Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors Salary - BLS OEWS Wage Benchmarks
SOC 21-1012 · National · May 2025 OEWS Data
Median Annual Salary
$64,334
$30.93/hr
Verified BLS OEWS data · Updated May 18, 2026
Source: BLS OEWS · Published May 15, 2026
Next refresh: May 2027
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The national median salary for Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors is $64,334 per year ($30.93/hr) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. The middle 50% of earners make between $51,272 and $82,867 annually. Top earners at the 90th percentile reach $104,770 per year. There are approximately 353,310 educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors employed in the United States.
About This Role
BLS Standard Occupational Classification 2018
Advise and assist students and provide educational and vocational guidance services.
Career Outlook
BLS Employment Projections · 2024-2034
10-year growth
+3.5%
About as fast as average
Annual openings
31K
per year, on avg
Workforce today
376K
as of 2024
Why those openings exist
4% from new growth96% from people leaving the role
Most openings come from replacement, not growth. Retention matters more than recruiting here.
Typical entry requirements
Education
Master's degree
Experience
None
On-the-job training
None
Industry Wage Breakdown
Top 5 industries by employment · median annual wage, sector-specific
Industry
Workforce
Median Pay
Elementary and Secondary Schools
NAICS 611100
174K
$76,760
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools
NAICS 611300
95K
$58,410
Junior Colleges
NAICS 611200
29K
$59,770
Educational Support Services
NAICS 611700
11K
$60,340
Individual and Family Services
NAICS 624100
7K
$48,440
Wage range across top 5 industries: $48,440 to $76,760 (58% spread)
Wage Percentiles
Hourly & annualized (2,080 hours)
Percentile
Hourly Rate
Annual Salary
P10
$21.65
$45,032
P25
$24.65
$51,272
P50MEDIAN
$30.93
$64,334
P75
$39.84
$82,867
P90
$50.37
$104,770
Market Context Signal
JOLTS · professional sector
Cooling
Openings Rate
4.2%
Quits Rate
2.0%
Professional & Business Services openings tumbled 318K in March -- the largest single-sector drop in this release. Openings rate fell from 5.5% to 4.2%. Layoffs jumped to 527K (+99K). White-collar demand has cooled abruptly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors salary?
The national median salary for Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors is $64,334 per year ($30.93/hr) according to BLS OEWS May 2025 data. The middle 50% earn between $51,272 and $82,867 annually.
How much do top-earning educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors make?
The 90th percentile salary for Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors is $104,770 per year ($50.37/hr). The 75th percentile is $82,867 per year.
What is the entry-level salary for educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors?
Entry-level Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors (10th percentile) earn approximately $45,032 per year ($21.65/hr). The 25th percentile is $51,272 per year.
Wage figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025 release. OEWS surveys roughly 1.1 million establishments annually. It is the most comprehensive employer-reported wage dataset in the United States.
P10 through P90 percentiles represent the wage distribution across all surveyed employers (not self-reported by workers). Geographic adjustments use BLS-derived cost multipliers calibrated from regional wage variation.
Wages are estimates. Individual compensation depends on experience, education, employer size, industry, and negotiation. Use this as benchmark context, not absolute ground truth.
CompSignal is a free labor market intelligence tool built for HR, compensation, and talent acquisition teams. We make BLS data, the same primary source Mercer and Radford cross-reference in their paid surveys, searchable and actionable without an enterprise subscription.
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