Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between child life therapists and child life specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a child life specialist has an average salary of $55,201, which is higher than the $50,768 average annual salary of a child life therapist.
The top three skills for a child life therapist include patients, direct care and social work. The most important skills for a child life specialist are patients, child development, and patient care.
| Child Life Therapist | Child Life Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $50,768 | $55,201 |
| Hourly rate | $24.41 | $26.54 |
| Growth rate | 17% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 78,428 | 90,517 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 41 | 43 |
| Years of experience | - | 12 |
Child life therapists and child life specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Child Life Therapist | Child Life Specialist | |
| Average salary | $50,768 | $55,201 |
| Salary range | Between $37,000 And $69,000 | Between $31,000 And $96,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | California |
| Best paying company | - | L.E.K. Consulting |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between a child life therapist and a child life specialist in terms of educational background:
| Child Life Therapist | Child Life Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Psychology |
| Most common college | Duke University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between child life therapists' and child life specialists' demographics:
| Child Life Therapist | Child Life Specialist | |
| Average age | 41 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 35.0% Female, 65.0% | Male, 24.9% Female, 75.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.0% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.0% Asian, 11.2% White, 72.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 15.6% Asian, 7.0% White, 60.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 12% | 11% |