1. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-State Tuition
$6,798
Enrollment
31,503
What is a Relief Counselor?
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a relief counselor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $17.33 an hour? That's $36,049 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 36% and produce 1,185,800 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Relief Counselor Do
There are certain skills that many relief counselors 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 detail oriented, integrity and interpersonal skills.
How To Become a Relief Counselor
If you're interested in becoming a relief counselor, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 62.0% of relief counselors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 10.8% of relief counselors have master's degrees. Even though most relief counselors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Relief Counselor 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 relief counselor can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as counselor, progress to a title such as therapist and then eventually end up with the title director of social services.
Relief Counselor
Director Of Social Services
6 Years
Patient Care Manager
5 Years
Clinical Director
9 Years
Medical Case Manager
8 Years
Clinical Manager
8 Years
Service Program Manager
9 Years
Show More
Average Salary for a Relief Counselor
Relief Counselors in America make an average salary of $36,049 per year or $17 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $47,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $27,000 per year.
Average Relief Counselor Salary
$36,049 Yearly$17.33 hourly
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Relief Counselor
The role of a relief counselor includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general relief counselor responsibilities:
- Provide supervision and direct care services to individuals with intellectual disabilities, mental illness
- Provide support for a residential program serving adults with mental illness, development disabilities
- Relief staff work at the residential programs with children & adolescents living with mental illness on a per-diem basis. These positions are on-call, as needed. Relief staff need to be available to work evenings, weekends,
There are several types of relief counselor, including:
Counselor
Role:
While there are several different types of counselors, in general they spend their time helping people overcome and understand specific problems. Although, not every counselor is going to have a couch, as depicted by TV, most do work in private office settings.
The scope of the types of counselors seems to be never-ending. From school counselors to family and marriage counselors, and even mental health counselors, people who go into this field have a range of what area they want to focus on.
- Average Salary: $36,225
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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
Youth Counselor
Role:
Becoming a youth counselor may be one of the hardest things you ever do in life. But not because the educational road to get there is long and strenuous. Rather, it's the day-to-day stuff that may get you down.
As a youth counselor, you'll spend a lot of your day interacting with children and teenagers. More times than not, these kids have been put through the emotional ringer. You'll have cases that deal with childhood depression, ADHD, and even abuse.
While it's a tough career, the work you're doing is so important. Watching those kids' mental health improve and being a support for them is especially rewarding.
- Average Salary: $36,754
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
States With The Most Relief Counselor Jobs
Number Of Relief Counselor Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 1,252 | $45,999 |
| 2 | Massachusetts | 1,192 | $36,952 |
| 3 | Florida | 814 | $28,923 |
| 4 | New York | 689 | $42,254 |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | 589 | $39,399 |
| 6 | Texas | 551 | $38,111 |
| 7 | Illinois | 528 | $38,011 |
| 8 | Georgia | 399 | $28,320 |
| 9 | New Jersey | 383 | $34,667 |
| 10 | Washington | 363 | $44,797 |
| 11 | Arizona | 323 | $41,623 |
| 12 | Minnesota | 320 | $32,160 |
| 13 | Virginia | 311 | $30,264 |
| 14 | Maryland | 293 | $42,749 |
| 15 | Michigan | 273 | $40,584 |
| 16 | North Carolina | 261 | $28,252 |
| 17 | Colorado | 252 | $40,015 |
| 18 | Ohio | 249 | $35,782 |
| 19 | Connecticut | 248 | $36,089 |
| 20 | Indiana | 194 | $34,734 |
| 21 | Tennessee | 189 | $29,241 |
| 22 | Missouri | 174 | $38,837 |
| 23 | South Carolina | 167 | $28,051 |
| 24 | Wisconsin | 162 | $31,092 |
| 25 | Oregon | 154 | $42,803 |
| 26 | Iowa | 151 | $32,345 |
| 27 | Louisiana | 146 | $28,831 |
| 28 | Alabama | 108 | $33,815 |
| 29 | Kentucky | 106 | $34,795 |
| 30 | Arkansas | 75 | $28,040 |
| 31 | Oklahoma | 74 | $37,515 |
| 32 | Kansas | 73 | $36,763 |
| 33 | Idaho | 73 | $32,430 |
| 34 | Montana | 70 | $31,897 |
| 35 | Maine | 67 | $31,073 |
| 36 | Nevada | 65 | $34,765 |
| 37 | Utah | 64 | $32,276 |
| 38 | New Mexico | 64 | $30,253 |
| 39 | Delaware | 63 | $33,874 |
| 40 | New Hampshire | 59 | $35,934 |
| 41 | Nebraska | 54 | $33,521 |
| 42 | Alaska | 50 | $37,511 |
| 43 | Hawaii | 49 | $32,966 |
| 44 | Rhode Island | 44 | $40,949 |
| 45 | West Virginia | 42 | $35,184 |
| 46 | Mississippi | 42 | $29,526 |
| 47 | North Dakota | 36 | $39,732 |
| 48 | South Dakota | 31 | $37,827 |
| 49 | Vermont | 30 | $37,228 |
| 50 | Wyoming | 28 | $30,429 |
Top Colleges for Relief Counselors
2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
In-State Tuition
$8,987
Enrollment
18,946
3. Hunter College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-State Tuition
$7,182
Enrollment
16,205
4. California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA • Private
In-State Tuition
$6,886
Enrollment
34,637
5. University of Washington
Seattle, WA • Private
In-State Tuition
$11,207
Enrollment
30,905
6. California State University - Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA • Private
In-State Tuition
$6,942
Enrollment
13,871
7. University of South Florida
Tampa, FL • Private
In-State Tuition
$6,410
Enrollment
31,321
8. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
In-State Tuition
$55,584
Enrollment
10,764
9. San Jose State University
San Jose, CA • Private
In-State Tuition
$7,796
Enrollment
27,125
10. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
In-State Tuition
$9,808
Enrollment
13,990
Top Skills For a Relief Counselor
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, 13.8% of relief counselors listed crisis intervention on their resume, but soft skills such as detail oriented and integrity are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Relief Counselor Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Relief Counselor templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Relief Counselor resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Relief Counselor diversity
Relief Counselor Gender Distribution
Female
70%
Male
30%
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among relief counselors, 70.1% of them are women, while 29.9% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among relief counselors is White, which makes up 67.0% of all relief counselors.
- The most common foreign language among relief counselors is Spanish at 59.6%.
Online Courses For Relief Counselor That You May Like
Advertising Disclosure
1. Severe to Profound Intellectual Disability: Circles of Care and Education
This course is about caring for and educating children (and youth) with severe to profound intellectual disability. We use the idea of 'circles' to position the child at the center of the many levels of support needed. Around the child are circles of care and education - such as the parents, family, friends, caregivers, educators, health care workers and others such as neighbors, business owners and community members. Each one has an important role to play in the life of a person with an...
2. Essentials of Palliative Care
This course starts you on your journey of integrating primary palliative care into your daily lives. You will learn what palliative care is, how to communicate with patients, show empathy, and practice difficult conversations. You will learn how to screen for distress and provide psychosocial support. You will learn about goals of care and advance care planning and how to improve your success with having these conversations with patients. Finally, you will explore important cultural...
3. Crisis Intervention Seminar
The emphasis is on the development of fundamental clinical skills in the area of crisis intervention...
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How Do Relief Counselors Rate Their Jobs?
Top Relief Counselor Employers
Most Common Employers For Relief Counselor
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pine Street Inn | $42,256 | $20.32 | 13 |
| 2 | Transitional Services Association Inc | $42,100 | $20.24 | 8 |
| 3 | Catholic Charities Health and Human Services | $38,757 | $18.63 | 14 |
| 4 | Victory Programs | $38,363 | $18.44 | 9 |
| 5 | Peoples Services | $38,354 | $18.44 | 22 |
| 6 | Child & Family | $38,239 | $18.38 | 6 |
| 7 | BHSN | $38,090 | $18.31 | 6 |
| 8 | Mohawk Opportunities | $37,677 | $18.11 | 8 |
| 9 | Vinfen | $37,666 | $18.11 | 13 |
| 10 | Carolina Youth Development Center | $37,472 | $18.02 | 33 |