Credit counselors
Salary, job outlook, AI risk & career information
Credit counselors in the United States earn a median salary of $52,230 per year — about $25 per hour, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Roughly 32K people work in this occupation nationwide, with projected employment growth of +3%.
AI & Automation Risk
The core tasks of credit counseling—analyzing financial data, creating budgets, and explaining debt management options—are fundamentally digital and information-based, making them highly susceptible to AI automation. While the role requires interpersonal skills and emotional support for clients in financial distress, AI can already perform the complex calculations and personalized recommendation generation that constitute the bulk of the technical work.
Salary by City — What You Actually Take Home
Real purchasing power = salary adjusted for cost of living. Higher = more money in your pocket.
| City | Local Salary | Cost of Living | Real Purchasing Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CABEST VALUE | $80,680 | Above avg (110.4) | $73,064 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $76,930 | Above avg (106.7) | $72,120 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $82,570 | Above avg (115.6) | $71,419 |
| Omaha, NE-IA | $62,520 | Below avg (91.9) | $68,022 |
| Memphis, TN-MS-AR | $60,210 | Below avg (92.2) | $65,319 |
| Fresno, CA | $66,660 | Average (102.2) | $65,252 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $64,080 | Average (100.1) | $64,043 |
| Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA | $62,340 | Average (98.7) | $63,193 |
| Duluth, MN-WI | $55,920 | Below avg (88.8) | $62,996 |
| Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH | $58,090 | Below avg (92.7) | $62,669 |
| Cleveland, OH | $58,570 | Below avg (93.9) | $62,360 |
| Boulder, CO | $65,540 | Above avg (105.2) | $62,299 |
| Rochester, NY | $60,040 | Average (97.0) | $61,875 |
| Syracuse, NY | $59,160 | Below avg (95.7) | $61,791 |
| Salt Lake City-Murray, UT | $62,080 | Average (100.9) | $61,546 |