Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between residence directors and resident assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a residence director has an average salary of $48,265, which is higher than the $29,971 average annual salary of a resident assistant.
The top three skills for a residence director include state regulations, customer service and oversight. The most important skills for a resident assistant are home health, CPR, and vital signs.
| Residence Director | Resident Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $48,265 | $29,971 |
| Hourly rate | $23.20 | $14.41 |
| Growth rate | 7% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 6,007 | 19,033 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Average age | 26 | 43 |
| Years of experience | - | 12 |
A Residence Director serves as the supervisor of a residence hall community on campus. They supervise the day-to-day operations of a residence hall, including staff supervision, organizational planning, programming, and counseling.
Resident assistants help manage peers or younger students who live in a particular residence hall on campus. They are usually in charge of welcoming fellow students, providing residence hall tours, and helping students cope with their new environment. To help students become more at ease with their environment, resident assistants usually act as buddies. They answer inquiries that the students may have and act as the bridge between the students and the residence hall management. They assist with administrative activities in the residence hall, such as handing out forms for students and ensuring documents are correctly filled out.
Residence directors and resident assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Residence Director | Resident Assistant | |
| Average salary | $48,265 | $29,971 |
| Salary range | Between $32,000 And $71,000 | Between $22,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | Bellingham, WA | Roseville, CA |
| Highest paying state | North Dakota | California |
| Best paying company | University of California | Mount St. Mary's University |
| Best paying industry | - | Education |
There are a few differences between a residence director and a resident assistant in terms of educational background:
| Residence Director | Resident Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Psychology |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | SUNY at Binghamton |
Here are the differences between residence directors' and resident assistants' demographics:
| Residence Director | Resident Assistant | |
| Average age | 26 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 38.5% Female, 61.5% | Male, 34.0% Female, 66.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 14.3% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 13.6% Asian, 7.3% White, 58.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 6.7% White, 58.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 13% | 11% |