What is a Life Skills Instructor?

Life skills instructors are employed by various institutions. They might work for schools, rehabilitation centers, correctional facilities, and many more. They work with clients in groups or one-on-one and provide counseling to children and adults of any age.

As a life skills instructor, you will be responsible for teaching your clients how to be responsible and functional members of society. You will guide them towards leading an independent life and dealing successfully with various challenges they have to face. You will show them the best ways to sustainably deal with everyday chores, keep good hygiene, tend to relationships, and lead a satisfying social life.

You are generally required to have a degree in psychology, social work, or a related field when applying for this position. Employers will value experience in working with certain groups of people, but specific requirements largely differ based on the institution you want to work for.

What Does a Life Skills Instructor Do

There are certain skills that many life skills instructors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed customer-service skills, communication skills and listening skills.

Learn more about what a Life Skills Instructor does

How To Become a Life Skills Instructor

If you're interested in becoming a life skills instructor, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 52.9% of life skills instructors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 11.4% of life skills instructors have master's degrees. Even though most life skills instructors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Life Skills Instructor
Top Life Skills Instructor Jobs Near You

Life Skills Instructor Career Paths

As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a life skills instructor can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as certified nursing assistant, progress to a title such as team leader and then eventually end up with the title director of social services.

Life Skills Instructor

Average Salary for a Life Skills Instructor

Life Skills Instructors in America make an average salary of $30,844 per year or $15 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $44,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $21,000 per year.
Average Life Skills Instructor Salary
$30,844 Yearly
$14.83 hourly
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Roles and Types of Life Skills Instructor

The role of a life skills instructor includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general life skills instructor responsibilities:

  • Coordinates class schedules with organizational development conducts aha bls
  • Communicates with clients, their families, doctors, dentists, employers, pharmacists
  • Responsibilitiesfacilitate the life skills coursecreate and maintain an engaging learning environmentcommunicate with students/coworkers/custody staff in a clear, effective & respectful mannerresearch

There are several types of life skills instructor, including:

Instructor

Role:

Instructors are knowledgable about a topic and work to pass that knowledge off to their students. Whether you work in a gym or a school, instructors are super important to the students' success.

There are lots of possibilities for you as an instructor. You could work at a health club or a gym or you could work for a school and instruct math. There are so many different instructors out there, basically any topic you can think of probably needs an instructor.

Your hours will vary depending on what industry you decide to go with. You may find some jobs require you to work nights and weekends, like if you were to become a fitness instructor, while school instructors only work during school hours. Your schedule really depends on what you're passionate and knowledgable about and when people want to learn it.

  • Average Salary: $53,426
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Direct Support Professional

Role:

A direct support professional is a trained professional responsible for providing support to people with learning and other developmental disabilities with the goal of achieving more stability and independence as well as creating and maintaining a safe and healthy environment for them to do so. Their duties mainly center around the residents of the facility they work in and thus include administering medication and other forms of therapy and treatment, assisting with everyday tasks and processes, including basic personal hygiene, and monitoring and documenting patient developments and status.

  • Average Salary: $32,077
  • Degree: High School Diploma

Residential Counselor

Role:

Residential counselors work in social care facilities such as homeless shelters, rehabilitation centers, retirement homes, and the like. Their main responsibility is to maintain the structure of the environment or program and oversee the residents' daily activities.

Residential counselors are typically expected to have a degree in psychology, social work, or a related field. They keep an eye on the mental and emotional state of the people under their care and make sure everyone lives by the rules of the facility. They give a hand with transportation and come up with fun and engaging activities for the residents to do while spending quality time together.

As a residential counselor, your responsibilities do not revolve around generating profit, and this is reflected in the median annual salary of the position, which is $29,592. This is a bit less than half of what the average yearly living expenses amount to across the U.S. Caring for each other apparently is not the most lucrative business. It is, however, very rewarding on a personal level.

  • Average Salary: $34,117
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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States With The Most Life Skills Instructor Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active life skills instructor jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where life skills instructors earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Life Skills Instructor Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California2,410$30,551
2New York1,410$32,774
3Massachusetts1,349$34,018
4Pennsylvania1,137$24,360
5Texas1,131$22,207
6Florida1,116$20,365
7New Jersey963$32,025
8Georgia901$24,015
9Minnesota809$25,554
10Virginia797$26,406
11North Carolina748$25,941
12Illinois600$27,195
13Michigan587$23,076
14Colorado585$25,455
15Ohio565$17,913
16Indiana522$24,114
17Maryland457$30,230
18Wisconsin417$24,010
19South Carolina399$23,577
20Arizona375$25,025
21Tennessee374$21,915
22Washington334$30,389
23Oregon312$25,762
24Missouri311$19,962
25Iowa288$19,066
26Connecticut268$35,774
27Kansas192$18,340
28Utah190$24,950
29Nevada189$25,259
30Alabama188$17,836
31Louisiana187$20,560
32Kentucky185$25,971
33Oklahoma152$22,007
34Mississippi146$25,164
35Delaware142$26,848
36West Virginia136$26,638
37Idaho120$18,137
38New Mexico117$19,740
39Rhode Island112$32,124
40Maine109$32,366
41Nebraska107$18,994
42Alaska104$24,992
43Arkansas102$19,604
44Montana94$21,338
45Hawaii86$25,158
46New Hampshire84$33,745
47North Dakota81$28,727
48South Dakota53$21,337
49Wyoming52$24,901
50Vermont43$32,530

Life Skills Instructor Education

Life Skills Instructor Majors

Psychology
16.8 %
Business
10.1 %
Nursing
9.9 %

Life Skills Instructor Degrees

Bachelors

52.9 %

Associate

14.9 %

High School Diploma

12.5 %

Top Colleges for Life Skills Instructors

1. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

3. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

4. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

5. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

6. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,309

Enrollment

9,142

7. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,798

Enrollment

31,503

8. Howard University

Washington, DC • Private

In-State Tuition

$26,756

Enrollment

6,166

9. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

10. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

Top Skills For a Life Skills Instructor

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 9.8% of life skills instructors listed developmental disabilities on their resume, but soft skills such as customer-service skills and communication skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Life Skills Instructor Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Life Skills Instructor templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Life Skills Instructor resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Life Skills Instructor Resume
Life Skills Instructor Resume
Life Skills Instructor Resume
Life Skills Instructor Resume
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Life Skills Instructor Resume
Life Skills Instructor Resume
Life Skills Instructor Resume
Life Skills Instructor Resume
Life Skills Instructor Resume
Life Skills Instructor Resume

Life Skills Instructor diversity

Life Skills Instructor Gender Distribution

Female
Female
66%
Male
Male
34%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among life skills instructors, 66.1% of them are women, while 33.9% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among life skills instructors is White, which makes up 71.3% of all life skills instructors.

  • The most common foreign language among life skills instructors is Spanish at 61.7%.

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Best States For a Life Skills Instructor

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a life skills instructor. The best states for people in this position are Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York. Life skills instructors make the most in Connecticut with an average salary of $35,774. Whereas in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, they would average $34,018 and $33,745, respectively. While life skills instructors would only make an average of $32,774 in New York, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Massachusetts

Total Life Skills Instructor Jobs: 1,349
Highest 10% Earn:
$43,000
Location Quotient:
1.89

$34,018

Avg. Salary

View 1,349 Life Skills Instructor Jobs In MA

2. New Jersey

Total Life Skills Instructor Jobs: 963
Highest 10% Earn:
$44,000
Location Quotient:
1.56

$32,025

Avg. Salary

View 963 Life Skills Instructor Jobs In NJ

3. New York

Total Life Skills Instructor Jobs: 1,410
Highest 10% Earn:
$44,000
Location Quotient:
1.42

$32,774

Avg. Salary

View 1,410 Life Skills Instructor Jobs In NY
Full List Of Best States For Life Skills Instructors

How Do Life Skills Instructors Rate Their Jobs?

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Top Life Skills Instructor Employers

Most Common Employers For Life Skills Instructor

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Arrowhead West$36,109$17.3614
2Lawrence Hall$33,252$15.9924
3Community LIFE$32,692$15.7210
4UCP Seguin of Greater Chicago$32,552$15.6522
5Development Workshop$31,873$15.329
6Little City$30,646$14.7342
7New Vista Ranch$30,468$14.6513
8The Arc of San Diego$30,267$14.5514
9Ability Beyond$30,166$14.50437
10Charles Lea Center$30,043$14.4414
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Life Skills Instructor Videos

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Updated April 6, 2023