Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors

United States. Estimated employment 491,930, with pages for 46 metro areas below.

Data released May 2025 BLS OEWS · SOC 21-1018

Fig. 1 — The wage rule

Where you sit in the distribution

Drag the marker, or type a figure

$59,350 · 50th

$38,94010th

$47,10025th

$59,35050th

$76,53075th

$97,59090th

That is the median — half of people in this occupation in the US earn more.

Table 1 — By metro area

Where it pays

Every published Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors page, by median pay. Employment is the BLS estimate for the metro.

Metro area	Median	Employment
San Luis Obispo, CA	$80,770	350
Salinas, CA	$73,940	620
El Centro, CA	$73,620	220
Hanford, CA	$72,960	190
Stockton, CA	$72,770	1,260
San Jose, CA	$72,550	2,550
San Francisco, CA	$68,400	9,520
Champaign, IL	$68,300	310
Vallejo, CA	$66,940	670
Ithaca, NY	$65,010	200
Boston, MA	$62,130	11,150
Barnstable Town, MA	$61,880	440
Chicago, IL	$61,600	15,580
Jacksonville, FL	$61,260	2,030
North Port, FL	$61,200	740
New York, NY	$61,020	26,200
Punta Gorda, FL	$60,880	180
Kingston, NY	$60,040	210
Rochester, NY	$59,620	1,380
Lebanon, PA	$59,510	200
Springfield, IL	$59,450	270
Kankakee, IL	$59,440	130
Kiryas Joel, NY	$59,230	880
Naples, FL	$58,870	500
Amherst Town, MA	$58,810	590
Springfield, MA	$58,750	1,790
Tallahassee, FL	$58,240	470
Philadelphia, PA	$58,140	14,920
Worcester, MA	$57,950	2,460
Syracuse, NY	$57,940	690
Binghamton, NY	$57,720	220
Peoria, IL	$57,350	560
Miami, FL	$57,290	10,240
Harrisburg, PA	$57,210	1,330
Orlando, FL	$56,710	3,270
Lakeland, FL	$56,580	750
Bloomington, IL	$55,890	280
Reading, PA	$55,690	840
Allentown, PA	$55,520	1,550
Pittsfield, MA	$55,100	440
Pittsburgh, PA	$54,290	6,110
Rockford, IL	$53,670	460
State College, PA	$53,540	400
Los Angeles, CA	$51,910	26,960
Decatur, IL	$51,740	130
York, PA	$51,470	800

Sources

How this page was made

Wage data: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. Public domain.
Employment: 491,930 employed in this occupation nationally (BLS estimate; excludes the self-employed).
Occupation: SOC 21-1018, Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors. Mapped to our taxonomy as substance-abuse-behavioral-disorder-and-mental-health-counselors.

Percentiles are reported exactly as released and are never interpolated between published values. We take no payment from employers, recruiters or anyone else for how any figure is presented.

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