Program Counselor Salary

Q: How much does a Program Counselor make?

Program counselors make $43,820 per year on average, or $21.07 per hour, in the United States. Program counselors on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $33,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $58,000. Location impacts how much a program counselor can expect to make. Program counselors make the most in New York, Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington.

Updated February 6, 2023

Average Program Counselor Salary

$43,820yearly

$21.07 hourly

Entry level Salary

$33,000 yearly

$33,00010%

$43,820Median

$58,00090%

How much does a Program Counselor make?

Program counselors make $43,820 per year on average, or $21.07 per hour, in the United States. Program counselors on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $33,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $58,000.

Location impacts how much a program counselor can expect to make. Program counselors make the most in New York, Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington.

Highest Paying States For Program Counselors

While a program counselor can average a salary of $43,820 per year, or $21.07 per hour, there are many opportunities for program counselors to make more. For example, in New York, NY you might make $53,266 per year. Other high-paying locations include San Mateo, CA, Flagstaff, AZ and Washington, DC. If you're in an entry-level position, your best bet is to move to New York, NY where the average starting salary is $38,000. The highest paying states for program counselors include New York, Arizona and California. Meanwhile, Alaska, Florida, and Mississippi offer the lowest salaries.

State View
County View

Average Salary:

Program Counselor average salary by State

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	Arizona	$51,823	$24.91	1,269
2	Idaho	$49,979	$24.03	322
3	Oregon	$51,630	$24.82	825
4	New York	$52,954	$25.46	2,832
5	Michigan	$48,964	$23.54	1,366
6	Utah	$48,458	$23.30	537
7	Nevada	$49,495	$23.80	295
8	Maine	$45,927	$22.08	365
9	Washington	$51,375	$24.70	985
10	Rhode Island	$45,453	$21.85	255
11	South Dakota	$46,099	$22.16	158
12	Missouri	$49,573	$23.83	710
13	Wyoming	$44,114	$21.21	142
14	Kansas	$46,681	$22.44	390
15	Massachusetts	$44,310	$21.30	2,408
16	West Virginia	$44,382	$21.34	222
17	Nebraska	$44,561	$21.42	370
18	North Dakota	$46,433	$22.32	83
19	California	$51,674	$24.84	3,311
20	Wisconsin	$44,751	$21.51	808
21	Ohio	$45,218	$21.74	1,299
22	Indiana	$44,112	$21.21	948
23	District of Columbia	$50,904	$24.47	187
24	Minnesota	$43,776	$21.05	1,221
25	Kentucky	$44,635	$21.46	474
26	Oklahoma	$44,791	$21.53	387
27	Montana	$42,548	$20.46	249
28	Colorado	$43,699	$21.01	1,227
29	Virginia	$48,391	$23.26	646
30	Texas	$44,473	$21.38	2,852
31	New Jersey	$43,665	$20.99	1,415
32	Pennsylvania	$42,024	$20.20	2,089
33	Illinois	$41,518	$19.96	2,213
34	Connecticut	$40,975	$19.70	786
35	Delaware	$41,030	$19.73	249
36	Louisiana	$41,397	$19.90	506
37	Alabama	$41,608	$20.00	594
38	New Mexico	$40,887	$19.66	348
39	Iowa	$40,375	$19.41	563
40	New Hampshire	$39,507	$18.99	324
41	Tennessee	$41,107	$19.76	757
42	Alaska	$39,304	$18.90	145
43	Vermont	$41,257	$19.84	72
44	Arkansas	$35,560	$17.10	473
45	Maryland	$42,211	$20.29	701
46	Florida	$37,894	$18.22	2,740
47	North Carolina	$40,008	$19.23	1,128
48	Mississippi	$36,650	$17.62	314
49	Hawaii	$39,326	$18.91	111
50	Georgia	$35,830	$17.23	1,642
51	South Carolina	$34,213	$16.45	674

Highest Paying Cities For Program Counselors

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	New York, NY	$53,266	$25.61	3
2	San Mateo, CA	$52,821	$25.39	1
3	Flagstaff, AZ	$51,910	$24.96	1
4	Washington, DC	$50,940	$24.49
5	Arlington, VA	$49,740	$23.91
6	Farmington Hills, MI	$49,053	$23.58
7	Salt Lake City, UT	$48,449	$23.29
8	Fall River, MA	$45,177	$21.72
9	Trenton, NJ	$43,935	$21.12
10	Saint Cloud, MN	$43,819	$21.07
11	Colorado Springs, CO	$43,657	$20.99
12	Baltimore, MD	$42,394	$20.38	1
13	Waukegan, IL	$41,668	$20.03	1
14	Bridgeport, CT	$41,400	$19.90
15	Dover, DE	$40,906	$19.67

Program Counselors Salary Details

Average Program Counselor Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary

What is a Program Counselor's Salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate
90th Percentile	$58,000	$4,833	$28
75th Percentile	$50,000	$4,167	$24
Average	$43,820	$3,652	$21
25th Percentile	$37,000	$3,083	$18
10th Percentile	$33,000	$2,750	$16

Highest Paying Types of Program Counselors

Job Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Counselor Internship	$45,500	$3,792	$21.88	132,694
Student Support Counselor	$41,329	$3,444	$19.87	134,839
Substance Abuse Counselor	$43,069	$3,589	$20.71	78,643
Rehabilitation Counselor	$43,111	$3,593	$20.73	77,220
Intensive In-Home Counselor	$51,428	$4,286	$24.73	122,300
Mental Health Counselor	$49,471	$4,123	$23.78	110,752

Here are the five companies hiring the most now:

Which Companies Pay Program Counselors The Most?

The highest paying companies for program counselors are Russell Sage College and Legal Services according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, companies like Lake County and Columbia College report highly competitive wages for program counselors.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Russell Sage College	$58,524	$28.14
2	Legal Services	$58,190	$27.98
3	Lake County	$53,110	$25.53	43
4	Columbia College	$52,714	$25.34
5	Brennan Center for Justice	$50,451	$24.26	6
6	American Civil Liberties Union Foundation	$49,667	$23.88	10
7	Prison Fellowship	$49,359	$23.73
8	Vidant Health	$48,439	$23.29	9
9	Kern Community College District	$48,067	$23.11	3
10	City of St. Clair Shores	$46,917	$22.56
11	PSEA	$46,404	$22.31	126
12	Barnstable, Massachusetts	$45,793	$22.02	3
13	Village of Lincolnwood	$45,601	$21.92	2
14	Spectrum Health	$45,508	$21.88	118
15	LADO	$45,142	$21.70
16	St. Peter's Health	$45,026	$21.65
17	Greater Minnesota Family Services	$44,970	$21.62	1
18	Central California Legal Services	$44,767	$21.52
19	LA State University Continuing	$44,521	$21.40	34
20	Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health	$44,410	$21.35	9

How Much Do Program Counselors Make In Different Industries?

Here are some examples of how much a program counselor salaries can based on different industries:

The health care industry pays program counselors an average salary of $41,845
The education industry pay $41,289
The lowest paying industry for program counselors is the non profits industry. Program counselors in this industry earn an average salary of $36,571

Highest Paying Industries For Program Counselors

Rank	Industry	Average Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Health Care	$41,845	$20.12
2	Education	$41,289	$19.85
3	Government	$41,274	$19.84
4	Media	$40,864	$19.65
5	Professional	$38,686	$18.60
6	Non Profits	$36,571	$17.58

High Paying Program Counselor Jobs

Program Counselor Pay Trends

Average Program Counselor Salary Over Time

Compare salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Program Counselor Salary By Year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2023	$43,800	$21.07	+3.0%
2022	$42,500	$20.43	+2.4%
2021	$41,500	$19.94	+2.4%
2020	$40,500	$19.45	+1.9%
2019	$39,700	$19.08	+2.2%

Recently Added Program Counselor Salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
Lake County Il	Counselor I-Zion Apartment Program//Overnights Bouns Available!	Waukegan, IL	11/24/2022	$36,710
Institute of Media and Communication	Welcome Desk Program Counselor	New York, NY	11/22/2022	$37,566
Institute of Media Communication	Senior Program Counselor	New York, NY	11/22/2022	$41,740
Depaul USA	Rapid Rehousing Program Counselor	Philadelphia, PA	11/16/2022	$40,000
Coast Community College District	Counselor, Extended Opportunities Programs & Services (Eops) (Tenure-Track)	Costa Mesa, CA	11/15/2022	$68,149
Geo Group Inc.	Counselor, Program, County	Newark, NJ	11/13/2022	$42,262
YMCA of Greater Seattle	Aquatics Program Counselor	Ione, WA	11/13/2022	$19,566
YMCA of Greater Seattle	Aquatics Program Counselor	Ione, WA	11/13/2022	$19,566
Spectrum Health Systems, Inc.	Counselor-Star Program	Lynn, MA	11/11/2022	$50,000
Spectrum Health Systems, Inc.	Counselor-Star Program	Lynn, MA	11/11/2022	$50,000

Program Counselor Salaries FAQs

What State Pays Program Counselors The Most?

New York pays Program Counselors the most in the United States, with an average salary of $52,954 per year, or $25.46 per hour.

How Do I Know If I'm Being Paid Fairly As A Program Counselor?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a Program Counselor if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in Arizona you should be paid close to $51,823 per year.

Have more questions? See all answers to common community and social services questions.

Search For Program Counselor Jobs

Updated February 6, 2023