Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between youth counselors and volunteers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a youth counselor, becoming a volunteer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a youth counselor has an average salary of $36,754, which is higher than the $31,227 average annual salary of a volunteer.
The top three skills for a youth counselor include direct care, mental health and crisis intervention. The most important skills for a volunteer are child care, patient charts, and patient care.
| Youth Counselor | Volunteer | |
| Yearly salary | $36,754 | $31,227 |
| Hourly rate | $17.67 | $15.01 |
| Growth rate | 12% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 78,461 | 9,583 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 41 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 12 |
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.
Volunteers are usually unpaid individuals who render their service to a company or organization. Most of the time, volunteers are skilled in specific areas needed by the organization but prefer to provide free service. They may be employed in another organization, but they lend their time and talent to another organization or company to give back to the community. They raise funds, create awareness, and work on the ground. Volunteers usually choose a cause or advocacy close to their heart, such as teaching children, taking care of the elderly, coaching sports teams, cleaning up communities, and caring for animals.
Youth counselors and volunteers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Youth Counselor | Volunteer | |
| Average salary | $36,754 | $31,227 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $49,000 | Between $23,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Jose, CA | - |
| Highest paying state | California | - |
| Best paying company | New York State Restaurant Association | - |
| Best paying industry | Professional | - |
There are a few differences between a youth counselor and a volunteer in terms of educational background:
| Youth Counselor | Volunteer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Business |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | California State University - Fullerton |
Here are the differences between youth counselors' and volunteers' demographics:
| Youth Counselor | Volunteer | |
| Average age | 41 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 43.8% Female, 56.2% | Male, 36.0% Female, 64.0% |
| 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, 13.2% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 19.5% Asian, 7.3% White, 52.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 15% | 11% |