Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between direct support specialists and support specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a support specialist has an average salary of $40,782, which is higher than the $37,771 average annual salary of a direct support specialist.
The top three skills for a direct support specialist include direct support, mental health and CPR. The most important skills for a support specialist are customer service, patients, and mental health.
| Direct Support Specialist | Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $37,771 | $40,782 |
| Hourly rate | $18.16 | $19.61 |
| Growth rate | 36% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 95,560 | 125,740 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 44% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 48 | 42 |
| Years of experience | - | 2 |
A direct support specialist provides care and assistance to individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities. They may work at nursing facilities, government institutions, or at the patients' homes. Their responsibilities usually revolve around helping patients with daily tasks such as bathing, dressing, going to the toilet, and attending appointments. They may also assist patients in taking medications, handle the laundry and dishes, cook and prepare meals according to nutrition plans, and run errands as necessary. Moreover, they are also responsible for coordinating with physicians, maintaining daily records, and processing documents.
A support specialist is responsible for assisting technical and administrative support, depending on the business need. Support specialists must have extensive knowledge of the services of the organization they work for to assist customers with their inquiries and resolve complaints efficiently. A support specialist maintains documents of issue resolution, providing recommendations to improve business strategies and procedures. Support specialists must be well-versed on technology systems, perform basic troubleshooting, and secure databases. They should also have impeccable customer service and communication skills to attend with customers' needs and requests.
Direct support specialists and support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Direct Support Specialist | Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $37,771 | $40,782 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $54,000 | Between $25,000 And $64,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | BP America Inc | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | Real Estate | Technology |
There are a few differences between a direct support specialist and a support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Direct Support Specialist | Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 44% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Business |
| Most common college | - | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between direct support specialists' and support specialists' demographics:
| Direct Support Specialist | Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 48 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 27.7% Female, 72.3% | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 7.7% White, 59.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% | Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 10.4% White, 56.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 11% |