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The differences between youth counselors and counselors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a youth counselor has an average salary of $36,754, which is higher than the $36,225 average annual salary of a counselor.
The top three skills for a youth counselor include direct care, mental health and crisis intervention. The most important skills for a counselor are patients, crisis intervention, and substance abuse.
| Youth Counselor | Counselor | |
| Yearly salary | $36,754 | $36,225 |
| Hourly rate | $17.67 | $17.42 |
| Growth rate | 12% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 78,461 | 77,536 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 2 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
| Average age | 41 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
A Youth Counselor's role is to provide guidance and interact with children or teenagers in need of care and counseling. The duty of a Youth Counselor is diverse, and it highly depends on the organization or employer. However, the responsibilities mostly revolve around establishing rapport with the youngster while trying to work on their issues, ensuring their welfare by monitoring their emotional and physical state, coordinating with families or other facilities, suggesting treatments, and performing crisis intervention if necessary.
Often, counselors are known to be the go-to person in times we are in need of emotional and psychological support. They help people to manage and overcome the issues which affect their mental health and well-being. Counselors face different kind of situations which may involve trauma, addiction, disabilities, abuse, suicide, anger management, career, and even personal relationships. They provide care, counseling, rehabilitation, and support services. Every counseling requires collaborative effort both from the counselor and client to become effective.
Youth counselors and counselors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Youth Counselor | Counselor | |
| Average salary | $36,754 | $36,225 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $49,000 | Between $19,000 And $67,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Jose, CA | - |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | New York State Restaurant Association | - |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Education |
There are a few differences between a youth counselor and a counselor in terms of educational background:
| Youth Counselor | Counselor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Psychology |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between youth counselors' and counselors' demographics:
| Youth Counselor | Counselor | |
| Average age | 41 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 43.8% Female, 56.2% | Male, 38.5% Female, 61.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 3.2% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 15.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 3.5% White, 63.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 15% | 9% |