Community & Social Service

Substance Abuse & Mental Health Counselors

SOC 21-1018

Counsel people through addiction and mental health struggles toward recovery.

Median pay

$59k

$47k to $77k typical range

Outlook

Growing fast

48k openings / yr

Education

Bachelor's

AI exposure

57%

modeled estimate · 63th pct in Microsoft's data

Future-proof

69/100

Key skills

Active listening
Crisis response
Treatment planning
Empathy
Boundaries

Where this ranks

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Pay and outlook from BLS (OEWS 2025, Employment Projections 2024-2034). Skills and work activities from O*NET 30.3. AI exposure and future-proof scores are modeled estimates. How we model AI exposure.