Mental Health Counselors
The national median wage for mental health counselors is $53,710 across 372K jobs. After cost of living, New York goes furthest at $64,892, and 41 of 78 metros beat the national median once prices are counted.
What the job pays, metro to metro
Each line runs from the lowest metro to the highest. The mark is the national median.
BLS OES, latest release
78 metro areas tracked
Best value: top metros by cost-adjusted wage
Wages adjusted for local cost of living. A longer blue bar means the salary goes further there.
All metro areas
Sorted by cost-adjusted wage. Tap a column head to re-sort; metro names link to the city page where we track one.
| # | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | NY | $70,083 | $64,892 | 10,696 | 8.6 |
| 2 | San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA | CA | $71,816 | $63,554 | 3,341 | 7.4 |
| 3 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $68,363 | $62,718 | 3,246 | 8.1 |
| 4 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | IL | $61,785 | $62,409 | 4,743 | 5.9 |
| 5 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | VA | $62,698 | $62,077 | 5,292 | 8.8 |
| 6 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA | GA | $59,095 | $60,923 | 5,137 | 9.3 |
| 7 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | MI | $56,897 | $60,529 | 2,608 | 6.5 |
| 8 | Anchorage, AK | AK | $61,573 | $60,366 | 478 | 9.6 |
| 9 | Raleigh-Cary, NC | NC | $56,201 | $59,788 | 1,125 | 7.5 |
| 10 | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | CO | $60,347 | $59,750 | 2,488 | 8.3 |
| 11 | Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN | TN | $55,069 | $59,214 | 1,638 | 8.2 |
| 12 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | CA | $66,335 | $58,704 | 7,540 | 7.5 |
| 13 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | MN | $57,379 | $58,550 | 2,397 | 6.8 |
| 14 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | TX | $56,720 | $58,474 | 5,800 | 8.9 |
| 15 | Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX | TX | $56,408 | $58,153 | 1,779 | 7.1 |
| 16 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT | CT | $60,477 | $58,151 | 643 | 8.6 |
| 17 | Cleveland-Elyria, OH | OH | $52,814 | $57,407 | 1,317 | 8.8 |
| 18 | Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | WI | $53,387 | $57,405 | 810 | 5.4 |
| 19 | Salt Lake City, UT | UT | $54,423 | $57,287 | 1,375 | 9.2 |
| 20 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | PA | $56,068 | $57,212 | 3,058 | 5.6 |
| 21 | Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH | MA | $61,493 | $56,938 | 3,089 | 6.2 |
| 22 | Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ | DE | $56,246 | $56,814 | 443 | 8.9 |
| 23 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | IA | $50,233 | $56,442 | 602 | 8.0 |
| 24 | Columbus, OH | OH | $51,809 | $56,314 | 1,559 | 7.8 |
| 25 | Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA | NE | $50,671 | $56,301 | 555 | 5.5 |
| 26 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | OR | $59,032 | $56,221 | 1,838 | 7.3 |
| 27 | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA | RI | $56,597 | $56,037 | 823 | 5.5 |
| 28 | St. Louis, MO-IL | MO | $51,498 | $55,976 | 2,381 | 9.5 |
| 29 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | MD | $57,904 | $55,677 | 1,386 | 5.5 |
| 30 | Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | OH | $51,111 | $55,555 | 1,892 | 9.5 |
| 31 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | TX | $53,614 | $55,272 | 6,501 | 9.3 |
| 32 | Charleston-North Charleston, SC | SC | $51,328 | $55,191 | 454 | 6.0 |
| 33 | Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN | IN | $50,532 | $54,926 | 1,127 | 5.6 |
| 34 | Kansas City, MO-KS | MO | $50,242 | $54,611 | 1,812 | 9.1 |
| 35 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | NC | $51,101 | $54,363 | 2,271 | 9.1 |
| 36 | Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | KY | $48,871 | $54,301 | 1,124 | 7.5 |
| 37 | Manchester-Nashua, NH | NH | $56,975 | $54,262 | 357 | 7.1 |
| 38 | Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT | CT | $56,248 | $54,085 | 934 | 9.3 |
| 39 | Madison, WI | WI | $50,298 | $54,084 | 640 | 8.5 |
| 40 | New Orleans-Metairie, LA | LA | $47,322 | $53,775 | 731 | 7.3 |
| 41 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL | FL | $55,342 | $53,730 | 4,710 | 8.6 |
| 42 | Honolulu, HI | HI | $58,503 | $53,672 | 538 | 7.2 |
| 43 | Birmingham-Hoover, AL | AL | $48,233 | $53,592 | 658 | 6.6 |
| 44 | Fargo, ND-MN | ND | $47,562 | $53,440 | 248 | 6.2 |
| 45 | Oklahoma City, OK | OK | $46,880 | $53,273 | 849 | 5.7 |
| 46 | Boise City, ID | ID | $48,388 | $53,174 | 398 | 5.3 |
| 47 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | CA | $59,969 | $53,070 | 1,645 | 5.5 |
| 48 | Portland-South Portland, ME | ME | $51,394 | $52,984 | 227 | 5.7 |
| 49 | Richmond, VA | VA | $53,467 | $52,938 | 1,286 | 8.6 |
| 50 | Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | NV | $50,794 | $52,365 | 1,450 | 7.3 |
| 51 | Columbia, SC | SC | $48,670 | $52,333 | 613 | 8.2 |
| 52 | Baton Rouge, LA | LA | $46,002 | $52,275 | 445 | 5.9 |
| 53 | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR | AR | $45,393 | $52,176 | 707 | 9.4 |
| 54 | Grand Rapids-Kentwood, MI | MI | $48,862 | $51,981 | 788 | 7.9 |
| 55 | Tulsa, OK | OK | $45,450 | $51,648 | 618 | 6.2 |
| 56 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | TX | $49,975 | $51,521 | 2,343 | 9.4 |
| 57 | Burlington-South Burlington, VT | VT | $49,783 | $51,323 | 188 | 7.5 |
| 58 | Pittsburgh, PA | PA | $50,248 | $51,273 | 1,759 | 8.8 |
| 59 | Cheyenne, WY | WY | $46,631 | $51,243 | 129 | 8.6 |
| 60 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | AZ | $51,624 | $51,113 | 3,453 | 7.7 |
| 61 | Albuquerque, NM | NM | $45,939 | $51,043 | 551 | 5.5 |
| 62 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | VA | $51,325 | $50,817 | 1,363 | 9.1 |
| 63 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR | TN | $46,991 | $50,528 | 650 | 6.5 |
| 64 | Knoxville, TN | TN | $46,872 | $50,400 | 629 | 6.3 |
| 65 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | CA | $55,456 | $49,076 | 1,050 | 5.3 |
| 66 | Sioux Falls, SD | SD | $43,034 | $48,902 | 294 | 7.3 |
| 67 | Jacksonville, FL | FL | $49,859 | $48,407 | 1,120 | 7.5 |
| 68 | Billings, MT | MT | $43,081 | $47,868 | 179 | 7.2 |
| 69 | Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY | NY | $51,567 | $47,747 | 697 | 7.0 |
| 70 | Rochester, NY | NY | $51,269 | $47,471 | 766 | 7.7 |
| 71 | Jackson, MS | MS | $41,230 | $47,391 | 326 | 6.5 |
| 72 | Charleston, WV | WV | $42,506 | $47,229 | 214 | 8.6 |
| 73 | Wichita, KS | KS | $42,112 | $46,791 | 329 | 6.6 |
| 74 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | FL | $48,178 | $46,775 | 2,874 | 9.6 |
| 75 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | CA | $51,185 | $45,296 | 2,092 | 5.2 |
| 76 | Tucson, AZ | AZ | $45,570 | $45,119 | 866 | 8.7 |
| 77 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | FL | $46,017 | $44,677 | 1,465 | 5.9 |
| 78 | El Paso, TX | TX | $42,033 | $43,333 | 544 | 7.3 |
Frequently asked questions
What is the median salary for Mental Health Counselors?
The national median annual wage for mental health counselors is $53,710, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) data.
Where do mental health counselors earn the most after adjusting for cost of living?
After adjusting for local cost of living, the top-paying metro areas for mental health counselors are New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($64,892), San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA ($63,554), Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA ($62,718).
How many metro areas have data for mental health counselors?
We show wage and employment estimates for mental health counselors across 78 metro areas in the United States. The national median wage is the latest BLS OES figure; individual metro values are modeled from it using local cost of living and regional labor-market patterns rather than taken from the published metro-level OES tables.