• Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2021

21-1018 Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors

This occupation includes the 2018 SOC occupations 21-1011 Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors and 21-1014 Mental Health Counselors.

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National estimates for Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors
Industry profile for Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors
Geographic profile for Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors

National estimates for Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
310,880	1.0 %	$ 25.72	$ 53,490	0.5 %

Percentile wage estimates for Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 14.84	$ 18.52	$ 23.33	$ 29.64	$ 37.49
Annual Wage (2)	$ 30,870	$ 38,520	$ 48,520	$ 61,660	$ 77,980

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Industry profile for Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Outpatient Care Centers	72,820	7.38	$ 24.99	$ 51,980
Individual and Family Services	51,580	1.94	$ 25.08	$ 52,170
Offices of Other Health Practitioners	38,250	3.93	$ 27.66	$ 57,520
Residential Intellectual and Developmental Disability, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Facilities	35,410	5.78	$ 21.71	$ 45,150
Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OEWS Designation)	21,920	0.41	$ 30.57	$ 63,580

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Outpatient Care Centers	72,820	7.38	$ 24.99	$ 51,980
Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals	15,270	6.38	$ 23.60	$ 49,100
Residential Intellectual and Developmental Disability, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Facilities	35,410	5.78	$ 21.71	$ 45,150
Other Residential Care Facilities	7,660	5.08	$ 18.73	$ 38,950
Offices of Other Health Practitioners	38,250	3.93	$ 27.66	$ 57,520

Top paying industries for Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations	(8)	(8)	$ 37.77	$ 78,570
Agencies, Brokerages, and Other Insurance Related Activities	230	0.02	$ 36.48	$ 75,880
Insurance Carriers	510	0.04	$ 36.24	$ 75,390
Junior Colleges	270	0.04	$ 32.93	$ 68,490
Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities)	330	0.02	$ 32.78	$ 68,180

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Geographic profile for Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	34,820	2.11	0.95	$ 28.74	$ 59,790
New York	20,010	2.31	1.05	$ 26.95	$ 56,050
Pennsylvania	18,240	3.27	1.48	$ 23.79	$ 49,480
Massachusetts	17,020	5.01	2.27	$ 26.52	$ 55,160
Texas	16,970	1.39	0.63	$ 23.81	$ 49,510

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Massachusetts	17,020	5.01	2.27	$ 26.52	$ 55,160
Vermont	1,210	4.26	1.93	$ 23.51	$ 48,890
Washington	12,390	3.86	1.75	$ 27.16	$ 56,500
Colorado	10,100	3.85	1.75	$ 27.84	$ 57,900
Montana	1,770	3.76	1.70	$ 21.87	$ 45,490

Top paying states for Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Utah	3,450	2.22	1.01	$ 31.82	$ 66,190
Alaska	1,000	3.37	1.53	$ 31.29	$ 65,090
District of Columbia	820	1.24	0.56	$ 31.21	$ 64,920
Rhode Island	570	1.25	0.57	$ 31.08	$ 64,640
New Jersey	10,710	2.78	1.26	$ 30.50	$ 63,430

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	19,650	2.26	1.03	$ 29.52	$ 61,390
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	13,010	2.28	1.03	$ 28.66	$ 59,610
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	10,630	4.11	1.86	$ 26.72	$ 55,570
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	9,480	3.57	1.62	$ 25.85	$ 53,770
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	7,810	1.84	0.84	$ 26.18	$ 54,460
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	6,570	3.42	1.55	$ 28.20	$ 58,650
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	5,080	1.73	0.79	$ 30.06	$ 62,510
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	4,930	2.71	1.23	$ 26.13	$ 54,350
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO	4,760	3.25	1.47	$ 29.57	$ 61,510
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	4,620	2.06	0.93	$ 31.43	$ 65,370

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New Bedford, MA	680	10.93	4.95	$ 23.72	$ 49,340
Pueblo, CO	610	10.05	4.55	$ 25.42	$ 52,870
Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA	560	8.27	3.75	$ 22.91	$ 47,650
Leominster-Gardner, MA	390	8.04	3.65	$ 27.49	$ 57,170
Worcester, MA-CT	2,030	7.57	3.43	$ 26.20	$ 54,500
Springfield, MA-CT	2,220	7.23	3.28	$ 25.85	$ 53,760
Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	1,680	7.16	3.24	$ 25.64	$ 53,330
Trenton, NJ	1,450	6.37	2.89	$ 28.83	$ 59,970
Gettysburg, PA	200	6.11	2.77	$ 21.37	$ 44,450
Longview, WA	220	5.74	2.60	$ 27.73	$ 57,680