Counseling Salaries

What are the highest and lowest salaries?

Your salary will vary depending upon your degree level. With just an associates degree, you will earn about $28,000 as a substance abuse counselor. If you are a mental health case manager with a BA in psychology, you will earn around $40,000. If you have a masters degree, you can command up to $70,000. The top earners in the field are clinical psychologists with a doctorate, who earn up to $100,000 per year.

Salaries will vary by employer as well. A counselor working as a financial aid advisor in a college or university may earn up to $45,000 with an associates, bachelors degree or an MBA. An admissions counselor with an associates or bachelors degree may earn up to $46,000. Your counseling pay as a high school guidance counselor with a bachelors degree might reach $73,000. If you earn a masters in counseling education or counseling psychology, your salary could be $100,000 or more.

Counselors who have a bachelors degree and work for the military, correctional facilities or places of worship earn counseling salaries from $28,000 to $60,000. If you have a PhD, you can earn up to $66,000 per year. If you want to specialize in religious work and earn a Master of Divinity, you can earn up to $80,000.

You may also be self-employed. Salaries vary widely, from credit counselors who earn about $11 an hour, to fully certified and licensed private mental health or marriage/family counselors, who can command over $100 an hour.

In addition to my salary, will I earn benefits?

A range of benefits, along with salaries, will comprise your compensation package. Whether you work in a hospital, school, business or church you will probably be offered health insurance, a retirement plan, paid vacation and sick days. Additional benefits will vary by field. As a counselor at a university, you might receive free tuition for yourself and your family. As a chaplain in the U.S. Navy, you would benefit from low cost travel and free continuing education.

There are benefits for part-time workers as well. Counselors in hospitals, clinics or medical offices often get courtesy or reduced fees from doctors for their own health procedures. If you take a part-time counseling job at a school or university with a degree, you might be eligible for free tuition toward the degree required for a permanent job. You will also be able to devote more time to your studies.

Will I always earn a salary?

Your counseling pay could be a yearly salary or hourly wages. A counseling salary is usually higher than hourly pay because the job requires you to manage other people and be available outside of normal business hours. You will be paid a salary if you work full time as a school counselor or your job involves supervising others. Even if you work 50 hours a week, you will be exempt from receiving overtime pay. However, all your hard work as a salaried employee may earn you a year-end bonus.

You will earn hourly wages in counseling jobs that are part time, temporary or per diem. If you are a self-employed marriage counselor, you will probably charge a consulting fee, which is based on an hourly rate. If you are a mental health counselor and your hospital employment agreement permits, you may consult with patients outside of normal business hours for a fee. You may also charge a fee for conducting group seminars.