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The differences between youth counselors and mental health 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 mental health counselor. Additionally, a mental health counselor has an average salary of $49,471, 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 mental health counselor are social work, patients, and crisis intervention.
| Youth Counselor | Mental Health Counselor | |
| Yearly salary | $36,754 | $49,471 |
| Hourly rate | $17.67 | $23.78 |
| Growth rate | 12% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 78,461 | 110,752 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 2 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| 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 mental health counselor is responsible for helping patients deal with their emotional and mental disorders by developing treatment plans and conducting regular counseling to track the patient's progress and condition. Mental health counselors encourage active communication from their patients, provide coping strategies for triggering situations, seek advice from other health care professionals, and guide patients on doing other activities that would help them relax. A mental health counselor must have excellent knowledge of the mental health disciplines to assist patients in their healthy lifestyle development.
Youth counselors and mental health counselors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Youth Counselor | Mental Health Counselor | |
| Average salary | $36,754 | $49,471 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $49,000 | Between $34,000 And $70,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Jose, CA | Longview, WA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | New York State Restaurant Association | Family Life Counseling & Psychiatric Services |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a youth counselor and a mental health counselor in terms of educational background:
| Youth Counselor | Mental Health Counselor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 58% |
| 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 mental health counselors' demographics:
| Youth Counselor | Mental Health Counselor | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 43.8% Female, 56.2% | Male, 31.4% Female, 68.6% |
| 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, 11.3% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 3.2% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 15% | 15% |