Substance Abuse & Mental Health Counselors
Counsel people through addiction and mental health struggles toward recovery.
At a glance
BLS's 2035 projection for Substance Abuse & Mental Health Counselors is +18%, 15 points above typical growth across the occupations we cover. Works-with-AI scores 10/100 against moderate displacement risk, tilting toward AI replacing tasks, with modeled exposure at the 56th percentile. BLS projects about 50,500 openings a year, a bigger pool than most occupations here. The usual way in is a bachelor's degree. The $59,350 median for Substance Abuse & Mental Health Counselors runs 12% below the typical occupation we cover, but in line with the median across Community & Social Service. Where the projection for Child Development Specialists is +4.4%, the figure here is +18%.
Similar pay in Community & Social Service
Key skills
- Active listening
- Crisis response
- Treatment planning
- Empathy
- Boundaries
Pay and jobs by state
BLS OEWS May 2025, 50 states and DC. Sorted by jobs; per 1,000 is jobs per thousand workers in the state; vs national compares that rate with the country's. A tilde marks a figure estimated from the parent occupation group where BLS publishes none.
| State | Jobs | Per 1,000 | vs national | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 75,610 | 4.2 | 1.3× | $59k |
| Pennsylvania | 30,620 | 5.0 | 1.6× | $52k |
| Florida | 29,750 | 3.0 | 0.9× | $57k |
| New York | 26,770 | 2.8 | 0.9× | $59k |
| Texas | 21,400 | 1.5 | 0.5× | $63k |
| Illinois | 20,250 | 3.3 | 1.1× | $61k |
| Massachusetts | 18,190 | 5.0 | 1.6× | $60k |
| Ohio | 18,020 | 3.2 | 1.0× | $58k |
| Virginia | 17,940 | 4.4 | 1.4× | $60k |
| Colorado | 14,920 | 5.2 | 1.6× | $62k |
All 50 states and DC
| State | Jobs | Per 1,000 | vs national | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | 14,250 | 4.0 | 1.3× | $69k |
| New Jersey | 14,210 | 3.3 | 1.1× | $63k |
| Indiana | 11,890 | 3.7 | 1.2× | $54k |
| North Carolina | 10,300 | 2.1 | 0.7× | $55k |
| Michigan | 10,100 | 2.3 | 0.7× | $62k |
| Arizona | 9,990 | 3.1 | 1.0× | $65k |
| Maryland | 9,730 | 3.5 | 1.1× | $60k |
| Georgia | 9,600 | 2.0 | 0.6× | $59k |
| Tennessee | 9,040 | 2.8 | 0.9× | $50k |
| Wisconsin | 8,340 | 2.8 | 0.9× | $62k |
| Oregon | 8,160 | 4.1 | 1.3× | $75k |
| Missouri | 8,130 | 2.8 | 0.9× | $57k |
| Kentucky | 7,690 | 3.8 | 1.2× | $54k |
| Connecticut | 7,540 | 4.4 | 1.4× | $64k |
| Minnesota | 7,110 | 2.4 | 0.8× | $59k |
| Louisiana | 6,420 | 3.3 | 1.1× | $38k |
| Utah | 6,320 | 3.6 | 1.1× | $64k |
| South Carolina | 6,300 | 2.7 | 0.9× | $52k |
| Oklahoma | 5,150 | 3.0 | 0.9× | $59k |
| Alabama | 4,536 (estimated) | 2.1 (estimated) | 0.7× (estimated) | $47k |
| New Hampshire | 3,690 | 5.4 | 1.7× | $55k |
| Iowa | 3,530 | 2.3 | 0.7× | $61k |
| Idaho | 2,990 | 3.5 | 1.1× | $63k |
| Kansas | 2,600 | 1.8 | 0.6× | $59k |
| Arkansas | 2,570 | 2.0 | 0.6× | $52k |
| New Mexico | 2,420 | 2.8 | 0.9× | $74k |
| Nebraska | 2,170 | 2.1 | 0.7× | $64k |
| Rhode Island | 2,170 | 4.3 | 1.4× | $65k |
| Hawaii | 2,110 | 3.4 | 1.1× | $60k |
| West Virginia | 2,100 | 3.0 | 0.9× | $49k |
| Mississippi | 2,090 | 1.8 | 0.6× | $47k |
| Maine | 1,930 | 3.0 | 0.9× | $60k |
| Montana | 1,820 | 3.6 | 1.1× | $59k |
| Nevada | 1,810 | 1.2 | 0.4× | $57k |
| South Dakota | 1,710 | 3.7 | 1.2× | $54k |
| Delaware | 1,700 | 3.5 | 1.1× | $56k |
| Alaska | 1,290 | 4.0 | 1.3× | $81k |
| North Dakota | 1,290 | 3.0 | 0.9× | $69k |
| Washington DC | 1,260 | 1.8 | 0.6× | $60k |
| Vermont | 1,120 | 3.7 | 1.2× | $62k |
| Wyoming | 910 | 3.2 | 1.0× | $63k |
Top metro areas
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA26,960 jobs · $52k median
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ26,200 jobs · $61k median
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN15,580 jobs · $62k median
- Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD14,920 jobs · $58k median
- Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH11,150 jobs · $62k median
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL10,240 jobs · $57k median
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA9,520 jobs · $68k median
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV9,030 jobs · $65k median
Where this ranks
Explore Substance Abuse & Mental Health Counselors interactively →Pay and outlook from BLS (OEWS 2025, Employment Projections 2025-2035). Skills and work activities from O*NET 30.3. AI exposure and future-proof scores are modeled estimates. How these numbers are made.