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Counselors, All Other

All counselors not listed separately.

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Median pay BLS, 2025$50,860
Openings a year BLS, 2025–354,300
Typical education to start BLSMaster's degree
AI exposure BLS, Aug 2026 High
Projected job growth BLS, 2025–35 +5.9%

What the data says: Jobs are projected to grow 5.9% by 2035. Its tasks haven't been rated for what AI could do. 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, 3.2% 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 59% 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.

How to read these

Pay compared with all occupations BLS median wages Pays more than 35% of 825 occupations
lowest-paidhighest-paid

Median pay by state BLS OEWS May 2025, state estimates

$37k$94knot published

Median pay in every state
StateMedianMiddle half earnJobs
Alabama$47,580$38,420 to $49,610120
Alaska$45,060$38,340 to $51,46070
Arizona$59,910$52,210 to $64,920110
Arkansas$49,310$44,130 to $59,310110
California$48,850$45,480 to $61,62010,770
Colorado$66,680$56,520 to $79,570370
Connecticut$53,310$40,570 to $70,68060
Delaware$48,990$36,770 to $82,590not published
District of Columbia$93,720$93,720 to $97,94090
Florida$45,880$39,370 to $49,7401,230
Georgia$79,490$54,530 to $87,450760
Hawaii$65,470$51,390 to $73,90070
Illinois$49,360$42,190 to $62,450760
Indiana$45,360$29,700 to $66,75070
Iowa$61,080$44,140 to $81,41090
Kentucky$40,230$15,170 to $58,55070
Louisiana$47,830$39,100 to $57,8601,510
Maine$62,190$60,300 to $73,35060
Maryland$46,840$33,000 to $61,4201,750
Massachusetts$58,240$56,890 to $84,040140
Michigan$37,390$37,230 to $56,780470
Minnesota$47,740$39,590 to $58,250650
Mississippi$54,090$44,850 to $56,55040
Missouri$43,680$39,470 to $62,170130
Montana$39,260$39,260 to $64,480110
Nebraska$40,530$39,400 to $48,110not published
Nevada$45,440$39,470 to $46,560280
New Hampshire$47,770$39,750 to $61,880100
New Jersey$73,360$60,230 to $87,360810
New York$58,500$48,590 to $62,800470
North Carolina$52,280$43,470 to $57,150not published
North Dakota$69,860$63,010 to $82,97080
Ohio$45,840$34,420 to $59,580330
Oregon$78,750$65,770 to $89,430120
Pennsylvania$59,160$43,000 to $75,3201,330
Puerto Rico$38,400$34,800 to $47,12030
South Carolina$55,140$31,940 to $62,33060
Tennessee$51,900$45,700 to $54,710740
Texas$54,450$44,080 to $65,4902,550
Utah$93,530$41,240 to $93,610150
Vermont$56,220$51,960 to $70,530150
Virginia$76,450$55,310 to $126,980470
Washington$69,530$55,220 to $96,080120
West Virginia$44,810$34,490 to $53,910220
Wisconsin$71,390$54,950 to $86,650440

Nationally: $50,860. 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.

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 counselors, all other 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.

AI exposure and projected job growth, 831 occupationsLow exposure: 134 of 213 occupations projected to grow. Moderate exposure: 151 of 206 occupations projected to grow. High exposure: 165 of 206 occupations projected to grow. Very high exposure: 141 of 206 occupations projected to grow.-20%-15%-10%-5%0%+5%+10%+15%+20%+25%Low134 of 213 growingModerate151 of 206 growingHigh165 of 206 growingVery high141 of 206 growing11 occupations outside −20% to +25% are drawn at the edge. Click a dot to see that occupation.Counselors, all other: +5.9%Counselors, All OtherAI exposure and projected job growth, 831 occupationsLow exposure: 134 of 213 occupations projected to grow. Moderate exposure: 151 of 206 occupations projected to grow. High exposure: 165 of 206 occupations projected to grow. Very high exposure: 141 of 206 occupations projected to grow.-20%-15%-10%-5%0%+5%+10%+15%+20%+25%Low134 of 213Moderate151 of 206High165 of 206Very high141 of 20611 occupations outside −20% to +25% are drawn at the edge. Tap a dot.Counselors, all other: +5.9%Counselors, All Other

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 49,429 moves out

  1. 1 Mental Health Counselors 6%
  2. 2 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 5%
  3. 3 Teachers and Instructors, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 4%
  4. 4 Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive Very high -6.0% 4%
  5. 5 Medical and Health Services Managers High +24.2% 3%

Where people moved in from

of 34,030 moves in

  1. 1 Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive Very high -6.0% 5%
  2. 2 Mental Health Counselors 4%
  3. 3 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 4%
  4. 4 Customer Service Representatives Very high -5.3% 3%
  5. 5 Teachers and Instructors, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 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

Education people in it hold

Census survey (American Community Survey)

  • 2% less than high school
  • 7% high school
  • 10% some college
  • 6% associate's
  • 28% bachelor's
  • 41% master's
  • 2% professional degree
  • 3% doctorate

Census ACS 2024, all workers in this occupation · 2,182 people surveyed.

Median pay by highest degree full-time, year-round · Census ACS 2024, all workers in this occupation

Programs that prepare people for it (NCES)
8 programs, such as Thanatology, Pastoral Studies/Counseling and Pastoral Counseling and Specialized Ministries, Other.
See all
  • Thanatology
  • Pastoral Studies/Counseling
  • Pastoral Counseling and Specialized Ministries, Other
  • Counseling Psychology
  • Social Work
  • Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling
  • Infant/Toddler Mental Health Services
  • Executive/Career Coaching

Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023

BLS publishes no credential figures for this occupation.

Look up certifications, training and licenses U.S. Department of Labor

These open in a new tab and send only the occupation's public code. More in the Guide

See where your own career could go Start by uploading your resume Browse careers

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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