ChooseField
Quick answer · Balanced priorities

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors vs Rehabilitation Counselors: 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 Rehabilitation Counselors if you would rather counsel individuals to maximize the independence and employability of persons coping with personal, social, and vocational difficulties that result from birth defects, illness, disease, accidents, aging, or the…. 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 Rehabilitation Counselors. 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
What this means in practice

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Start with earnings, the route into the job, training, available openings, and a day-to-day reality.

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

Rehabilitation Counselors

National median pay (2025)
$46,850
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
Prepare and maintain records and case files, including documentation, such as clients' personal and eligibility information, services provided, narratives of client contacts, or relevant correspondence.
Annual openings (2025–2035)
8,200
Know before you choose

The helping mission includes documentation, direct care, and safety-critical routines where a missed detail can affect a patient.

See the full Rehabilitation Counselors brief
See scores, detailed data, and how the comparison works

How the national numbers differ

1

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors has the edge on median pay

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors is at $64,330, compared with $46,850 for Rehabilitation Counselors.

2

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 8,200 annual openings for Rehabilitation Counselors.

3

Typical preparation differs.

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors: Master's degree Rehabilitation Counselors: Master's degree Preparation categories do not establish admission difficulty, calendar time, tuition, time without earnings, or licensing difficulty.

4

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors has the edge on projected growth

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors is at 2.9% projected growth, compared with 2.2% projected growth for Rehabilitation Counselors.

55.4/ 100

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors

vs
40.3/ 100

Rehabilitation Counselors

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 Rehabilitation Counselors

DimensionEducational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and AdvisorsRehabilitation Counselors
Median pay (2025)$64,330$46,850
Pay percentile55.7 percentile22.9 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)2.9%2.2%
Annual openings (2025–2035)27,8008,200
2025 employment389,50096,900
How you qualifyMaster's degreeMaster's degree
O*NET preparation groupJob Zone 5Job Zone 4
Related work experienceNo prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job trainingBLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.

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 briefRead Rehabilitation Counselors brief

Try another comparison

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

Compare pay, growth, education, and the tradeoffs that affect the decision.

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors
$64,330 · 2.9% growth
Healthcare Social Workers
$67,880 · 8.5% growth
Compare careers →

Rehabilitation Counselors vs Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers

Compare pay, growth, education, and the tradeoffs that affect the decision.

Rehabilitation Counselors
$46,850 · 2.2% growth
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
$60,280 · 10.3% growth
Compare careers →
ChooseField compares fields using public labor-market and professional sources.