Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between community advocates and resident assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a community advocate and a resident assistant. Additionally, a community advocate has an average salary of $35,900, which is higher than the $29,971 average annual salary of a resident assistant.
The top three skills for a community advocate include community resources, community outreach and crisis intervention. The most important skills for a resident assistant are home health, CPR, and vital signs.
| Community Advocate | Resident Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $35,900 | $29,971 |
| Hourly rate | $17.26 | $14.41 |
| Growth rate | 12% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 36,520 | 19,033 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
The task of a community advocate is to provide advocacy and lobby for change or development within neighborhoods. Community advocates collaborate with a certain population like battered women or the deaf affected by environmental contamination. The advocates guide and assist on the hotline to make sure that every individual gets necessary guidance, safety plans, and resources. They provide crisis intervention or management with shelter residents. Also, they ensure confidentiality and legal compliance integrity based on corporate policy.
Resident assistants help manage peers or younger students who live in a particular residence hall on campus. They are usually in charge of welcoming fellow students, providing residence hall tours, and helping students cope with their new environment. To help students become more at ease with their environment, resident assistants usually act as buddies. They answer inquiries that the students may have and act as the bridge between the students and the residence hall management. They assist with administrative activities in the residence hall, such as handing out forms for students and ensuring documents are correctly filled out.
Community advocates and resident assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Community Advocate | Resident Assistant | |
| Average salary | $35,900 | $29,971 |
| Salary range | Between $29,000 And $43,000 | Between $22,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Roseville, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | Boston Medical Center | Mount St. Mary's University |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Education |
There are a few differences between a community advocate and a resident assistant in terms of educational background:
| Community Advocate | Resident Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Psychology |
| Most common college | SUNY at Binghamton | SUNY at Binghamton |
Here are the differences between community advocates' and resident assistants' demographics:
| Community Advocate | Resident Assistant | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 25.8% Female, 74.2% | Male, 34.0% Female, 66.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.4% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 24.6% Asian, 5.9% White, 49.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.2% | Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 6.7% White, 58.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |