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The differences between youth counselors and family counselors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a youth counselor and a family counselor. Additionally, a family counselor has an average salary of $41,510, which is higher than the $36,754 average annual salary of a youth counselor.
The top three skills for a youth counselor include direct care, mental health and crisis intervention. The most important skills for a family counselor are social work, community resources, and POC.
| Youth Counselor | Family Counselor | |
| Yearly salary | $36,754 | $41,510 |
| Hourly rate | $17.67 | $19.96 |
| Growth rate | 12% | 14% |
| Number of jobs | 78,461 | 93,253 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 56% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 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.
A Family Counselor treats married couples or family members in order to help them overcome mental or emotional problems. They provide effective treatment measures to help the family members resolve their issues.
Youth counselors and family counselors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Youth Counselor | Family Counselor | |
| Average salary | $36,754 | $41,510 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $49,000 | Between $27,000 And $62,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Jose, CA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | New York State Restaurant Association | Shirley Ryan AbilityLab |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Professional |
There are a few differences between a youth counselor and a family counselor in terms of educational background:
| Youth Counselor | Family Counselor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 56% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Psychology |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between youth counselors' and family counselors' demographics:
| Youth Counselor | Family Counselor | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 43.8% Female, 56.2% | Male, 26.3% Female, 73.7% |
| 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, 7.0% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 13.9% Asian, 4.6% White, 68.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 15% | 6% |