Massachusetts School Counselor
School counselors in Massachusetts earn a median salary of $78,840 per year and serve students from pre-K through 12th grade. The state projects 280 job openings annually through 2032. You’ll need a master’s degree in counseling, a 450-hour practicum in an educational setting, and a passing score on the MTEL Communication and Literacy Skills test to practice.
Massachusetts Links
According to May 2024 BLS data, the occupation category that includes school counselors — Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors — employs around 11,850 people in Massachusetts across K-12 and postsecondary settings. It’s a career with strong wages, steady demand, and a student population that increasingly needs mental health support alongside academic guidance. The pages linked below cover how to get licensed and what the certification path looks like.
What School Counselors Do in Massachusetts
Massachusetts licenses two distinct counseling roles in its public schools: the School Counselor and the School Social Worker/School Adjustment Counselor. School counselors work across all grade levels on academic planning, college and career exploration, and personal and social development. School Social Workers/School Adjustment Counselors focus more specifically on mental health — working one-on-one with at-risk students, coordinating with families, and connecting students to community services.
In practice, the roles overlap more than the job titles suggest. A high school counselor in a large Boston-area district might spend her morning reviewing MCAS results with a student who’s worried about college eligibility, then pivot to a family call about a housing crisis affecting a sophomore’s attendance, and then lead a classroom session on senior-year timelines. At the elementary level, the work looks different. An elementary counselor in Worcester might run a small group for students practicing conflict-resolution skills, check in with a third-grader whose parent is dealing with a medical crisis, and meet with a classroom teacher to discuss a student showing signs of anxiety.
Massachusetts counselors at all levels use the My Career and Academic Plan (MyCAP) framework, a state-developed student planning tool designed to connect academic work to longer-term career and postsecondary goals. School counselors often lead the MyCAP process in their buildings, working with students to develop individualized plans from middle school through graduation.
The work is grounded in a commitment to equity. Massachusetts has a racially and linguistically diverse student population, and MASCA has long emphasized multicultural competency as a core professional standard. In districts with high proportions of English language learners or students from low-income families, counselors often serve as the connective tissue between the school and community services that students can’t access on their own.
Job Outlook in Massachusetts
Massachusetts projects 280 annual job openings for school counselors through 2032, with employment in the field growing at 13.0% over that period. The state has an active counselor shortage — open positions exist across urban districts, suburban schools, and rural communities, with some sharing a single counselor across multiple buildings.
The shortage is real and well-documented. As of 2022-23, Massachusetts had a counselor-to-student ratio of roughly 1:364, better than most states but still well short of the ASCA-recommended 1:250. MASCA has called for roughly a thousand additional counselors to meet that standard. Bob Bardwell, MASCA’s executive director, has been direct about the challenge: the pipeline of candidates entering the field isn’t keeping pace with the need.
That gap has practical implications for people entering the profession. Counselors willing to work in under-resourced districts may find stronger negotiating positions and, in some cases, loan repayment incentives through state and federal programs.
School Counselor Salary in Massachusetts
Massachusetts school counselors earn a median salary of $78,840 per year, well above the national median of $65,140. The range is wide: entry-level counselors in lower-paying districts often start in the mid-$50,000s, while experienced counselors in well-funded suburban or metro districts can reach $100,000 or more.
| Percentile | Annual Salary |
|---|---|
| 10th | $55,180 |
| 25th | $63,800 |
| Median (50th) | $78,840 |
| 75th | $100,250 |
| 90th | $111,860 |
Metro area salaries vary across the state. The Cape Cod area pays notably well relative to the state, while the Pioneer Valley metros land closer to the state median.
| Metro Area | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Barnstable Town (Cape Cod), MA | $81,980 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $78,850 |
| Springfield, MA | $78,290 |
| Worcester, MA | $77,400 |
| Amherst Town-Northampton, MA | $66,830 |
Telehealth Expands Mental Health Access in Massachusetts Schools
Massachusetts school counselors have been at the center of a growing effort to connect students with mental health services through telehealth partnerships. During the 2023-24 school year, 15 districts partnered with Cartwheel Care, a Cambridge-based telehealth company, to provide short-term therapy for students who would otherwise face long waits for behavioral health services.
The model works by giving school counselors a direct referral pathway. A counselor can initiate contact with Cartwheel, which employs licensed therapists and child and adolescent psychiatrists. According to Cartwheel, most students can get a first available appointment within approximately seven days of referral — a meaningful difference in a healthcare environment where therapy wait times routinely stretch to weeks or months.
Cartwheel Care accepts most Massachusetts insurers and provides free services for students on MassHealth. Districts cover any additional costs, including staff training. The service is available from elementary through high school, with most therapy terms running two to six months. Care coordinators stay in contact with school counselors throughout to track student progress.
- Strong wages — Massachusetts school counselors earn a median of $78,840 per year, well above the national median of $65,140.
- Growing demand — The state projects 280 annual job openings through 2032, with employment growing at 13.0%.
- Real shortage to fill — Massachusetts needs roughly 1,000 more counselors to meet the ASCA-recommended ratio of 1:250, which means open positions across the state.
- Two distinct licenses — Massachusetts licenses School Counselors and School Social Workers/School Adjustment Counselors separately. The path you take depends on the role you’re aiming for.
- Equity focus — MASCA emphasizes multicultural competency, and many districts actively seek counselors who reflect the linguistic and cultural diversity of their students.
Ready to learn what it takes to become a Massachusetts school counselor?
