Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors
Also called: Academic Advisor, Academic Counselor, Admissions Counselor, Adult School Counselor, Advisor, Articulation Officer, Assessment Specialist, Career Advisor
Advise and assist students and provide educational and vocational guidance services.
What educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors do
Typical tasks
- Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
- Counsel students regarding educational issues, such as course and program selection, class scheduling and registration, school adjustment, truancy, study habits, and career planning.
- Provide crisis intervention to students when difficult situations occur at schools.
- Counsel individuals or groups to help them understand and overcome personal, social, or behavioral problems affecting their educational or vocational situations.
- Review transcripts to ensure that students meet graduation or college entrance requirements, and write letters of recommendation.
- Prepare students for later educational experiences by encouraging them to explore learning opportunities and to persevere with challenging tasks.
- Refer students to outside counseling services.
- Refer students to degree programs based on interests, aptitudes, or educational assessments.
- Evaluate students' or individuals' abilities, interests, and personality characteristics, using tests, records, interviews, or professional sources.
- Provide students with information on topics such as college degree programs and admission requirements, financial aid opportunities, trade and technical schools, and apprenticeship programs.
- Conduct follow-up interviews with counselees to determine if their needs have been met.
- Instruct individuals in career development techniques, such as job search and application strategies, resume writing, and interview skills.
Typical path into the job (BLS)
Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors salary
The median annual wage for educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors is $64,330 (BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, national). The lowest 10 percent earn less than $45,020 and the highest 10 percent earn more than $104,770. The mean annual wage is $71,430.
The mean hourly wage of $34.00 is 4.7× the federal minimum wage of $7.25. State minimums are higher in most large states. Minimum wage by state →
How does your pay compare with people your age?
Your numbers are not sent or stored. The comparison uses this occupation's BLS wage percentiles, adjusted for age with BLS median weekly earnings by age group (Q3 2026).
Pay by percentile
Annual wage percentiles from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Percentiles are a good proxy for pay by experience.
Projected pay for Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors (3, 5 and 10 years)est.
Today $64,330 → in 3 years $70,100 → in 5 years $74,200 → in 10 years $85,500 (10-year range $73,500–$99,300). The model assumes pay growth of +2.9% per year.
What drives the annual growth rate
Projected pay = current pay × (1 + annual growth)^years. The annual growth rate starts from a base wage-growth rate and adds or subtracts labor demand (BLS projected employment growth), wage momentum and AI replacement risk for each occupation. Projections are not guarantees. How it is calculated →
Outlook score for Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors
Each component is a percentile rank among all occupations in the same country (0–100). Weights: labor demand 25, wage momentum / openings 15, pay level 15, AI resistance 25, aging workforce 10 (Japan only), entry barrier 10.
Will AI replace Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors? AI replacement risk
How AI is changing this job
A written analysis for this occupation is being prepared.
AI replacement risk compares the parts of a job that are easy to hand to AI or software (processing information, documentation, repetitive computer work) with the parts that are hard to automate (physical work, working closely with people, judgment in unpredictable settings), using O*NET work activities, work context, skills and knowledge. The result is a relative position among all occupations in the country, scaled to 0–100%. Methodology →
Labor demand for Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors
Employment projections are from the BLS Employment Projections program (2025–35). Annual openings include both new jobs and replacement of workers who leave the occupation.
The same job in Japan
| Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors United States | スクールカウンセラー Japan | ハローワーク職員 Japan | キャリアカウンセラー/キャリアコンサルタント Japan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median / average pay | $64,330 | ¥5.83M ≈ $37,094 | ¥5.29M ≈ $33,620 | ¥5.83M ≈ $37,094 |
| Pay in 10 years (est.) | $85,500 | ¥7.67M | ¥6.48M | ¥7.62M |
| Outlook score | 50 | 61 | 44 | 57 |
| AI replacement risk | 52% Moderate | 35% Low | — | 45% Moderate |
| Workers | 353K | — | — | — |
Matched by occupation (SOC code). Yen converted at 157.25 JPY/USD for reference; Japanese figures are averages, U.S. figures are medians, and the surveys define occupations differently.
Skills, education and requirements for Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors
Key skills
O*NET skill level ratings (0–7).
Key knowledge areas
What the work involves
Important abilities
Education of workers
Training before entry
Related work experience
Job Zone 5 — extensive preparation needed (O*NET)
Difficulty of entry: ★★★☆☆ Moderate (from education, training, experience and Job Zone)
How to become educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors
A step-by-step guide for this occupation is being prepared. The education, training and experience data above show the typical path.
Career path and how to earn more as educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors
Career-path guidance is being prepared. Pay by percentile is shown in the Pay section.