referral sources, such as schools or community groups. | Not published |
| Not much | Maintain close contact with clients during job training and placements to resolve problems and evaluate placement adequacy. | Not published |
| AI alone | Participate in job development and placement programs, contacting prospective employers, placing clients in jobs, and evaluating the success of placements. | Not published |
| AI alone | Arrange for physical, mental, academic, vocational, and other evaluations to obtain information for assessing clients' needs and developing rehabilitation plans. | Not published |
| AI alone | Confer with physicians, psychologists, occupational therapists, and other professionals to develop and implement client rehabilitation programs. | Not published |
| AI + software | Manage budgets and direct case service allocations, authorizing expenditures and payments. | Not published |
| Not much | Arrange for on-site job coaching or assistive devices, such as specially equipped wheelchairs, to help clients adapt to work or school environments. | Not published |
| Not much | Collaborate with clients' families to implement rehabilitation plans, such as behavioral, residential, social, or employment goals. | Not published |
| AI alone | Collaborate with community agencies to establish facilities and programs for persons with disabilities. | Not published |
| Not much | Develop diagnostic procedures to determine clients' needs. | Not published |
| Not much | Supervise rehabilitation counselors and staff. | Not published |
Ordered by how important O*NET's respondents rate each task (1 to 5) times the share who say it is part of their job. The ordering is ours. 4 of the 17 have a published share of Claude conversations; “not published” means too few conversations for Anthropic to publish a figure.
Where people already use AI
The tasks above say what AI could speed up. This shows what people are using it for. Its 17 tasks fall under 15 work activities that many occupations share, and Microsoft counted how often each one came up in 200,000 conversations with its Copilot assistant in 2024.
- #24 Assist others to access additional services or resources
| Work activity | This occupation's tasks under it | People asked AI for help in 10,000 conversations |
AI did it for them in 10,000 conversations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assist others to access additional services or resources | |||
| Explain medical information to patients or family members | |||
| Assess living, work, or social needs or status of individuals or communities | |||
| Maintain health or medical records | |||
| Evaluate programs, practices, or processes | |||
| Advise others on educational or vocational matters | |||
| Develop professional relationships or networks | |||
| Manage budgets or finances |
Show all 15 activities
| Monitor health conditions of humans or animals | |||
| Develop patient or client care or treatment plans | |||
| Assist individuals with special needs | |||
| Collaborate in the development of educational programs | |||
| Supervise personnel activities | |||
| Confer with healthcare or other professionals about patient care | |||
| Develop health assessment methods or programs |
How people in this work use Claude
What people in this work made with Claude % of conversations
- A document or report37%
- An app or website9%
- Advice or a recommendation7%
- An analysis or summary7%
- A plan or strategy6%
How they worked with Claude
69% of these conversations were about work. Anthropic Economic Index, May 2026.
How to read this
Work activities come from O*NET, which links every task to the broader activities it involves. Microsoft's figures are for the activity across everyone who used Copilot, not for rehabilitation counselors specifically. Copilot is a general chat assistant; dedicated coding tools are not included, so programming help is under-counted here. Activities are listed by how many of this occupation's tasks fall under them.
The task ratings say whether AI could halve the time a task takes: on its own (“AI alone”), or with software built on it (“AI + software”). They were made by people in 2023 (Eloundou et al.). Claude's share is the task's share of all Claude.ai conversations in May 2026; Anthropic doesn't publish a task with too few conversations. None of these add up to the BLS exposure group, which combines five research measures.
More in the Guide: task ratings · task order · work activities · Copilot figures · Claude
High exposure doesn't mean fewer jobs
BLS projects most occupations in its two most exposed groups to grow: 141 of 206 rated Very high and 165 of 206 rated High. Each dot is one of the 831 occupations BLS rates.
Career moves into and out of this occupation
From moves between occupations found in online resumes, 2002–2016. Career changes only: a first job after school isn't a move.
Where people moved next
of 5,817 moves out
- 1 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 4%
- 2 Registered Nurses High +5.6% 4%
- 3 Mental Health Counselors 3%
- 4 Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers Moderate +3.8% 3%
- 5 Property, Real Estate, and Community Association Managers High +3.7% 3%
Where people moved in from
of 6,167 moves in
- 1 Customer Service Representatives Very high -5.3% 5%
- 2 Property, Real Estate, and Community Association Managers High +3.7% 5%
- 3 Nursing Assistants Low +2.6% 4%
- 4 Retail Salespersons Very high -0.3% 3%
- 5 Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand Low +1.8% 3%
Resumes over-represent younger, white-collar job-seekers and moves into management. Schubert, Stansbury and Taska (resume data).
Education and training for the occupation
Census survey (American Community Survey)
- 5% less than high school
- 6% high school
- 8% some college
- 17% associate's
- 27% bachelor's
- 31% master's
- 4% professional degree
- 3% doctorate
Census ACS 2024, all workers in this occupation · 235 people surveyed.
Median pay by highest degree full-time, year-round · Census ACS 2024, all workers in this occupation
3 programs: Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling/Counselor, Assistive/Augmentative Technology and Rehabilitation Engineering and Rehabilitation Science.
Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023
80.1% this occupation
45.3% all occupations
| By kind | This occupation | All occupations |
|---|---|---|
| a license | 14.4% | 19.1% |
| a certification | 6.6% | 5.8% |
| an educational certificate | <0.5% | 2.8% |
Share of jobs whose employer requires it. BLS doesn't say which credential. How to read this
Look up certifications, training and licenses U.S. Department of Labor
- Certification Finder ↗ certifications CareerOneStop lists for this occupation
- Training Finder ↗ schools and programs, nationwide; narrow the place there
- License Finder ↗ licenses by state
- Apprenticeships: DOL's list of apprenticeable occupations doesn't include this one.
These open in a new tab and send only the occupation's public code. More in the Guide
BLS AI exposure categories (Aug 2026) · BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 · O*NET 31.0 · Task ratings: Eloundou et al., Science (2024) · Microsoft "Working with AI" v1.1 · Anthropic Economic Index (2026-06-26) · Schubert, Stansbury and Taska · NCES CIP–SOC · Census ACS 2024 · BLS JOLTS
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