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The differences between resident assistants and resident advisors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a resident assistant has an average salary of $29,971, which is higher than the $25,324 average annual salary of a resident advisor.
The top three skills for a resident assistant include home health, CPR and vital signs. The most important skills for a resident advisor are residential life, crisis management, and incident reports.
| Resident Assistant | Resident Advisor | |
| Yearly salary | $29,971 | $25,324 |
| Hourly rate | $14.41 | $12.18 |
| Growth rate | 12% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 19,033 | 44,792 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 43 | 26 |
| Years of experience | 12 | - |
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.
A resident advisor is responsible for protecting the residents' welfare by promoting healthy leadership and community coordination. Resident advisors' duties include conducting scheduled lifestyle counseling, evaluating opportunities for each resident, resolving conflicts between residents calmly, planning community programs, and encourage everyone's participation. Additional duties include enforcing safety policies and regulations, addressing policy violations, creating incident reports for immediate resolution, implementing emergency drills and procedures, and organizing orientations. A resident advisor must have excellent leadership and communication skills to assist the residents with their concerns and inquiries.
Resident assistants and resident advisors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Resident Assistant | Resident Advisor | |
| Average salary | $29,971 | $25,324 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $39,000 | Between $16,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | Roseville, CA | Santa Barbara, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Maine |
| Best paying company | Mount St. Mary's University | American Ballet Theatre |
| Best paying industry | Education | Education |
There are a few differences between a resident assistant and a resident advisor in terms of educational background:
| Resident Assistant | Resident Advisor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Psychology |
| Most common college | SUNY at Binghamton | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between resident assistants' and resident advisors' demographics:
| Resident Assistant | Resident Advisor | |
| Average age | 43 | 26 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 34.0% Female, 66.0% | Male, 45.3% Female, 54.7% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 15.3% Unknown, 6.0% Hispanic or Latino, 15.0% Asian, 7.6% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 13% |