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Job outlook for phone counselors in the United States
Are phone counselor jobs in demand?
Phone counselor job and salary trends over time
Phone counselor jobs over time
Phone counselor job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 445 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 441 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 441 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 419 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 391 | 0.00% |
Average phone counselor salary over time
Phone counselor salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $38,285 | $18.41 | +3.1% |
| 2024 | $37,124 | $17.85 | +2.4% |
| 2023 | $36,238 | $17.42 | +2.5% |
| 2022 | $35,351 | $17.00 | +2.0% |
| 2021 | $34,674 | $16.67 | +2.3% |
Phone counselor jobs by state
Most common states for phone counselors
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 2,331 | 34% |
| 2 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 170 | 24% |
| 3 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 265 | 20% |
| 4 | Alaska | 739,795 | 148 | 20% |
| 5 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 150 | 14% |
| 6 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 947 | 13% |
| 7 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 724 | 13% |
| 8 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 469 | 13% |
| 9 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 1,539 | 12% |
| 10 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 717 | 12% |
| 11 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 486 | 12% |
| 12 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 126 | 12% |
| 13 | Delaware | 961,939 | 112 | 12% |
| 14 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 1,022 | 11% |
| 15 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 637 | 11% |
| 16 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 213 | 11% |
| 17 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 144 | 11% |
| 18 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 86 | 11% |
| 19 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 1,238 | 10% |
| 20 | Arizona | 7,016,270 | 692 | 10% |
Phone Counselor job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of phone counselor experts
Western Illinois University
SUNY College at Oswego
St. John Fisher College
Penn State College of Medicine
Boston College
Muhlenberg College
University of Utah
Angelo State University
What general advice would you give to a Phone Counselor?
Dr. Vanessa Alleyne: It will be important to network and utilize professional organizations of which you are a member, such as the ACA (American Counseling Association), or the ASGW (Association for Specialists in Group Work), for example. Meet people, attend training for advanced skills in key areas, and present there when possible. Whether locally or nationally, these are valuable connections to make when starting out, and will also enhance your knowledge base as you begin and grow. Another valuable connection to be made can be found through your alma mater. Find professional affinity groups from your undergraduate program, and certainly maintain or build ties with your graduate program alumni. Finally, many people turn to social media such as Linkedin, which is fine, but can also be a bit overwhelming. Be deliberate in your choices about who to connect with, and don't get fomo! It's ok not to connect with everyone that pops up in your feed. Stay with one social media site at a time until you feel it's working the way you'd like, and then go on to another.
Dr. Tiffany Bainter PhD LCPC NCC
Associate ProfessorWestern Illinois University
Clinical, Counseling And Applied Psychology
What general advice would you give to a Phone Counselor?
Dr. Tiffany Bainter PhD LCPC NCC: Starting a career in counseling is a fulfilling journey but comes with its own set of challenges. My advice to graduates stepping into this field would be to prioritize self-care. It's crucial to maintain a healthy balance between your professional and personal life, especially when dealing with emotionally taxing situations. Seek supervision and mentorship regularly; having guidance from experienced professionals can provide invaluable insights and support as you navigate your counseling career. Additionally, stay open to continuous learning. The field of counseling is dynamic, with new research and techniques emerging constantly. Pursue opportunities for further education, attend workshops, and stay updated with the latest developments in the field. Cultivate empathy and cultural competence to better understand and connect with clients from diverse backgrounds. Building strong therapeutic relationships based on trust and empathy is at the core of effective counseling practice. Lastly, remember to advocate for mental health awareness and the importance of access to quality mental health services. Being a counselor goes beyond individual sessions; it involves being an advocate for your clients' well-being within the larger societal context.
What Phone Counselor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Jodi Mullen PhD LMHC RPT-S: The bulk of the work a mental health counselor does is clinical, meaning you meet with clients and provide counseling. There is also record keeping, preparation, and administrative responsibilities. New and seasoned counselors alike spend some time in supervision and consultation with other counselors. Supervision is a time to discuss cases with a more experienced professional where there are opportunities for growth professionally and personally. Consultation involves either meeting with others connected to your clients, like parents of children clients, or with professionals in mental health and other fields that can help the counselor sort out a challenge. In that case it may be an attorney or a trauma specialist.
What will help Phone Counselors increase their earning potential?
Emily Yowell Ph.D.: Psychologists should be aware of what others in their field are making for similar positions. It is important to ask for what your work is worth in an initial position to assure raises are based on a solid starting salary. Newer psychologists may also consider asking for an early review that prompts an early conversation around potential raises, bonus, or other job benefits.
John Kiweewa Ph.D.
Associate ProfessorSt. John Fisher College
Wegmans School of Nursing
What soft skills should all Phone Counselors possess?
John Kiweewa Ph.D.: Receptivity to Feedback: Openness to consistently accept feedback in a respectful way is a vital quality, especially for new graduates. Such openness is important not only to feedback from supervisors but from colleagues and clients. Agreeing to or feeling bound to act on the feedback received is not as important as communicating appreciation for the effort of others in giving feedback. In this case, display of behaviors such as anger, annoyance, frustration, defensiveness, excessive/exaggerated self-criticism, or withdrawal gets in the way of learning and/or being a member of a team.
Appropriate Self-Disclosure: The ability for mental health practitioners to 'use' themselves for the benefit of their clients is one of the cornerstones of effective counseling. Such a quality is most evident when one only shares information about themselves that fits the nature and purpose of the interaction with a particular client. When personal information is revealed, it is tasteful, relevant, and is not upsetting, distracting, or confusing to others. Prospective employers are keenly aware of the ways self-serving or self-aggrandizing disclosure of personal information can negatively impact the ability to provide meaningful services to clients.
Reliability and Follow Through: Mental health professionals work in a helping profession that requires the professional to be consistently dependable, reliable, and able to follow through with tasks and assignments in a timely and thorough manner. This includes meeting deadlines, being punctual to sessions with clients and for agency meetings, being prepared, and having a reputation as one who can be counted on to do their part when functioning as a team or project member.
Flexibility and Adaptability: This quality is most evident when a mental health counseling professional consistently demonstrates a willingness to change or compromise in the face of new information, circumstances, and contexts. Situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, require mental health practitioners to have an openness to solutions that match the needs of their service recipients and organizations.
Sense of Humor: There is little to cheer about in the professional life of mental health professionals. We spend the majority of our working time listening to the most painful and vulnerable aspects of people's lives. This quality is most evident when a mental health counselor assumes an orientation to life that acknowledges to self and others the value of looking at the "lighter side" of life to maintain a balance; when they find enjoyment in laughing with others and recognize laughter as a way of reducing tension and as an important aspect of social discourse.
Confidence Balanced with Humility: Confidence in one's abilities (self-efficacy) is a general challenge for beginning mental health counselors. Some may appear over-confident as a way to compensate for lack of experience in the field and to project an image of competence. It is, therefore, important that new graduate is able to act with self-assurance by consistently expressing themselves in a clear, deliberate, and unassuming manner. It is not helpful to "put on airs" or flaunt knowledge or skills in order to bring attention to oneself. What is important is to convey appreciation for the privilege to partake in other people's life journeys and struggles.
Martha Peaslee Levine M.D.
Medical Director of the PHP and IOP, Director of the Office of Professional Mental HealthPenn State College of Medicine
Adolescent Medicine, Psychiatry
What soft skills should all Phone Counselors possess?
Martha Peaslee Levine M.D.: Good communication skills are important. Working as a therapist involves interacting with someone. It will be important to demonstrate being able to listen effectively and being able to communicate clearly. Active listening is important in therapy and in an interview. Be engaged; listen to the interviewer so that you are clearly providing the information that they need. For example, I often ask interviewees to tell me about a case that they found rewarding or challenging. From this, I want to know how someone thinks through a clinical situation. I want to hear how they describe their client (anonymously, of course) and how they put together the important parts of the story. If it was challenging and they now recognize ways to handle it differently, that lets me know that they have thought about this. It also shows that they are willing to reflect on difficult situations and learn from them. If someone cannot relate a story or discuss a client with me, that makes me wonder about their skills as a therapist and their interest in their patients. These clinical interactions can come from your work in school, shadowing someone in training, or internships. It is recognizing and describing the important elements of the case. Another important skill is good written communication. Check your resumes for spelling mistakes. Reread any emails to make certain they are clear. Send thank-you notes. Keep things professional--use the interviewer's professional title when you write. Be on time and have a question or two to ask about the position or place of employment. Examples can be, what are they looking for in a counselor? What have they found the most rewarding working in this office? Find your own go-to question, but interviewers what to know that you are interested.
Treniece Lewis Harris Ph.D.
Associate Professor of the Practice, Program Director, Master's Program in Mental Health CounselingBoston College
Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology
What soft skills should all Phone Counselors possess?
Treniece Lewis Harris Ph.D.: -compassion
-active listening
-perspective-taking
-open-mindedness and respect for differences
-humility
-curiosity and critical observation
-problem recognition and analytical thinking
-creativity and flexibility
-presentation skills
Erika Bagley Ph.D.
Associate ProfessorMuhlenberg College
Department of Developmental Psychology
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Phone Counselors to find work opportunities?
Erika Bagley Ph.D.: The pandemic has really led to a boom in online therapy, teaching, and recreation. So, where a job opportunity is located may be wherever graduates find themselves. Moving to a particular city or geographic area for career opportunities is likely not going to be as important as having skills to facilitate remote interactions. Even if an effective vaccine comes through, there are many people who have found that receiving services and learning online to be a better fit for them, so I don't see the need for this skill set going away in the future.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Phone Counselors to find work opportunities?
Amanda Bakian: My impression is that the job market for graduates with a degree in statistics is still likely to be strong in 2020 - demand for quantitative skills remain high, and work can be done remotely. In an academic setting, individuals with this skill set are in short supply.
Lesley Casarez Ph.D.
Director, Quality Enhancement Plan Program Coordinator, M.S. Professional School Counseling Associate Professor, Curriculum and InstructionAngelo State University
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Phone Counselors in the next 3-5 years?
Lesley Casarez Ph.D.: Graduates will need to learn to use technology in which virtual platforms are taking place and web conferencing platforms. Numerous platforms are being used, so the particular platform itself is not as crucial as being well-versed in how virtual education differs from face-to-face environments. Typically, the instructional role in online learning is more of a facilitator, as the educator guides the students to think critically, integrate, and apply new knowledge. This may be difficult for educators who would rather stand in front of a classroom and pass on their knowledge through lecture-based formats. Additionally, being well-versed in various web conferencing platforms will benefit graduates, as they move into a career that is currently requiring communication in virtual environments.