Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between behavior support specialists and housing specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a behavior support specialist and a housing specialist. Additionally, a housing specialist has an average salary of $40,842, which is higher than the $36,769 average annual salary of a behavior support specialist.
The top three skills for a behavior support specialist include social work, crisis intervention and applied behavior analysis. The most important skills for a housing specialist are landlords, social work, and mental health.
| Behavior Support Specialist | Housing Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $36,769 | $40,842 |
| Hourly rate | $17.68 | $19.64 |
| Growth rate | 12% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 140,749 | 56,215 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
Behavior support specialists are social work professionals who provide support to other therapists in treating individuals with behavioral issues. These specialists must provide behavior analysis and health consultations to individuals who are diagnosed with development delay issues, disabilities, and autism spectrum disorders. They must develop and monitor crisis intervention plans for patients with mental health and behavioral needs. Behavior support specialists must also work with special education and regular teachers to implement behavior intervention strategies for students with special education needs.
A housing specialist is responsible for determining the eligibility of individuals on housing opportunities, coordinating with non-profit organizations to request financial assistance, and negotiating terms for housing purposes. Housing specialists analyze the property market conditions, including social services offers and its qualification requirements, to inform the clients of housing support programs and other alternatives. They also prepare cost analysis reports to identify financial needs and check the availability of resources with minimal restrictions. A housing specialist must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in handling clients' account statements and assisting them for approval.
Behavior support specialists and housing specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Behavior Support Specialist | Housing Specialist | |
| Average salary | $36,769 | $40,842 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $46,000 | Between $29,000 And $57,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | Urban Honolulu, HI |
| Highest paying state | North Dakota | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Texas | GeoLogics |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Government |
There are a few differences between a behavior support specialist and a housing specialist in terms of educational background:
| Behavior Support Specialist | Housing Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Business |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between behavior support specialists' and housing specialists' demographics:
| Behavior Support Specialist | Housing Specialist | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 35.2% Female, 64.8% | Male, 27.0% Female, 73.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 5.9% White, 62.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.1% | Black or African American, 12.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 19.5% Asian, 7.0% White, 55.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |