SALARY · EDUCATIONAL, GUIDANCE, AND CAREER COUNSELORS AND ADVISORS · CALIFORNIA

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors salary in California

If you are weighing a move, or weighing whether to stay, this is the number that matters first. In California, the middle educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors earned $86,500 a year in the latest BLS release. Half earned more than that and half earned less, so treat it as a realistic middle point, not a promise and not a ceiling.

MEDIAN ANNUAL SALARY

$86,500

$42 per hour at the median · That is $22,170 (34.5 percent) above the national median of $64,330 for this occupation.

$93,610Mean annual salary
$45Mean hourly wage
$45,140People employed in this job in California

Salary range

25th: $63,910Median: $86,50075th: $119,790
MeasureAnnual
25th percentile$63,910
Median (50th percentile)$86,500
75th percentile$119,790
Mean$93,610

The middle half of workers earned from $63,910 to $119,790 a year. The gap between the mean and the median tells its own story. When the mean sits above the median, a smaller group at the top is pulling the average up. When the two are close, pay is more even across the field.

What stays in your pocket on the median salary

ESTIMATED TAKE-HOME PAY

$66,027 a year
$5,502 a month
Federal tax $10,200 · FICA $6,617 · State tax $3,655
Read this before you use the take-home figure. It is a single-filer estimate using the 2026 standard deduction. It leaves out credits, other deductions, local taxes, and retirement or health deductions. Your actual paycheck can differ, and for states without a verified 2026 table in this build, state tax is still to be added once its table is verified.

Same job, other states

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