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The differences between licensed professional counselors and youth counselors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a licensed professional counselor and a youth counselor. Additionally, a licensed professional counselor has an average salary of $94,675, which is higher than the $36,754 average annual salary of a youth counselor.
The top three skills for a licensed professional counselor include patients, social work and LPC. The most important skills for a youth counselor are direct care, mental health, and crisis intervention.
| Licensed Professional Counselor | Youth Counselor | |
| Yearly salary | $94,675 | $36,754 |
| Hourly rate | $45.52 | $17.67 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 153,612 | 78,461 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Master's Degree, 48% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A licensed professional counselor is a healthcare professional who specializes in providing therapy and counseling to patients with emotional and mental health issues. They listen to their patients and utilize various techniques to address concerns and help through the healing procedures. Their duties entail conducting interviews and evaluations, performing research and assessments, studying the patients' medical histories, providing consultations, and developing treatment plans that suit every patients' needs. Additionally, a licensed professional counselor monitors and records their patients' progress, adjusting treatments and medications as necessary.
A Youth Counselor's role is to provide guidance and interact with children or teenagers in need of care and counseling. The duty of a Youth Counselor is diverse, and it highly depends on the organization or employer. However, the responsibilities mostly revolve around establishing rapport with the youngster while trying to work on their issues, ensuring their welfare by monitoring their emotional and physical state, coordinating with families or other facilities, suggesting treatments, and performing crisis intervention if necessary.
Licensed professional counselors and youth counselors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Licensed Professional Counselor | Youth Counselor | |
| Average salary | $94,675 | $36,754 |
| Salary range | Between $73,000 And $122,000 | Between $27,000 And $49,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Jose, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | Bloomberg | New York State Restaurant Association |
| Best paying industry | Real Estate | Professional |
There are a few differences between a licensed professional counselor and a youth counselor in terms of educational background:
| Licensed Professional Counselor | Youth Counselor | |
| Most common degree | Master's Degree, 48% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Psychology |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between licensed professional counselors' and youth counselors' demographics:
| Licensed Professional Counselor | Youth Counselor | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 28.8% Female, 71.2% | Male, 43.8% Female, 56.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 3.2% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 3.2% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 15% | 15% |