Mental health counselors in California earned a median annual wage of $59,250 in May 2025, according to federal wage data for the combined category of substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors. More recent California Employment Development Department estimates place the first-quarter 2026 median at $29.28 per hour. Using 2,080 hours as a full-time annualization convention, that hourly figure equals approximately $60,902 per year.
These benchmarks come from different reference periods. The May 2025 figure is a published annual median based on federal occupational wage data. The first-quarter 2026 figure reflects California’s updated hourly estimate after the state applied an Employment Cost Index adjustment to its occupational wage database. They describe a similar statewide pay level rather than conflicting estimates.
California wages vary substantially by location. May 2025 metropolitan medians ranged from $51,910 in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim to $80,770 in San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles among the selected areas covered below. Employer setting also affects compensation, although the available setting-specific medians are national rather than California-specific.
Public wage data do not provide separate salary estimates for Associate Professional Clinical Counselors, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors, or private-practice owners. They instead combine several counseling specialties under Standard Occupational Classification 21-1018. The figures are reliable occupational benchmarks, but they are not an LPCC-only salary survey.
California mental health counselor salary at a glance
The following figures provide the clearest statewide picture from the available government data.
| California wage benchmark | Amount | Data period |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly mean | $34.14 | First quarter 2026 |
| 25th-percentile hourly wage | $23.55 | First quarter 2026 |
| Median hourly wage | $29.28 | First quarter 2026 |
| 75th-percentile hourly wage | $39.82 | First quarter 2026 |
| Approximate annualized mean | $71,011 | Calculated from first-quarter 2026 hourly wage |
| Approximate annualized 25th percentile | $48,984 | Calculated from first-quarter 2026 hourly wage |
| Approximate annualized median | $60,902 | Calculated from first-quarter 2026 hourly wage |
| Approximate annualized 75th percentile | $82,826 | Calculated from first-quarter 2026 hourly wage |
| Published annual median | $59,250 | May 2025 |
The annualized amounts are calculations based on 2,080 paid hours per year. They are not separate annual estimates published by the California EDD, nor do they account for unpaid leave, overtime, part-time schedules, multiple jobs, or gaps between positions.
The annualized mean is higher than the median because a mean can be pulled upward by higher-paid workers. For salary planning, the median generally provides a more representative middle point. Half of workers in the occupation earn less than the median, and half earn more.
The California figures come from the EDD occupational profile for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors. Readers comparing compensation with education, work settings, and credential requirements can also use the broader guide to becoming a mental health counselor in California.
What the official salary category includes
“Mental health counselor” sounds like a narrowly defined job title, but government wage systems collect these earnings under the broader occupation of substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors, identified as SOC 21-1018.
This combined category can include counselors whose work emphasizes:
- Mental health assessment and counseling
- Behavioral health treatment
- Substance use and addiction services
- Co-occurring mental health and substance use conditions
- Individual or group counseling
- Treatment planning and case coordination
- Community-based behavioral health services
- Residential or outpatient treatment
The category is relevant to mental health counselor pay, but it does not isolate one California credential or job title. A worker counted in the data could be an LPCC, an APCC working under supervision, another qualified counselor, or a professional in a related behavioral health role included in the same occupational classification.
Employers also use titles differently. “Mental health counselor,” “behavioral health counselor,” “clinical counselor,” and “substance use counselor” can refer to positions with different credential requirements and scopes of responsibility. The official wage category captures the occupation across those variations rather than standardizing every employer’s title.
Use the statewide median as an occupational reference point. It does not establish what a particular employer must pay, what every newly registered APCC earns, or what an independently licensed LPCC earns.
California salary percentiles
The May 2025 California wage distribution shows how reported annual earnings were spread across the occupation.
| Percentile | Annual wage |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $44,640 |
| 25th percentile | $47,640 |
| Median, or 50th percentile | $59,250 |
| 75th percentile | $80,570 |
| 90th percentile | $111,080 |
Percentiles describe a worker’s position in the wage distribution. At the 25th percentile, 25% of workers earned less and 75% earned more. At the 75th percentile, 75% earned less and 25% earned more.
These bands are not strict career stages. The 10th percentile is not automatically an entry-level APCC wage, just as the 90th percentile is not automatically the salary of an experienced LPCC. Public data do not isolate the effects of experience, licensure, location, schedule, employer, specialization, supervisory duties, or job performance.
Still, the distribution is useful for evaluating offers:
- An offer near $44,640 falls close to the statewide 10th percentile for the combined occupation.
- An offer around $47,640 is near the 25th percentile.
- An offer around $59,250 is close to the May 2025 statewide median.
- Compensation around $80,570 is near the 75th percentile.
- Compensation around $111,080 is near the 90th percentile.
A low percentile can still accompany high-value supervision, substantial benefits, a part-time schedule, or employment in a lower-paying local market. A high nominal salary may be attached to overnight work, demanding caseloads, difficult-to-fill assignments, supervisory responsibility, or an expensive region.
The most practical use of percentile data is to establish a comparison range and then evaluate the actual terms of employment.
Mental health counselor salaries by California region
Geography is one of the clearest differences visible in the government data. The following May 2025 medians represent selected California metropolitan areas.
| California metropolitan area | Median annual wage |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim | $51,910 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad | $57,660 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom | $61,050 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont | $68,400 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | $72,550 |
| Stockton-Lodi | $72,770 |
| Hanford-Corcoran | $72,960 |
| El Centro | $73,620 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles | $80,770 |
The regional pattern is not a simple coastal-versus-inland split. San Francisco and San Jose report higher medians than Los Angeles and San Diego, but several Central Valley and inland areas also report medians above $70,000. San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles had the highest median among the selected areas at $80,770.
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, despite being California’s largest metropolitan area, reported the lowest median in this selected comparison at $51,910. Sacramento’s median of $61,050 was above both Los Angeles and San Diego but below the selected Bay Area medians.
Several factors can shape these differences:
- The mix of hospitals, outpatient programs, community agencies, residential facilities, and public employers in each region
- The proportion of jobs involving substance use, behavioral health, or mental health counseling
- Local demand for counselors
- Staffing shortages in specific communities
- Differences in schedules, duties, and credential requirements
- The experience and license mix of the local workforce
The occupational data do not calculate how much of each regional difference comes from any one factor. A higher regional median also says nothing by itself about purchasing power. Housing, transportation, taxes, and other living costs can differ sharply across California.
For career planning, compare the regional median with an actual offer’s salary, benefits, expected hours, and commuting costs. A position paying $70,000 in one market can produce a different financial result from an identically paid position elsewhere.
The federal O*NET wage table publishes estimates for California metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas where data are available. The selected regions above illustrate the range without suggesting that every counselor within a metropolitan area earns its published median.
How work setting relates to counselor pay
Mental health counselors work in settings that include community health centers, mental health centers, hospitals, outpatient programs, correctional facilities, residential treatment organizations, individual and family service agencies, and private practice.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes May 2025 median wages for major industries employing substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors. These are national figures, not California salary estimates.
| Major employing industry | National median annual wage |
|---|---|
| Hospitals | $63,310 |
| Outpatient mental health and substance abuse centers | $58,750 |
| Individual and family services | $58,440 |
| Offices of other health practitioners | $58,240 |
| Residential mental health and substance abuse facilities | $49,660 |
Among these major industries, hospitals had the highest national median at $63,310. Residential mental health and substance abuse facilities had the lowest at $49,660.
The difference provides direction for a job search, but it does not prove that every hospital position pays more than every residential position. A California residential employer could pay above the national hospital median, while a hospital role could fall below it. Geography, funding, union coverage, shift structure, required credentials, and job duties can all affect an individual offer.
Work setting also influences the nature of the job. Hospital roles may involve interdisciplinary teams, acute behavioral health needs, discharge planning, or irregular schedules. Residential programs may require extended client contact, crisis response, or evening and weekend coverage. Outpatient positions may have appointment-driven caseloads and productivity expectations. Community agencies may combine counseling with documentation, care coordination, and referrals.
The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook profile supplies the national industry medians and occupational outlook. Those setting-level figures can help identify sectors to research, while California regional data remain more relevant for comparing local salaries.
APCC salary versus LPCC salary in California
California regulates Professional Clinical Counselors through the Board of Behavioral Sciences. An Associate Professional Clinical Counselor is a registered associate working toward full Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor status. APCC registration and LPCC licensure are not interchangeable credentials.
APCCs work under qualified supervision and may not practice independently. They must work as W-2 employees or volunteers while accruing supervised experience. The APCC period is therefore structurally different from independent licensed practice.
The California LPCC pathway includes qualifying graduate education, APCC registration, supervised professional experience, two examination stages, and a licensure application. The timing of those stages is specific. During the APCC period, the California Law and Ethics Examination must be taken annually for registration renewal until it is passed. After completing 3,000 supervised post-degree hours over at least 104 weeks and passing the Law and Ethics Examination, applicants submit the LPCC Application for Licensure. The California Board of Behavioral Sciences must review and approve that application before the applicant is approved to register for the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination.
At least 1,750 of the required experience hours must consist of direct clinical counseling. Completing 3,000 hours in fewer than 104 weeks does not shorten the minimum supervised period because applicants must satisfy both the hours and weeks requirements.
LPCC licensure broadens the practice arrangements legally available to a counselor. It can also affect eligibility for positions that specifically require independent clinical licensure. The government salary sources reviewed for this guide, however, do not report separate APCC and LPCC wage distributions.
There is no authoritative statewide figure showing:
- A median APCC salary
- A median LPCC salary
- A standard raise upon becoming licensed
- An average APCC-to-LPCC pay increase
- A license premium that applies across employers
The broader occupational percentiles cannot fill that gap. The difference between the 25th-percentile wage and the median, for example, does not represent a predictable raise from APCC registration to LPCC licensure. Workers at both credential levels may appear at different points in the distribution.
A California health workforce report published in January 2026 provides separate workforce characteristics for APCCs and LPCCs, but it does not report their compensation. The report found that 95.6% of surveyed LPCCs were actively working or seeking work. Because that measure includes people seeking employment, it is not an employment rate and does not provide evidence of a particular salary.
Readers planning the supervised phase can review the California APCC requirements. Those mapping the full path to independent licensure can use the California LPCC licensing guide.
How licensure can affect career options without guaranteeing a raise
Full LPCC licensure can expand access to roles that call for independent clinical practice or list an independent behavioral health license as a minimum qualification. An LPCC may also have practice options unavailable to an APCC, including independent practice within the profession’s legal scope.
That expanded eligibility creates access to a wider pool of jobs. It does not establish a fixed salary increase because employers build compensation systems differently. One employer may use separate salary bands for registered associates and independently licensed clinicians. Another may base pay more heavily on experience, collective bargaining agreements, supervisory duties, productivity, or hard-to-fill schedules.
During the APCC period, compensation should be evaluated alongside the structure and value of supervision. A job that provides qualifying supervision as part of employment has a different financial profile from one that leaves the associate with additional supervision-related expenses. Workload, direct clinical hour opportunities, documentation time, and the reliability of supervision also affect how efficiently an associate progresses through the required experience period.
The official California wage series establishes an occupational market range. The job description and compensation package then show whether a specific position supports both immediate income and progress toward licensure.
Education and training behind the salary figures
The BLS reports that mental health counselors typically need a master’s degree and an internship. In California, the path to LPCC licensure also requires qualifying graduate education and post-degree supervised experience.
That means salary should be evaluated against the full education and training investment, not only the first year of employment. Relevant costs can include:
- Graduate tuition and university fees
- Books and educational materials
- Transportation to classes or clinical placements
- Reduced work hours during practicum or internship
- Registration and examination expenses
- Supervision-related costs when not fully covered by an employer
- The time required to complete supervised post-degree experience
Because both an hours requirement and a minimum-week requirement apply to the supervised phase, accumulating hours rapidly does not reduce the process below the required 104 weeks.
The eventual financial return depends on more than the statewide median. Graduate debt, pre-licensure compensation, time spent in supervised employment, location, and access to licensed positions all influence the result.
For someone comparing degree routes, the useful question is not simply whether mental health counselors earn about $59,000 or $61,000 at the median. A stronger analysis compares total education cost with the likely compensation range in the region and setting where the person expects to work.
California job outlook for mental health counselors
California projects strong growth for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors.
EDD projects employment in the occupation to increase from 57,400 positions in 2022 to 70,200 in 2032. That represents:
- 12,800 additional jobs
- 22.3% employment growth
- 65,170 total openings over the ten-year projection period
The 65,170 figure represents total openings across the 2022 to 2032 period, not annual openings. Total openings can include both newly created positions and jobs available because workers leave the occupation or labor force.
Nationally, BLS projects 18% growth from 2025 to 2035, with approximately 50,500 openings per year. California’s state projection and the national projection cover different periods, so their percentages serve as broad indicators rather than identical measures.
Projected California growth of 22.3% indicates an expanding occupation. Hiring conditions still vary by region, employer, credential, and specialty, so the projection is not an individual placement rate.
Salary and outlook answer different questions. Wage data describe what workers earn. Employment projections estimate how the number of jobs and openings may change. A field can have strong growth without every position offering high compensation, and a high-paying regional market can still have a limited number of openings.
Private-practice income is not represented in the wage data
The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics system excludes self-employed workers. As a result, the California wage estimates do not measure the income of self-employed private-practice counselors.
That exclusion has several consequences:
- The statewide median is not a private-practice income benchmark.
- The 90th-percentile wage does not represent typical practice-owner earnings.
- Employee wages cannot be converted directly into practice revenue.
- Published salaries do not capture business expenses.
- Gross client fees are not the same as personal income.
Private-practice finances can involve office costs, telehealth systems, insurance, billing, unpaid administrative work, marketing, continuing education, taxes, cancellations, and periods without billable appointments. Revenue also varies with caseload, rates, payer mix, and collection patterns.
An employee earning $80,000 and a practice owner collecting $80,000 in gross revenue are not in equivalent financial positions. The employee salary is compensation before personal taxes and deductions. The owner’s revenue must also support business expenses and nonbillable work.
The OEWS figures are best used to compare employee positions. They do not answer how much an LPCC can earn through self-employment.
What can move a salary above or below the median?
The wage distribution shows a wide range, from $44,640 at the 10th percentile to $111,080 at the 90th percentile. The public datasets do not identify one formula explaining that spread, but several job characteristics can be evaluated directly when comparing positions.
Geographic market
Regional medians vary by tens of thousands of dollars. A Los Angeles offer should be compared with Los Angeles market data, while a Sacramento or San Jose offer should be evaluated against its corresponding local market.
Statewide data remain useful when no local figure is available, but a regional median is usually the more relevant benchmark for a local job.
Employer setting
The national industry figures show a difference between hospital and residential-facility medians. Setting can also change the type and intensity of work, scheduling expectations, and required credentials.
Compare hospital, outpatient, community, and residential positions on both compensation and job structure rather than using employer type as a shortcut for pay.
Credential requirements
A posting that requires an independent clinical license has a different eligible applicant pool from a position open to registered associates. Although the available data do not quantify a statewide license premium, credential requirements remain a concrete feature of the job.
Schedule
Evening, weekend, overnight, on-call, and holiday requirements can change the value of an offer. A quoted annual salary should be considered alongside the actual weekly schedule and any additional compensation attached to less desirable hours.
Caseload and productivity expectations
Two jobs can advertise the same salary while requiring different numbers of client contacts, billable hours, assessments, groups, or documentation tasks. Compensation per expected work hour may differ even when the stated annual pay is identical.
Supervisory responsibilities
A position involving clinical supervision, team leadership, program coordination, or administrative responsibility should be compared with roles carrying similar duties. The occupational median combines workers across different responsibility levels.
Benefits
Health insurance, retirement contributions, paid leave, professional development funding, licensure support, and employer-provided supervision can materially change total compensation. A lower base salary with substantial benefits can have more total value than a higher salary with limited support.
The available evidence does not assign a verified statewide dollar premium to any one of these variables. Their value comes from defining the actual terms of a job and providing a structured way to interpret its salary.
How to compare a counseling job offer
A practical offer comparison begins with the closest regional median and then moves beyond base pay.
1. Convert the offer to a common unit
Compare annual salaries with annual salaries and hourly wages with hourly wages. For a full-time hourly position, multiplying the rate by expected paid hours can create an approximate annual figure.
For example, the EDD median of $29.28 per hour produces an approximate $60,902 full-time equivalent at 2,080 hours. Actual earnings depend on paid hours.
2. Place the offer within the wage distribution
Use the California percentile table to identify where the offer falls within the broader occupation. An offer near the median sits around the middle of the statewide distribution, while an offer near the 75th percentile is higher than the wages reported for about three-quarters of workers in the category.
This comparison identifies the offer’s market position. The job’s duties, credentials, benefits, and location help explain that position.
3. Use the local market
An offer of $60,000 is above the May 2025 Los Angeles metropolitan median but below the medians reported for Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Stockton, Hanford, El Centro, and San Luis Obispo.
That comparison directs attention to workload, benefits, credential requirements, advancement structure, and local living costs.
4. Calculate the value of supervision
For APCCs, supervision affects both career progression and compensation. Employer-provided qualifying supervision can reduce out-of-pocket costs and support accumulation of required experience. Its practical value depends on how supervision is structured and whether the work provides eligible hours.
The most useful APCC offer clearly identifies the qualified supervisor, expected clinical duties, supervision schedule, and compensation arrangement. Reliable access to eligible experience may outweigh a modest difference in starting pay.
5. Examine the full workweek
Review expected client contacts, documentation, meetings, crisis coverage, and administrative duties. A nominally higher salary can lose appeal if the workload consistently extends beyond the compensated schedule.
For salaried roles, divide expected annual compensation by a realistic estimate of annual work hours. That calculation can reveal differences hidden by the headline salary.
6. Add benefits and recurring expenses
Compare health premiums, retirement contributions, paid time off, commuting expenses, parking, professional fees, and supervision costs. This creates a more realistic estimate of the job’s financial value.
A position with paid supervision, retirement contributions, strong health coverage, and substantial leave can deliver greater total value than a higher-paying role that shifts those costs to the employee.
Salary negotiation for California mental health counselors
Official wage data can support a focused negotiation without turning a statewide median into a demand for a specific salary.
A strong salary discussion can reference:
- The published median for the relevant California metropolitan area
- The statewide percentile range
- An independent license when the role requires one
- Directly relevant counseling experience
- Experience with the employer’s client population
- Required evening, weekend, overnight, or on-call work
- Supervisory or program coordination duties
- Caseload and productivity expectations
- Additional language skills when listed as part of the job
- The value and structure of the benefits package
The most effective comparison uses the same type of job. A hospital role is more appropriately compared with similar hospital roles than with the entire occupation. An APCC position that includes supervision should be evaluated differently from an independently licensed role with autonomous clinical responsibilities.
Where base salary is fixed, other terms may still affect total value. These can include paid professional development, licensure-related support, schedule design, remote administrative time, retirement contributions, leave, and a defined salary review after a credential or responsibility change.
The public evidence does not support claiming that any single feature guarantees a specific premium. It does establish a credible market range and identifies which duties or credentials distinguish the position being negotiated.
Is the salary enough to justify the career path?
California mental health counseling offers a statewide median near $60,000, substantial regional variation, and projected employment growth of 22.3% from 2022 to 2032. It also typically requires graduate education, clinical training, and, for the LPCC path, 3,000 supervised post-degree hours over at least 104 weeks.
Financial fit therefore depends on the full path:
- Cost of the graduate degree
- Income available during training
- Compensation during the APCC period
- Supervision arrangements
- Local salary levels
- Long-term access to licensed roles
- Benefits and retirement support
- Desired work setting
- Interest in employee work versus eventual independent practice
The career can fit someone who wants sustained client-facing work, can manage documentation and emotionally demanding cases, and accepts a graduate-level training period before independent licensure. The growth outlook is favorable, but salary should be evaluated alongside caseload, schedule, supervision, and education cost.
Someone primarily interested in K-12 student support should examine school counseling, which uses a different California credential pathway. A person drawn to couples and family systems may compare the LMFT route. Those interested in broader social-service practice and systems work may evaluate an MSW. Addiction-focused roles can also involve separate education, certification, or employer requirements rather than the LPCC pathway alone.
These are related careers, not interchangeable titles. California licenses and education routes define different legal scopes and professional options. The broader California counseling career guide can help organize those alternatives before committing to a graduate program.
Methodology and limits of the salary data
This guide uses three primary forms of government evidence:
- California EDD wage estimates updated to first-quarter 2026
- May 2025 BLS-derived California percentile and regional wage estimates
- California and national employment projections
EDD updated its geographic wage data to first-quarter 2026 using the U.S. Department of Labor Employment Cost Index. The associated occupational employment estimates are for May 2025. That methodology explains why EDD’s $29.28 hourly median and the May 2025 annual median of $59,250 have different reference dates.
The annualized EDD figures in this article use 2,080 hours only as a full-time conversion convention. They are calculated equivalents, not guarantees of annual earnings.
Several limitations apply:
- SOC 21-1018 combines substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors.
- Wage data do not separate APCCs from LPCCs.
- The datasets do not isolate the effects of experience, licensure, employer, specialty, or schedule.
- Regional medians can reflect different employer and workforce mixes.
- OEWS estimates exclude self-employed workers.
- National industry medians are not California industry salaries.
- Salary percentiles are not formal career stages.
- Employment projections do not guarantee individual placement.
- EDD wage estimates do not satisfy legal requirements for prevailing-wage determinations.
Within those boundaries, the evidence provides a useful statewide salary range, regional comparisons, and a current occupational growth outlook.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average mental health counselor salary in California?
California EDD reports a first-quarter 2026 mean wage of $34.14 per hour for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors. Annualized at 2,080 hours, that equals approximately $71,011.
The mean is an average. The May 2025 annual median was $59,250, while EDD’s first-quarter 2026 hourly median produces an approximate full-time equivalent of $60,902.
What is the median mental health counselor salary in California?
The May 2025 California median was $59,250 per year. EDD’s first-quarter 2026 estimate was $29.28 per hour, which corresponds to approximately $60,902 over 2,080 paid hours.
How much do higher-paid mental health counselors make?
The May 2025 75th-percentile wage was $80,570, while the 90th-percentile wage was $111,080. These figures describe the combined substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselor occupation.
Which California areas pay mental health counselors the most?
Among the selected metropolitan areas in this guide, San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles had the highest May 2025 median at $80,770. Other relatively high published medians included El Centro at $73,620, Hanford-Corcoran at $72,960, Stockton-Lodi at $72,770, and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara at $72,550.
These are nominal wages and do not account for regional living costs.
Do LPCCs earn more than APCCs?
LPCC licensure expands the roles and practice arrangements available to a counselor, while APCCs work under supervision and may not practice independently. No authoritative statewide dataset reviewed for this guide reports separate APCC and LPCC salaries or quantifies a standard pay increase after licensure.
Can an APCC practice independently?
No. California APCCs must work under a qualified supervisor and may not practice independently. They must work as W-2 employees or volunteers while accruing supervised experience.
How long does the supervised LPCC period take?
California requires 3,000 hours of supervised post-degree professional experience completed over at least 104 weeks. At least 1,750 hours must be direct clinical counseling experience.
During APCC registration, associates must take the California Law and Ethics Examination annually for renewal until they pass it. After satisfying the supervised experience requirements and passing that examination, applicants submit the LPCC licensure application for BBS review. Approval to register for the NCMHCE follows the Board’s evaluation of that application.
Does the salary data include private practice?
No. OEWS wage estimates exclude self-employed workers, so the published medians and percentiles do not measure private-practice revenue or owner income.
Is demand for mental health counselors growing in California?
Yes. California projects employment in the combined occupation to grow from 57,400 positions in 2022 to 70,200 in 2032, an increase of 12,800 jobs or 22.3%. EDD projects 65,170 total openings over that ten-year period.
Final salary guidance
Start with the statewide occupational median, then use the closest regional median to evaluate the local market. Compare jobs with similar settings, schedules, credential requirements, and responsibilities rather than relying on job titles alone.
For an APCC, qualifying supervision, access to eligible clinical hours, manageable caseload expectations, and reliable progression toward licensure are major parts of the compensation package. For an LPCC, comparisons are strongest when they involve other independently licensed positions with similar clinical and supervisory duties.
Finally, calculate the value of health coverage, retirement contributions, paid leave, professional support, commuting costs, and expected weekly hours. The occupational median provides the baseline, the regional median provides local context, and the complete employment package determines whether an offer supports the career and financial path you want.