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Mental health

Substance abuse counselor salary

Open substance abuse counselor jobs post a median of $30 an hour, with the middle half paying $26.50–$32.25: about $62,400 a year full time. Measured from 60 jobs at 38 employers that state their pay, read from each employer's own job board.

$30
Median posted /hr
$27–$32
Middle half /hr
$62,400
A year, full time
estimate, 2,080 hours
$28.53
BLS median /hr
May 2025

The jobs themselves: Substance abuse counselor jobs · A specialty of mental health therapist pay

What substance abuse counselors are paid

Each bar counts the open jobs posting an hourly rate in its step of pay (a range at its midpoint). The middle half of employers' rates is in the darker color.

Posted hourly rates of 60 open jobs. The chart spans the 2nd to the 98th percentile; the lowest rate posted is $19.45, the highest $50.38.

Posted on open jobs

$26.50–$32.25/hr

Middle half of 55 employer rates (each employer's advertised range once), median $30. 35% of the 172 open substance abuse counselor jobs state an hourly rate.

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Substance abuse counselor pay by employer

What each employer posts for substance abuse counselors, the employers with the most jobs stating pay first. An employer with at least 5 such jobs has a page of its own with every range it posts.

EmployerMedian postedPosted rangeJobs stating pay
Helio Health$27.25$20.19–$33.817
Samaritan Daytop Village$28.75$24.72–$37.045
Downtown Emergency Service Center$41$39.08–$43.153
Acadia Healthcare$32$27–$373
University of Rochester Medical Center$27$22.91–$40.673
Carle Health$35.50$23.36–$50.382
Sanford Health$29.75$21.50–$38.502
Milestone Recovery$28.50$25–$322
Evolve Life Centers$28$25–$312
Rochester Regional Health$27.75$19.50–$36.502
BestCare Treatment Services$25.50$22.06–$28.942
NewYork-Presbyterian$42.25$38.85–$45.551
Community Medical Services$38$36–$401
Wellpath$36$34.20–$381
Align Recovery Centers$34$32–$361
Mayo Clinic$34$27.24–$40.621
Recovery Centers of Montana$34$30–$381
Fora Health$33.25$28.44–$37.851
Heartview Foundation$33$29–$371
Emory Healthcare$32.25$32.341
Advocate Health$31.75$25.30–$37.951
United Health Services (New York)$31.50$25.27–$37.901
Community Counseling Solutions$31$25.19–$36.971
Ritter Center$31$311
Unity House of Cayuga County$31$28.08–$33.711
UPMC$30.75$24.94–$36.581
Conifer Park$30.25$19.45–$41.131
Monument Health$29.50$26.14–$32.671
Hope For Youth$27.50$25–$301
Monarch$26.50$26.451
Professional Care Medical Practice$26$24–$281
Arms Acres$24.75$21.30–$28.121
Catholic Charities Family and Community Services$24.25$22.50–$261
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Rochester$24.25$22.50–$261
Whitney M Young Jr Health Center$24.25$23–$25.501
Seasons Center for Behavioral Health$24$22–$261
Akua Behavioral Health$23$231
Sinai Chicago$21.50$21.461

Median of each employer's own jobs (a range at its midpoint), and the lowest and highest rate it posts. Jobs stating pay link to the employer's open jobs.

Substance abuse counselor pay by state

States where at least 8 open jobs from 3 employers state an hourly rate, highest median first. Each opens the state's own page, with its towns and employers.

StateMedian postedMiddle halfBLS medianJobs
New York$28.25$25–$31.25$28.58 (source: BLS OEWS, state medians, opens in a new tab)27

Median and middle half of employers' rates in the state. BLS medians are for the occupation's main SOC code in the state (May 2025).

Substance abuse counselor jobs that state a yearly salary

Some jobs state a salary for the year instead of an hourly rate. They are measured on their own here, never converted.

21 open jobs from 17 employers state a yearly salary: a median of $66,300, the middle half $60,400 to $71,000, from $39,002 to $96,012 posted.

Best-paid open substance abuse counselor jobs

The open jobs posting the highest hourly rates tonight, at most two from one employer.

Every open job: Substance abuse counselor jobs

What BLS measures

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys what people employed in the occupation earn, at every level of experience. A posting advertises what a new hire is offered, so the two measure different things.

Hourly wages, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Each figure opens its BLS page.
BLS occupation10th pct25th pctMedian75th pct90th pctEmployed
Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors (21-1018)$18.72 (source: BLS OEWS, Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors, opens in a new tab)$22.65 (source: BLS OEWS, Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors, opens in a new tab)$28.53 (source: BLS OEWS, Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors, opens in a new tab)$36.80 (source: BLS OEWS, Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors, opens in a new tab)$46.92 (source: BLS OEWS, Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors, opens in a new tab)491,930 (source: BLS OEWS, Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors, opens in a new tab)

The posted median ($30) is $1.47 above the BLS median ($28.53 (source: BLS OEWS May 2025, Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors, opens in a new tab)). Posted ranges run from a new hire's rate to an experienced one's, and their midpoint is counted here.

Substance abuse counselor salary: common questions

How much does a substance abuse counselor make an hour?

Open substance abuse counselor jobs on CareJobs.Now that state an hourly rate post a median of $30, with the middle half between $26.50–$32.25 (60 jobs from 38 employers, each employer's advertised range counted once). Postings advertise a base rate, usually before shift differentials and bonuses. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics measured a median of $28.53/hr ($59,350 a year) for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors in May 2025.

How much does a substance abuse counselor make a year?

At the posted median of $30 an hour, full time (2,080 hours a year) comes to about $62,400, and the middle half to $55,100 to $67,100. That is arithmetic on the hourly rate, not a salary any job states. 21 open jobs state a yearly salary instead, a median of $66,300.

Where do these figures come from?

From the pay CareJobs.Now's open jobs state, read every night from each employer's own job board: 60 of 172 open substance abuse counselor jobs (35%) state an hourly rate. No pay is estimated for a job that states none, "up to" ceilings and weekly travel rates are left out, and each employer's advertised range counts once in the median, so no single employer sets it.

More pay by job: Mental health

Substance abuse counselor jobs →Every healthcare salary →Pay explorer →

Sources and method

Only pay a job states is used: a plain hourly or yearly figure or range in US dollars, read from the job's own posting. A range counts at its midpoint. In the median and the middle half each employer's advertised range counts once, so an employer posting one range in many towns does not set the figure; an employer's own figures count its jobs one by one. "Up to" ceilings, weekly travel rates and rates under a third or over three times the occupation's median are left out. The yearly estimate is the hourly rate times 2,080 hours (40 a week). A job counts under its occupation and every occupation above it, and under every state it is open in. A page exists while at least 8 jobs from 3 employers state a rate. BLS figures are as published.
  1. CareJobs.Now job board: the pay open jobs state, read nightly from each employer's own careers site, published October 24, 2026
  2. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors (SOC 21-1018), published May 15, 2026
  3. BLS OEWS May 2025: Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors by state, published May 15, 2026
  4. BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035: Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors (Occupational Outlook Handbook), published August 27, 2026

Cite this page

CareJobs.Now. (2026). Substance abuse counselor salary. Data as of October 24, 2026. https://carejobs.now/salaries/substance-abuse-counselor

How the board counts