Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors vs Healthcare Social Workers: $64K vs $68K Median Pay

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors vs Healthcare Social Workers: what changes?

Consider Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors if you want to advise and assist students and provide educational and vocational guidance services. Consider Healthcare Social Workers if you would rather provide individuals, families, and groups with the psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses. Both list master's degree; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors and Healthcare Social Workers. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors

National median pay (2025): $64,330
Route into the job: Master's degree
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate: Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 27,800

Know before you choose

Review the full career brief for day-to-day working conditions.

See the full Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors brief

Healthcare Social Workers

National median pay (2025): $67,880
Route into the job: Master's degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.
Work to investigate: Advocate for clients or patients to resolve crises.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 16,900

Know before you choose

Training continues through internship/residency after the degree path.

See the full Healthcare Social Workers brief

How the national numbers differ

Healthcare Social Workers has the edge on projected growth

Healthcare Social Workers is at 8.5% projected growth, compared with 2.9% projected growth for Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors.

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors has the edge on annual openings

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors is at 27,800 annual openings, compared with 16,900 annual openings for Healthcare Social Workers.

Healthcare Social Workers has the edge on median pay

Healthcare Social Workers is at $67,880, compared with $64,330 for Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors.

55.4/ 100

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors

63.5/ 100

Healthcare Social Workers

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors vs Healthcare Social Workers

Dimension	Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors	Healthcare Social Workers
Median pay (2025)	$64,330	$67,880
Pay percentile	55.7 percentile	59.1 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	2.9%	8.5%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	27,800	16,900
2025 employment	389,500	194,800
How you qualify	Master's degree	Master's degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 5	Job Zone 5
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.	Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors brief Read Healthcare Social Workers brief

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors vs Healthcare Social Workers: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors

Healthcare Social Workers

How the national numbers differ

Healthcare Social Workers has the edge on projected growth

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors has the edge on annual openings

Healthcare Social Workers has the edge on median pay

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors vs Healthcare Social Workers

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