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The differences between support workers and community support specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a support worker, becoming a community support specialist takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a community support specialist has an average salary of $39,320, which is higher than the $37,039 average annual salary of a support worker.
The top three skills for a support worker include social work, crisis intervention and treatment plan. The most important skills for a community support specialist are social work, mental health, and rehabilitation.
| Support Worker | Community Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $37,039 | $39,320 |
| Hourly rate | $17.81 | $18.90 |
| Growth rate | 12% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 112,754 | 111,431 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 47 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 12 |
A support worker is responsible for supporting the community programs and development efforts to sustain and ensure the citizens' stability, providing them resources for their daily needs, and helping them with financial assistance requests. Support workers conduct family counseling to identify their challenges and needs and coordinate with the necessary organizations to process their requests. They must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in filing documents and guiding the citizens in achieving their healthy lifestyle and make a positive difference.
A community support specialist is responsible for supporting and providing care services for citizens with mental health conditions and other medical illnesses. Community support specialists coordinate with organizations and health institutions to generate resources that would help the patients in their daily activities, medications, and treatment plans. They also strategize community events and activities to observe the patients' social and personal behaviors and endorse them to a mental health professional for in-depth examination and counseling.
Support workers and community support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Support Worker | Community Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $37,039 | $39,320 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $60,000 | Between $27,000 And $56,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | New York | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Dolby Laboratories | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Non Profits |
There are a few differences between a support worker and a community support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Support Worker | Community Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Psychology |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between support workers' and community support specialists' demographics:
| Support Worker | Community Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 47 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 29.1% Female, 70.9% | Male, 28.8% Female, 71.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 6.4% White, 61.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 12.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 7.0% White, 59.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 11% |